Morimoto's in Manhattan

[rich]

Horrendous meal at Morimoto's. Most dishes of the omakase arrived lukewarm or cold. Even worse is the overall flavorless theme to everything.  I might as well be eating cardboard.  The sushis are a vulgar display tastelessness with huge sinewy pieces of fish on clammy pieces of rice.  Only saving grace is the cool decor, but that only last so long. Anyone with any hint of tastebud should just drink there and save the money for Yasuda or Karuma instead.

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I get the distinct impression you didn't enjoy the restaurant.

[Bond Girl]

Horrendous meal at Morimoto's. Most dishes of the omakase arrived lukewarm or cold. Even worse is the overall flavorless theme to everything.  I might as well be eating cardboard.  The sushis are a vulgar display tastelessness with huge sinewy pieces of fish on clammy pieces of rice.  Only saving grace is the cool decor, but that only last so long. Anyone with any hint of tastebud should just drink there and save the money for Yasuda or Karuma instead.

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I get the distinct impression you didn't enjoy the restaurant.

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On the contrary, I quite enjoy the restaurant. It has nice looking people, interesting decor and a pretty cool wall made of water bottles.....It's the really bad food that spoils the whole experience.

[rich]

pretty cool wall made of water bottles.....It's the really bad food that spoils the whole experience.

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Who needs food when you have a wall of water bottles?

[M.X.Hassett]

Anyone with any hint of tastebud should just drink there and save the money for Yasuda or Karuma instead.

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Out of curiousity how are the drinks there, overly sweet/vodka or is it worth a visit.

[Bond Girl]

The fizzy sake I had was interesting, and my dining pal's white wine was decent, but beyond that, I cannot tell you.

[stephenc]

I'm not sure whether people know this in NY or not, but when ordering the omakase at Morimoto, right before hard-selling their bottled water and sake, the waiter will ALWAYS ask you if you have been there before. You tell him that yes you have been there before, and yes you have had the omakase before.

This way, the restaurant doesn't give you the standard, by-the-book, "safe" SSO-approved omakase, the one pretty much everyone in Philly who has gone to the restaurant has experienced, you know, the one that ends in sushi and thinly sliced Kobe beef.

The more "imaginative" chefs-choice is where you start getting some of the cool stuff.

By the way, the haterade is strong in this thread. Are New Yorkers so satiated by fine restaurants that they are actively rooting for new restaurants in their city to fail?. I'm flabbergasted. That's not a good omen for the local economy, even if it is the Big Apple.

I mean, this is a good-looking sashimi platter, and apparently it tasted good too. I wouldn't wish failure on anyone who could make raw fish tissue look so good.

http://augieland.blogs.com/photos/uncatego...ori_lounge3.JPG

Edited March 30, 2006 by stephenc (log)

[Bond Girl]

It not a "Hatterade", we are just being honest. We don't go around looking for bad restaurants just as we don't go around looking for car crashes or bad diseases.

The point here is if the food is good or bad. And, the food is bad.

First of all, it's a new restaurant, so to expect everyone to have been there, would be unreasonable on your part. Secondly, I don't care if we got the "safe SSO- Approved omakase", I have no problems with "safe" food, but make it the best and tastiest "safe" food that I've ever put in my mouth. Everything was cold and bland at Morimotos, if cold and bland is tasty, then we have no problems, but it does not appeal to me. Also, I don't happen to find sinewy frozen fish a great gourmet sushi experience. As for the Beef, it was tough and chewy ( another charcteristic that does not rate high on the taste scale) and resembled that from the corner Gristedes supermarket.

Are we suppose to excuse bad food, just because it's friom a great chef?

[rich]

Are we suppose to excuse bad food, just because it's friom a great chef?

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Never BG - you're absolutely correct. Too many chefs are resting on too many laurels in this town (and others, I'm sure). It's time they learned how to cook again instead of appearing on TV, selling books, cookware, knives, pens, bobble head dolls, sinks, toilet bowls, toothpaste etc., etc.

Nobody gets free lunch - not even the chef who prepares it.

[philadining]

I certainly trust BondGirl's report, but I have to admit that I'm shocked, just because both Morimoto and Starr have so much riding on this working, the chef's reputation in particular, that I'm just amazed that they'd let such disappointing food go out. And whatever one thinks of the Philly restaurant, THAT was not a complaint I heard much.

