New York Food: Morimoto

Window shopping in New York took us to the south west side of Manhattan were we walked by Morimoto, at the heart of Chelsea right by the Highline.  At the time we have reservations somewhere else, so we simply take notice and keep walking, but the thought linger with us and before we leave (the morning before our flight), we make a reservation for lunch.

The place has a very Japanese (understated) entrance.  We are nearly the first table at the restaurant, since we have no more than an hour before we have to head to the airport.  Our table is all the way at the back, which pleases us since we have a chance to take a small tour of the entire place and sit with a good view of the sushi bar.

One of the many reviews I check online raves about the Toro Tartar (that is raw tuna), not that it took much arm twisting for me to order it.  The presentation is beautiful with the tuna standing on a plank with a little bit of caviar on top and several sauces and accompaniments to add to the fish as it is scrapped off the wood with a small flat spatula we use as a spoon.  Definitely good, but you can't really see a Chef's skill level with raw dishes.

One of the best courses was our second appetizer: Crispy Rock Shrimp Tempura.  If you have never tries rock shrimp and you like shrimp, this is a must.  Small, round and very juicy, it is one of my favorites.  Tempura is a good chance to test our chef.  Fried food can be greasy and tempura can often be bland.  This is neither.

The batter is crispy and fluffy, the shrimp cooked to perfection and the sauces over the shrimp perfect to add flavor to the dish without taking away from the delicate flavors.  Really a terrific dish.




For the main courses I order Buri Bop: Eel over rice (one of my favorite dishes during our trip in Japan).  This time it comes raw, over rice server on a incredibly for bowl.  Table side, the waiter places the fish against the bowl walls, were it cooks as the rice is expertly mixed with the sauce and other ingredients by the waiter.  Then the eel is placed on top of the rice.  Delicious...

Sharon orders Negitoro, basically sashimi with lots of tuna over cold white rice.  This is a very large amount of raw, very fresh fish.  We pick at it until we can no longer eat (and have to run to the airport).  In fact we leave so late that end up taking a cab instead of using the bus tickets we have already purchased.  Still, definitely worth it.  We love japanese food.