Memorial Weekend in Philadelphia: Dinner & Lunch at Morimoto

• Introduction & Austin to Philly
• Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel Philadelphia
• Palomar Hotel Philadelphia
• Dinner at Marigold Restaurant
• Dinner & Lunch at Morimoto
• Exploring Philadelphia
• Philadelphia to Austin on American Airlines

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After eating at Morimoto in New York and savoring what is still today one of the best desserts we've eaten, we were set on trying Morimoto's establishment in Philadelphia. The location of Morimoto was in some non-nondescript shop but with most places in Philly, was easily accessible via public transport. The restaurant was relatively empty when we visited for dinner but I guess it was normal considering most people would be spending time with the family at home on the Sunday of Memorial weekend.

We went back and forth on whether to go ala carte since they were some dishes that looked interesting or just leave it to the chef and try the omakase meals. In the end, we both went for the omakase option with Lydia going for the cheaper $80 option and me going for the $120 since we wanted to see the difference between the two options.

I also decided splurge a little bit more and added the drinks pairing as well for an additional $60. I'll be honest and say that I won't be talking much on the drinks/wine that was served since I don't remember the details. What I can remember however was that there was some pretty good wines and sake that was served with every course and they definitely paired well with the food.

Dinner started with a tuna tar-tar that had fried onions that added a wonderful crunch and flavor to the dish. This course was excellently paired with champagne.

My omakase course had an extra oyster course prepared three ways. This was paired with some sake.

This was followed by a fish carpaccio course that was served in hot oils.

The sashimi course was just as good as any sashimi you can get in Japan and paired well with the sauce and greens. Yellowfin was the fish on offer for the more expensive omakase where as mackerel was the selection for Lydia's cheaper omakase. Both were just equally good!

The first main course as the seafood/fish course. I had the lobster that was tasty and had Indian influences. Lydia's option was the the scallop that was just okay and not as good as the scallop we had at Marigold the night before.

A juicy tender wagyu beef was my next course where as Lydia had a pan fried duck breast.

The mains ended with a sushi course which was nothing special. There are definitely sushi than this.

 

Dessert was also pretty normal and we were disappointed both of us were served the same thing.

Since we left dinner somewhat disappointed because of the dessert and we wanted to try some of the other ala carte dishes, we actually went back to Morimoto next day for lunch before flying back to Austin. It was a hard choice deciding between the chicken noodle soup and the pork ramen so the waitress suggested to just order both and they would be happy to split it for us. Both the noodles were really good. The chicken noodle soup was light and tasty and something your mum would make. The pork ramen was rich and hearty and one of the best I've had. We also ordered a side of prawn tempura which was just delicious.

Dessert today was not a disappointment since we got to choose what we actually wanted. We ordered a coffee jelly inspired dessert that had some Yamazake whiskey and a miso honeycake that was served with shiso vanilla bean ice-cream. We liked the coffee dessert more - how can whiskey in a dessert go wrong!

The food in both meals was truly an experience. However, the biggest highlight was actually meeting up with Morimoto himself (he was in town for some videoshoot/promo of the restaurant) and he was more than happy to take a picture with us.