Morimoto Restaurant Reviews

I would give 0 stars if I could. Worst restaurant experience I've ever had. Food is bland and service is preferential. Has potential. This is so overpriced on food and experience. There's so many better restaurants to enjoy yourself at. The manager is nice, but again, the service is preferential and food lacks flavor. It would be okay to charge 1/3 the price for the quality of food. The interior looks like a cheap plastic house as well. I wanted my table wiped down with me looking to be sure.
They just don't have it. Pieces are missing at this establishment. Waiting an hour and 20 minutes for 2 lack luster appetizers is not okay when the table next to you is receiving service like it's the restaurants duty. Serious flaws with taste in food here though.. let alone service and the decor. I had to leave because I was hungry. I thought this was a restaurant. How mistaken I was.

Duck, A5 Wagu, freshwater eel, tofu made at the table.

Good food, but very overpriced. You're mostly paying for the name. That being said, we were able to get some very interesting sushi here that we've never had before including baby eel, baby squid, and icefish. My only complaint (besides the price) was that the sushi rice was too cold and didn't stick together correctly. You wouldn't be able to get away with something like that at any sushi restaurant in NYC.

The toilet paper was facing the wrong way. Steak great, top 5 ever. If you pronounce cocktails correct they give it to you for free. Happy Hour is only upstairs 5-7 and half the dish; Get the rock shrimp tempura

A food experience. This isn't just your standard fancy restaurant, this is a journey through culinary mastery. Food was phenomenal and service was superb. This place is pricey but the experience made sure I'll definitely be back.

The place looks AMAZING, the sushi is delicious and the prices are pretty fair!

Very upscale restaurant with the option of private seating for up to 12 people. Customers usually crave this place for its designed dishes.

All I can say is ....WOW!!! Incredible food and impeccable service. We ate here 2/22/19 and had a phenomenal experience. Beautiful ambiance and close location to Center city Philly. Right upon entry we were offered if we'd like to check our coats. After seating and meeting with our server, Jack, a "palette teaser" was brought out - incredible touch. Wanted to try some sake and Jack really helped guide us to a good decision. Ordered Yellow tail.... WOW, chef recommended dash of wasabi with it and it really gives it a different flavor, hint of crunchiness with beautiful caviar and 2 Japanese berries for palette cleanse. Kimora with 3 different toppings all tasted completely different - wild... food really comes FAST. (if you want it, we said that we like to go slow and it really was taken note after first two dishes came firing out. When you finish your dish the whole team is working together and takes empty plates FAST, I love this clearing room to order more and they even are interested how your dish was - very nice touch. Waygu dumplings next, wow, oil tender meat with a hint of fruit which hits you so smooth and the broth packed with flavors. Saute foie gras and grilled eel, wow, hint of peanut and apple sour in the sauce, approaching too much sour, tender fruity. Lovely asian pear as well. Ishi yaki bob, Aaron was a server in training and made this table side for us and was very fun and kind, not an American style dish at all - very authentic and beautiful seeing it come together at your table. Oysters were very fresh. The wagyu in this dish was not as tender as I have had it before - only topped by Nobu's waygu, but still tasty and gave a unique twist with crazy flavors with the mushroom and egg cooked in bowl while wagyu cooking and fried rice had a special sauce really brought it out - palette is dancing with this dish. Love that each dish new clean silverware comes out with new plates. This is how it should be. When one of us went to the bathroom someone from the team would come by and fold the napkins.... I have never seen this before... huge small touch that sets their service apart. Unfortunately they were out of blue snapper for sushi - this was very disappointing especially in a coastal city and high end restaurant. Tried Golden big eye snapper which was fresh light and fruity, Barracuda, was more salty but with a hint of wasabi can create some nice flavor, black fish was too similar to the snapper for me but still worth trying. Dessert: full menue of dessert wines and liquors - love to see this, with unique sake and Japanese whiskeys offered. We got the custard and a special honey was poured around it, the custard noodles had an odd texture to it a little rubbery, wish it would be more creamy and the honey was almost like maple syrup - way too sugary. Asian pear ice cream was phenomenal. Tasted 8 year old whiskey, Jack said it was comparable to 8 year Macallan and was very strong. Their overall Wine list was a little soft, but they had great variety of Japanese sake and liquor. I enjoyed that Jack did not come back after dessert when I said we are just going to relax and finish our drinks, he only came back when I asked for receipt, this is how it should be. No rush for us to get out. I spoke with the manager Julia and expressed how amazing the food and service was. This is a MUST go to in Philly.