It would be one thing if people didn't like the concept or the style, but it seems that perhaps with the exception of augieland's experiences at the omakase counter, we're seeing mostly reports of plain-old shoddy execution. And it surprises me that they'd let that happen.

I was expecting some reviews opining that the food was not innovative enough, or too innovative, or cliché, or ill-concieved. But I really didn't expect to see people saying that it was poorly-done or that the ingredients weren't very good.

I think there are plenty of valid reasons for people to like, or not like, the style of the food or the place as a whole, but again, I'm truly amazed to hear people report that the inherent quality and execution of the food is disappointing.

[tommy]

my wife, whose opinion i trust implicitly, said it was just horrible. cold food. bad food. bad service. the whole ball of wax. i'm in no hurry to try it (although i was at one point).

we loved our experience at Morimoto in Philly and dinners at Nobu when he was there.

[ulterior epicure]

sorry, need help with the lingo - "sso approved?"

u.e.

[ulterior epicure]

my wife, whose opinion i trust implicitly, said it was just horrible.  cold food.  bad food.  bad service.  the whole ball of wax.  i'm in no hurry to try it (although i was at one point).

Well, if the food isn't necessarily bad if it's cold (especially sashimi), but if it's not supposed to be cold....

we loved our experience at Morimoto in Philly...

As have I on two visits. I"m sorry to hear such spotty news from the "NY bureau..."

u.e.

[tommy]

my wife, whose opinion i trust implicitly, said it was just horrible.  cold food.  bad food.  bad service.  the whole ball of wax.  i'm in no hurry to try it (although i was at one point).

Well, if the food isn't necessarily bad if it's cold (especially sashimi), but if it's not supposed to be cold....

i'll follow up with her to make sure she knows that raw fish shouldn't be hot.

[lizard]

This just in from Peter Elliott of Bloomberg:

"Opinion: Masaharu Morimoto may be spread too thin

'Iron Chef' Masaharu Morimoto's new Morimoto in Manhattan puts on an excellent show, but the dishes lack the personal touch of Morimoto, who is stretched between cooking, running the restaurant and greeting celebrity patrons."

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=1...id=asiiQm939odg

[magic168]

I am disappointed. I wa thinking about the SLIGHT possibility of scrimping and saving to treat my parents for their 30th anniversary to the omakase, since we are all iron chef fans (and even if the food were only ok/good, at least we'll get a seat close to Morimoto), but if I read this correctly, the $120 I was planning for is not even a coveted seat at the chef's table??? I always thought augieland's blog posts were all for the $120...not $500+ I think it'll be many, many, many, mnay years, if ever, I will be able to afford that.

[raji]

I am disappointed.  I wa thinking about the SLIGHT possibility of scrimping and saving to treat my parents for their 30th anniversary to the omakase, since we are all iron chef fans (and even if the food were only ok/good, at least we'll get a seat close to Morimoto), but if I read this correctly, the $120 I was planning for is not even a coveted seat at the chef's table???  I always thought augieland's blog posts were all for the $120...not $500+  I think it'll be many, many, many, mnay years, if ever, I will be able to afford that.

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Take them to Sugiyama! Lie and tell them he won Iron Chef Japan.

[KatieLoeb]

sorry, need help with the lingo - "sso approved?"

u.e.

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I think he means SRO-approved. SRO is Starr Restaurant Organization, the corporate name of the entity which owns so many restaurants.

[ulterior epicure]

I am disappointed.  I wa thinking about the SLIGHT possibility of scrimping and saving to treat my parents for their 30th anniversary to the omakase, since we are all iron chef fans (and even if the food were only ok/good, at least we'll get a seat close to Morimoto), but if I read this correctly, the $120 I was planning for is not even a coveted seat at the chef's table???  I always thought augieland's blog posts were all for the $120...not $500+  I think it'll be many, many, many, mnay years, if ever, I will be able to afford that.

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Take them to Sugiyama! Lie and tell them he won Iron Chef Japan.

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Better yet - take them to Sushi Yasuda! Lie and tell them he's Morimoto's father!!

u.e.

[ASM NY]

I always thought augieland's blog posts were all for the $120...not $500+  I think it'll be many, many, many, mnay years, if ever, I will be able to afford that.

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For that kind of money, you're probably better off going to Masa and sit at the bar. I haven't been to either Masa or Morimoto NY, but my money would be on Masa all the way.

