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“Morimoto”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	MeatPacking	Break the Bank	Don't Bother

tuna belly, totally mutilated. I thought it was senseless. Why make us work so hard to enjoy our food?

Another disappointment was the kakuni ($16)—a dish that was billed as ten-hour braised pork. It is served on a puddle of bland congee—well, in its defense, congee is usually bland— soaking in a soy scallion sauce that did little to relieve the congee of its pale flavor. What’s more, that pork was braised for about ten minutes, not ten hours. We could not even tear it apart. Servers didn’t seem to notice our troubles. Share plates were not offered, nor were knives. The picture of the four of us sawing away at that pig shoulder with clear Lucite chopsticks (these chopsticks were ridiculous, they were too slippery) must have been quite hilarious. Soon, we just gave up and ordered more sake.

At this point in the meal, we were starting to get depressed. We hoped our main courses would redeem the contender. Sadly, they did not. The angry chicken ($26) was not as bad as the pork. At least it was cooked well—the meat was nice and moist. But the skin was painted red with spices that were not particularly aromatic or spicy, and the chicken was plated in huge pieces over high piles of whole grilled finger peppers in a puddle of spiced chicken jus that had no finesse, no balance. The whole thing was a mess. The Waygu beef hot pot ($33) was also lacking balance and or finesse. The soy mirin broth that the flaps of beef were cooked in was cloyingly sweet—again no balance— and it bobbed with huge chunks of carrots and onions. It tasted like somehow my Mom’s old-fashioned pot roast had gotten into Morimoto’s kitchen. (Mom, is there something you want to tell me?) The braised black cod with Japanese ratatouille ($23) was passable, but not as good as the black cod with miso at Nobu. Though the flavors of that ratatouille were great, and the dressing of soy and ginger a fresh addition, the fish itself was more slimy than silky.

Oh, but wait. We had sushi too. It is an afterthought in this review as it is clearly an afterthought at the restaurant. I have had better sushi on my couch, ordered in from Haru on Park Avenue South. The maki were just fine, red snapper was lovely, but our fluke sushi was ribboned with sinew and tough. And then we threw in the towel.

As you can tell, we were not impressed with Morimoto. The space feels cold and vaguely like a space station, and ... [more, click below]

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Posted: February 20, 2006

Other restaurants in MeatPacking :
+ Paradou   + Florent   + One   + Bivio   + Spice Market   + Ono   + 5 Ninth   + Fatty Crab   + Del Posto   + Morimoto   + Los Dados   + 5 Ninth   + Merkato 55   + Scarpetta   + The John Dory   + The Standard Grill   + Bill's Bar & Burger   

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