Second time visiting after 8 years,
Still as great. We enjoyed the 8 course tasting and it was delicious. Presentation impeccable. Staff 5 stars as it should be considering price.
Wouldn t say it s a every month type of restaurant but more like a special occasion.

This Iron Chef restaurant is a Pacific culinary adventure, right in Center City Philly, close to the Old City. You can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but you'll probably want someone else picking up the tab - the prices definitely match the quality!

Good food, I don't eat sushi, but this place was inviting enough for me to try, so, kudos!

Food was decent. Service was horrendous. When you spend $1000 on dinner, you would expect perfection from the service. Ordered the Omakase, waiting 1 hour between one of the courses. Kept being apologized too for the wait and was told it would be out shortly (multiple times). Seasonal Omakase had some decent dishes, however sushi dishes were standard, nothing special for the $150 per person meal. Have been there before when the food was fantastic as well as the service. Not this time. This experience has assured me, I would not go back to Morimoto. There are many other places that this kind of money would guarantee a superb meal.

Whoa! I've never had sushi so perfect. Be forewarned the prices are high but the quality and perfection of the dishes is well worth it. I don't know if i could have one complaint with the food. I don't care for the ambiance of the restaurant as it is too much of a night club other than a serious restaurant.

I have been to Morimoto Maui. It was way much better. Very bad food. We waited for 1.5h for our food to deliver from kitchen to table. Sushi is a MUST NOT. Using very bad rice and the quality of fish is about what you get from a to-go sushi shop near your company. Filet is OK. I am from New York City. I would like to pay $30 for this Filet not $72. Service is the same level from McDonald s. Some places look not clean. No details are taken care of.

FYI The image is what we left in sushi dish. I finished just because I paid $65.

An amazing place to dine, my gf and I had a wonderful experience even with the limitations

Excellent food and service. As pricey as you'd expect.

Great service. Server knew the menu back to front and of course great tasting food.

There are two ways to eat in this place: Omakase or Ala Carte. The chef and the staff make your Omakase experience a memorable one. It's really worth the money.

Everything about our experience was great. The food is phenomenal. The staff were awesome, it was a great night out

I gave 5 stars for the ambiance. Not many options if you are vegetarian. I got the vegetable ramen which was very good except a bit too salty. The rest of my party said the sushi was the best they ever had and they had just come back from Japan. The ice cream was delicious. Service was professional.

Very tasty food, incredibly warm and helpful staff, and giant portions! Morimoto has been an anchor of the high end Philly dining scene for years now and while the interior--evocative of the ocean--is a bit dated, the food remains delicious. The katsudon and unadon lunch sets are very tasty, albeit heavy on the rice portion size, and the shiso yuzu castella dessert was quite imaginative, easily the most interesting thing we ate. All told, our lunch bill for two entrees, a dessert, and a piece of oh-toro sashimi ran us $75 after tax and tip.

Wish I could like them more. Sat at the sushi bar. Was not as memorable as I hoped for.

I don't even have words to properly express how fantastic everything here was

Great Japanese restaurant, as one coming from San Francisco area before. Good selection, well prepared and great service.

Great food and vibe. Would definitely recommend making reservations.

I celebrated my nomination earlier this evening in this delicious restaurant. I am glad to say that it was a wonderful evening and the place was evidently the reason for this successful event. The team cooperated in a lovely way, the meals were delicious and my guests were so happy. We shall no dout return for more events. thanks very much.

I have no words! It's out of that world. Top notch service.

Recommended by a friend, very delicious food, money well spent, love everything about, definitely recommend to try it.

Food is good.
service is crap. Takes way too long for omikase. Spending 200 per person and the wait between dishes is completely unacceptable.

Website uses outdated software (Flash), so cannot view. Disappointing!

An foodie experience I won't soon forget. The black cod was delicious.

With this being my first visit to Morimoto's I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. I ordered the Omakase with both upgrades and each course was absolutely fantastic. From the toro tartare to the a5 wagyu and finally the panna cotta every dish was mind-blowing. The server was extremely helpful in suggesting and explaining dishes while greatly contributing to the experience. I definitely look forward to coming back sometime in the future.

This place was really nice and low-key. My meal was really delicious. The place is clean and pretty. It's small but comfortable. I would eat here again. The waiter we has so nice and seer we were the last people in the place until 13 and they were having fun with us. I would recommend this place

ETA I recently ate here 7/21 and my food was absolutely phenomenal......