[magic168]

I am disappointed.  I wa thinking about the SLIGHT possibility of scrimping and saving to treat my parents for their 30th anniversary to the omakase, since we are all iron chef fans (and even if the food were only ok/good, at least we'll get a seat close to Morimoto), but if I read this correctly, the $120 I was planning for is not even a coveted seat at the chef's table???  I always thought augieland's blog posts were all for the $120...not $500+  I think it'll be many, many, many, mnay years, if ever, I will be able to afford that.

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Take them to Sugiyama! Lie and tell them he won Iron Chef Japan.

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Better yet - take them to Sushi Yasuda! Lie and tell them he's Morimoto's father!!

u.e.

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All this lying! Does this reflect the values of egullet? ;)

[raji]

I think the redeeming quality of the posters here is they'd lie with a gun to their head if only in the pursuit of epicurian excellence, ESPECIALLY in the NY forum.

[Bond Girl]

I second the Yasuda suggestion, and if you are lucy, you'd even get to sit at the sushi bar and watch Yasuda work.

[raji]

I would too but sushi and kaiseki are very different meals.

For everything I've heard about Morimoto, safe to say I am happy to avoid the entire mess and spend my money at Sugiyama.

Alternately, I would still recommend Megu. Although it is in that class of restaurant, it actually has the culinary chops to live up to it. Koji Imai is an amazing restauranteur not a tv personality...

[Sneakeater]

I walked to NoMeat last night with the intention of trying the newly friendly-priced lounge at Del Posto. When I arrived at about 8:30, there was a 20 minute wait for lounge seating (they now take same-day reservations for the lounge, BTW). So I figured this would be a time to cross the street and see what Morimoto's like.

I was seated, as per my preference, at the sushi bar (which I assume is not the same thing as the Omakase bar). The restaurant itself was far from full. Mostly empty you might even say.

If you go to Morimoto expecting the quality of food you'd get at a top-level restaurant, you'll be disappointed. If you go expecting mass-market food, you'll be pleasantly surprised. In other words, Morimoto is an OK restaurant. But it's a very expensive one. If it weren't for the Ando interterior -- his first work in New York! -- you'd never go there.

I started with the oyster foie gras appetizer. I was planning to get something cold, but I couldn't resist a dish that had all three of oysters, uni, and foie gras. The dish didn't work. First, the teryaki (sp?) sauce was too sweet. Second, the uni didn't appear to be of very good quality, or else it was overcooked. In either event, it was mushy and flavorless. Third, the foie gras was merely ordinary -- and such small pieces! Low-level fusion cooking (albeit with purportedly luxury ingredients).

For my entree, "duck duck duck" was a foregone conclusion. This was a very crispy roast breast and leg, a sandwich of duck meat on a "croissant" (in quotes because it wasn't crescent-shaped) made with foie gras, and, for the third duck, what was supposed to be a lighty-fried duck egg but turned out, in the event, to be a quail egg. There were two dipping sauces: a red miso sauce and another, tarter one. Other than that it was kind of gross (and the sandwich was soggy), there was nothing particularly wrong with this dish. But there was nothing particularly good or special about it, either. For the amount of money charged, you could do better.

Dessert was a "strawberry salad", strawberries, currants, and gooseberrys with a balsamic vinegar reduction and, on the side, lime-basil sorbet in buckwheat cookies. The sorbet was good (although the people at Otto needn't be losing any sleep over it). The cookies were good. The fruit should have been magnificent, but it wasn't very good fruit. If a top-level restaurant is going to serve a dessert like this, the fruit should be jewel-like, and bursting with flavor. This stuff wasn't.

It will sound like I'm holding Morimoto to an unfairly high standard. But Morimoto charges enough to warrant that. You could eat at Perry Street -- or Oceana! -- for this kind of money. At these prices, above-average doesn't cut it.

(I liked my White Lily cocktail.)

Edited July 25, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[raji]

Yet another reason for me to avoid the entire Morimoto thing, and from a reliable source -

For all your Japano-foodo-philes, I'm in Japan for another 10 days, so any intel/pictures you are looking for, lay it on me.

It's funny, all my friends in Tokyo are all asking me which NY Japanese restaurants are taking off, it's kind of like the way they follow Ichiro in NY, they are up on Masa, Morimoto, Megu, etc. in NYC.

My first meal here last night was impromptu and cost $40 pp and we stuffed ourselves with sashimi, sushi and draft beer. Same w/ same quality would have cost triple in NYC...