When you walk in, you’re not only greeted by a group of friendly staff, but you’re also greeted by the grandness of the place. The restaurant is a big and open, two stories. Large crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling. The restaurant has two bars, one on each level. There are private dining areas on each floor. The very modern restaurant has a nice flow, as it is easy to find and get to your seat. The entire kitchen is viewable, but protected by a wall of glass. The menu features a multitude of dishes, mixed drinks, beer, and a wine list that features Morimoto’s signature sake.
I went straight for the Morimoto Soba Ale ($8). The beer is served on draft and made with soba, Japanese for buckwheat. It’s gold in color and had a smooth, almost sweet, taste. This light beer went down quickly so I couldn’t wait for my appetizers. Highly recommended.
The manager said Chef Morimoto spent weeks at the restaurant training his chefs. That made me very excited so I popped open the menu and immediately ordered a few appetizers for the table. We ordered the Rock Shrimp Tempura ($16), Kakuni Pork Bao ($10), and Edamame ($6).
The Rock Shrimp Tempura is described to be a tempura-battered rock shrimp with spicy gochujang aioli. Rock shrimp are smaller sized prawns found in the waters of southeastern United States that have a taste comparable to lobster. As soon as the tempura batters touches your mouth, it melts. The gochujang aioli was not as spicy as I expected, and the shrimp was fresh and full of flavor. This was best dish out of the entire meal.
The Kukuni Pork Bao is a piece of braised pork belly with lettuce and spicy mayo, in a steamed bun. The pork belly seemed to be braised in a dark hoisin like sauce which was full of flavor. The mayo had a little kick, but the lettuce was unnecessary so I took it out. The bun itself was soft and fluffy. A very good dish.
Edamame was your typical steamed soybeans in a pod with shaved sea salt. A nice little snack.
For our main dishes we ordered the shrimp tempura roll ($10), duck Caesar ($15), and Peking duck ($48).
The shrimp tempura roll was great and neatly rolled. The roll had the perfect amount of rice and included fresh asparagus, avocado, and spicy mayo. I cannot wait to try more of their sushi next time.
The duck Caesar was far from your normal Caesar salad. Other than romaine lettuce, it had pieces of roasted duck, red onion, tomato, orange segments, candied walnuts, and Morimoto’s take on the Caesar dressing. I loved the candied walnuts along with the orange pieces. The amount of roasted duck in the bowl was a bit skimpy, but I guess paying $15 for a large-sized salad is the reason behind it. I very much enjoyed Morimoto’s Caesar dressing because it had a nice egg yolk flavor to it. Overall, very good.
Now my biggest disappointment of lunch was not the Peking duck itself, but the time it took to arrive. It took just over 30 minutes from the time we finished our appetizers to receive my dish. My fiancée and her mom all got their dishes 15 minutes beforehand too. I understand this is one of the first days they were serving lunch, but a whole 30-plus minutes is unacceptable. The manager did apologize.
As far as the Peking duck, it was absolutely delicious! The Peking duck is prepared in house as you can see the roasted ducks hanging in the kitchen. The duck takes over 24 hours which includes brining, flavoring, and roasting the duck. The meat was separated from the bone and nicely prepared on the plate. Accompanying the duck were steamed flour pancakes with apricot sweet chili and hoisin miso dipping sauces. The skin was thin, crispy, and very tasty. Although I love Peking duck, I would gladly wait for someone to bring this down from New York, which isn't often. The price for amount of meat (probably a little less than half a duck) is not worth it.
Overall, yes, we would come back. After the obvious disappointment with my Peking duck, all of the other food was reasonably priced for a fine restaurant, and I would like to explore more of their sushi. I would definitely order the Rock Shrimp Tempura again and check out their steaks on their dinner menu. And of course, their sake.
Disney World annual passholders get a 10% discount on food and non-alcoholic beverages (for up to three guests) at lunch, starting November 1st. Tables in Wonderland also is accepted.
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Another thing, in the photo, the duck was cut up incorrectly. They should cut only the skin off to use between the pancakes. Then the duck meat is served separately.
It seems like the extra duck meat went into the duck Caesar Salad. Hey, that's your duck meat.
Morimoto was very good as Iron Chef. It does sound like his menu is unique although expensive.
Matt, unfortunately nothing else was done.
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