More Morimoto

How could we not order a dish called Angry Chicken? By the time it arrived, we had already made our way through a series of small plates, all of which were colorful, interactive, and bursting with flavor. Lamb carpaccio with a ginger-scallion dressing was meaty, though we all agreed it was lacking in lamb flavor. Then there was the chawan mushi, super smooth egg custard infused with foie gras. All I could do was savor every drop of fatty flavor. The dish was white on white, quite a contrast to the blocks of colorful morimoto sashimi that appeared next - layers of sashimi stacked like a terrine. Adding to the fun were five pipettes filled with dipping sauces ranging from yuzu to arugula. Then to our table arrived a pot of soy milk. With the addition of a magic solution and ten minutes of waiting (during which we polished off the soft-shell crab roll), we had tofu, made tableside, which we topped with lobster sauce and ate with relish.

Finally though, the Angry Chicken arrived. The chicken was tender, the fried noodles crisp and crazy looking, and the finger peppers, as I soon discovered, hardly innocuous. On my first bite all I detected was sweet with a hint of heat. I popped the rest into my mouth and all too quickly realized my mistake. I spent the next 15 minutes alternately laughing at my own stupidity, trying not to gulp my wine in one go, and crying to the amusement of my dining companions. At one pont, I started scooping up the butter sauce that came with the poached lobster, as if that would help matters. Happily, as quickly as my mouth burst into flames, the fire receded, and with all taste buds intact, I moved on to sample the surf and turf, kobe stye. Rounding out our meal was the ishi yaki buri bop, thick slices of yellowtail seared tableside in a stone pot, served over sticky rice decorated with hijiki.

While the food at Morimoto was varied and flavorful, the Iron Chef was no where to be seen. The decor can only be described as stylish, with a penchant for glass walls, first noticeable in a dramatic glass bottle wall and echoed in the glass walls separating the tables into "booths." The ceiling had a shell-like texture and moved in all directions. If I wasn't staring at the food, I was staring at my surrounds.

Shockingly, after all this food, we even had room for dessert - twice. At the restaurant, the berry tart was overshadowed by the chocolate hazelnut mousse cake which featured a lovely crunch. Arriving home, desert part two was better - cupcakes from Eleni's. I'd insisted that we pick up dessert before dinner and so we sampled maple walnut, chocolate, lemon and vanilla cupcakes. The cake was a bit dry, but the flavored frostings were quite delicious. The super stars though, were the cookies. I was skeptical that such highly-decorated cookies (in the literal sense) would be as delicious as they were beautiful. I'm glad I was wrong.

Morimoto Sashimi

Surf & Turf

tofu made tableside

soft shell crab roll

ishi yaki buri bop

Angry Chicken