Morimoto

Our reservation was for 8:30, we arrived at 8:50 (oops...). For the record, I did apologize when we spoke to the maître d'. We waited in the bar and had cocktails (the white lily was our favorite and Sean makes it the best). We were finally seated at 10:15.

Yes, we were annoyed, but the manager (?) Kevin totally made up for it. He apologized sincerely, gave a great table, sent out two (!) appetizers and upgraded the bottle of wine we chose. Amazing. I work at a very similar restaurant and we don't do anything close to that for customers who are forced to wait or for any reason unhappy. It was truly a breath of fresh air. Excluding the curt hostess we dealt with in the beginning, the staff was friendly and fantastic. I would return for the service alone.

So, on to the food. The two appetizers we received gratis were the tuna pizza and the octopus carpaccio. The tuna pizza was slices of raw tuna, olives, tomato, jalapeno, and aioli atop a fine crispy flatbread. The flavors were subtle, but interesting, and the jalapeno gave a nice little kick. The octopus carpaccio was very very similar (in not basically identical) to Nobu's "new style" dishes, which he does with octopus and many other proteins. Morimoto was the head chef of Nobu in Tribeca for many years so I suppose it's not terrible if he "adapted" a few Nobu recipes. It was delicious, but as with Nobu's "new style," the protein got a bit lost in all the herbs and oils.

The next dish we had was the kobe beef carpaccio. We were going to get the lamb carpaccio on the recommendation of some friends, but the server talked us into kobe beef. It was prepared in the same way as the octopus carpaccio, which was disappointing, but I have to say the beef stood up to the preparation much more than the octopus. There was so much flavor in those thin slices of beef that they truly dominated the dish. And seared in some areas, nearly raw in others, the meat itself was captivating. I have to say, that is the best kobe beef, actually the best beef I have ever had. It was just so tender and flavorful. I would have loved to taste it in a more subtle preparation.

After that we had the spicy king crab and the crispy rock shrimp tempura in two sauces. The king crab was delicious but heavy. Hearty chunks of king crab were topped with a kind of creamy spicy aioli. It had some serious heat (which I love), but was a little too heavy. We agreed that we liked it, but also agreed that that was primarily because we loved king crab. The preparation was different and fascinating, but did not necessarily elevate the crab. The rock shrimp tempura was actually a trio. There was rock shrimp in wasabi aioli, rock shrimp in a spicy, slightly sweet aioli, and a home-made ranch dressing on the side with some sliced vegetables. Both tempuras were interesting and I liked the juxtaposition, but the ranch was sour, strong, and seemed incongruous. I felt it didn't belong on the plate. Anyone who needs to take shrimp, tempura it, cover it in mayonnaise, and then dip it in ranch dressing has not only defined "gluttony" but has diluted the composition of flavor to such a degree that you might as well be dipping buffalo wing sauce-coated fried oreos in blue cheese (fat is fat is fat).

We concluded our meal with the lobster "épice," which was basically lobster and vegetables coated lightly with garam masala and served with a lemon crème fraîche on the side. It was interesting, and new, and I appreciated the novelty. I even thought the lobster was spiced perfectly, so that the spice did not overpower the shellfish. However, it was not a dish I would order a second time. The vegetables were boring (carrot, broccoli, potato, cauliflower) and did not add to the dish. And the flavors, while innovative were not perfectly balanced and left me feeling as if I were missing something. Perhaps acidity.

Overall we were very happy with our meal. As I said, I would return just for the service. And the wine list was excellent. There were many affordable and diverse wines to choose from, as well as the expensive classics. To me, Morimoto finishes definitively second to Nobu in food, but perhaps higher in service, or rather management. Those in charge do good business by making their customers feel valued, and I look forward to trying more of Morimoto's cuisine in the future.