Morimoto (Waikiki) 7.26.14

Another morning at home, thinking about how just 4 short days ago at this time, I was at Morimoto Waikiki having lunch.  I have to start this review by saying that I have a total fangirl crush on Masaharu Morimoto and have probably watched every Iron Chef (original & America) that he's on.  I love the concept of his food and that he just seems like a nice guy.  The first time I ate at a Morimoto restaurant was shortly after the opening of Morimoto Napa for my 6th wedding anniversary.  As the restaurant had just opened, Chef Morimoto himself was cooking there and signed my Morimoto cookbook. The omakase that night was truly one of the best meals that I had.  We had been back to the Napa locations a few times after that, when we lived in the Bay Area, and it just was never quite the same, but the last time we were there, I had a chirashi bowl for lunch and thought I had died and gone to heaven (the sushi rice is AMAZING) so we decided to try the Waikiki location for lunch.

Morimoto Soba Ale

So, it was a longish (1.2 mile) walk to Morimoto from our hotel and when we got there, we needed some liquid refreshment.  Morimoto is a little hidden in The Modern Honolulu hotel (it's across the street from Red Lobster), but we found it alright and were quickly seated.  The lunch crowd was pretty sparse, but there were two wedding parties and a larger birthday party there so plenty to keep them busy.  My husband ordered a Morimoto Soba Ale (he had tried it before at the Napa location so he knew he'd enjoy it).  Morimoto has a partnership with Rogue Ales to produce three speciality beers, the soba ale, an imperial pilsner, and a black obi soba.  I ordered an iced tea.  Pro-tip on the iced tea.  It was $7.  And it was not a fancy iced tea.  I understand that I was at a fine dining establishment, but $7 for non-specialty iced tea?!?!

Then, it was time for lunch.  

[Side note: Because we've had a lot of the specialities, we didn't end up ordering any of the appetizers, but I have to say that if you're at a Morimoto and haven't had a tartare (toro or hamachi), you really have to try one.  The tartares are amazing and super beautiful, pricy but worth it.]

Okay, on to our meal.  My husband, in his pescatarian ways, ordered the chirashi bowl: 

For those of you not particularly familiar with Japanese food, chirashi is assorted raw fish on a bed of sushi rice and Morimoto's is definitely one of the best.  I love that the chirashi bowl used a lot of local fish and the rice was the amazing slightly sweet, sticky goodness that I remember. If you're a a fan of raw fish or chirashi in general, it's completely worth the trek to any Morimoto for a chirashi bowl. 

"Loco Moto" Lunch Set

I decided to do the loco moto lunch set, which is Morimoto's take on loco moco, a Hawaiian classic dish.  Morimoto subs wagyu beef for the usual hamburger meat and uses an organic local egg with hayashi gravy (stewed onions & beef).  It was savory deliciousness, but really, really filling and pretty heavy for lunch on a warm day.  The rest of the set was also nice.  The miso soup had freshly cut silken tofu, the sushi was (as to be expected) fresh, and I loved the kabosu dressing on the mixed green salad which was a light counterbalance to the richness of the loco moco.  

Overall, I was pleased with our meal, but it wasn't my favorite on the island.  Morimoto still is my favorite celebrity chef though and I have a hard time imagining that changing any time soon.