I am a big fan of Chef Masaharu Morimoto and try to never miss his appearances on Iron Chef America! Chef Morimoto is incredibly talented. On the show, he always comes with incredible presentations and association of food you would never think of.
So we decided to go back to his restaurant. I have great memories of the first time I went there few years ago: I remember that I had the surf and turf that was made with fish and Kobe beef. I did not like the taste of the kobe beef but I still can talk about the dish!!! On top of that Chef Morimoto was there, making sushi!
So we went back and had another memorable dinner! I love the place: modern with an elegant decor. Not a stuffy atmosphere at all. The service was, like the previous time, perfect: courteous and efficient.
The menu makes you drool from the first page. It offers a modern Japanese menu with some Western cuisine hints.
We started with the Nasu (eggplant in Japanese).
The eggplants were pickled. When they arrived on the table, one could not have noticed the amazing blue of the Japanese eggplant. It popped on the dish! It was the first time I tasted a pickled eggplant. It was a surprising taste: eggplant of course but definitely raw.
I then had the Oyster Foie Gras that is oysters, foie gras, sea urchin in a teriyaki sauce.
The presentation was spectacular.
Of course it is at this point that my camera shut off because the battery was empty...But I had other resources! So, back to food! This dish had so much flavors: I was scared at first that the teriyaki sauce would be overpowering, but it was not the case. You could taste all the layers: from the gigantic oyster to the foie gras and sea urchin (had been a long time I did not have some).
The Kasutera, custard omelet was very good. Light and fluffy.
We also had a tuna roll. This was very good but I will be honnest: I can get a great tuna roll in my favorite Japanese restaurant as it is pretty basic. For sure, however, the quality of the tuna is probably superior!
For the main dish, I decided to reorder the surf and turf made with Australian Wagyu beef and Hamachi fish.
This was really great! First, it changes from the traditional lobster and steak. The Hamachi fish is cut in ribbons and prepared with avocado, tomatoes, crushed citrus and onions. They mix all the ingredients together at the table, after adding some Yuzu sauce. It tasted so fresh!
The beef was cooked perfectly (I asked for medium) and was extremely tender! It has a perfect charr on the outside too. Last, this was served with potatoes cooked with a delicious cream.
We could not end this feast without trying some desserts!
We tried the warm flourless chocolate cake served with caramel popcorn and rice crispies, sesame-caramel sauce, white chocolate foam, green tea-pear sorbet.
This was amazing! I loved the caramelized popcorn and rice crispies on top of the cake. The cake itself was moist and very chocolaty.
Last, was the tofu ‘hot and cold’: soy milk soufflé, tofu cheesecake, maple ice cream.
Let me tell you: who could have imagined that a soy milk soufflé would be so good! It was my favorite dessert! However, I did not really like the tofu cheesecake: it was kind of tasteless.
These desserts were pretty imaginative and really reflect the versatility of Chef Morimoto cooking!
I am definitely a fan!
Enjoy (I did)!
And remember: I just want to eat!