Located next to Chifa, Morimoto is giving Jose Garces a run for his money. Unlike most restaurants, Morimoto is not dimly lit, and you can actually see the person sitting across from you. Although, there is an awkwardly placed artificial candle/light at the center of the table that can't be moved. As a result, shared dishes have to be put near the edge of the table and diners can't look at each other without being blinded by the light. The food, on the other hand, is enough reason to return. We started off with the 10 hour pork 'kakuni' - a braised pork belly served with hot rice porridge. The pork belly was cooked perfectly, with the meat flaky and the fat pure decadence. Next up was the angry chicken - a nicely marinated organic half chicken with roasted finger peppers and spiced chicken jus. The chicken was cooked just right, moist and tender without being overwhelmed by the sauce. Then there was the kobe beef ishi yaki bop - a rice dish prepared tableside in a hot river stone bowl. The kobe beef cooked evenly to medium-rare, and the flavors blended in a perfect fusion. Finally, the deserts. First came the black sesame moussecake - a silky smooth cake with layers of goma mousse, sea salt mousse, flourless chocolate cake, and dark chocolate ganache. Each bite was a bite of heaven. Then there was the irish coffee jelly parfait made up of coffee jelly, coconut sorbet, suntory 12 year yamazaki, and a dash of cinnamon. There really aren't that many words to describe this - you'll just have to go and find out.

Food and service was great! I was here 4 years ago...nothing has changed....but that's the downside.....a new switched up menu would be nice. Website really needs overhauled! It hasn't been updated since 2001!

Everything we had here was great. The sukiyaki udon was a little different from what we expected, but it was still tasty. If you re seated outside, your feet might become cold, so you should dress warm.

One of the best dining experiences in Philly. Great atmosphere and great service.

An amazing place to enjoy your day. I used to come at this place. Last time was here on my weekend, me and my friends had lot of fun. Moreover, after that we had very delicious food. I would like to recommend you too.

service - soso. the server was pretty nice but she seemed to be eager to sell me stuff. more like a salesperson than a typical server.

lobster fritter - taste like a taco yaki, without the octopus, and WITHOUT the lobster.

beef curry pan - freshly fried curry koroke. yummy, but a bit too heavy.

duck duck duck - iron chef's take on the peking duck. pretty good, but nothing special. i rather have the original peking duck.

seafood tobanyaki - phenominal broth with seafood of the quality you may find at red lobster. I'd praise this dish only if it was $5 cheaper.

poached cherries - very very pretty. the ice cream floating in the sangria melted about 2 minutes after the plate made to my table. it was pretty much gone after a couple of spoons.

not a bad dining experience, but a bit too pricey for what you get.

Food lived up to the hype of Morimoto's name. Prices were not ridiculous for the quality of food. Definitely worth it!

The food is stellar and, if possible, the service is even better than the food. We have gone here twice. And twice we have amazed at the consistent high quality of the food preparation and the knowledge and attentiveness of the wait staff.

With such a stellar reputation it must be difficult to always meet expectations. Morimoto always does.

Really cool contemporary vibe. The happy hour was great, but the seating is upstairs separate from the regular dining. They check ID's no matter how old you look and I actually forgot my ID, so we actually had to leave and come back. They were really nice about it and our table setting was still there for us when we came back. The ID run was worth it because the HH cocktail was perfect.

Great food great service and beer price best in city non happy hour.. will go back often now that we found it...

Delicious food, very knowledgeable waitstaff, and sitting at the sushi bar is a show in itself.

Above average. Lots of options on the menu but I would suggest sticking to the basics and getting the sushi. Appetizers were underwhelming.

Had a really wonderful time here! Our server was SO wonderful. She was very knowledgeable and seemed to really enjoy her job there! The food was great and the place was very unique and clean. Would highly recommend.

Amazing food for a chef inspired restaurant that lives up to the hype..

The layout and decor of the restaurant was very modern and upscale. The waiters were professional, attentive, and engaging, making our experience very good. The meals prepared at our table was also a nice touch as it made the whole experience more engaging.

We ordered the morimoto ramen, and while it was good it was also very salty. Additionally, when I ordered the swordfish it did not seem very fresh.

Beautiful restaurant, variety of great food, well made. We had a great time . Great place for date or for group and the service was absolutely awesome !!!

Went for mothers day and the food was great! The staff knew what ingredients were used in the meal and even suggested appropriate wines for us to try with each thing

The food and service are excellent. The atmosphere is great for a date or a group. The chocolate dessert is a must. Also recommend the sea bass and flank steak

Can I get an Amen! The chef tasting is literally the best sashimi and sushi I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Wife and I plus friends had an amazing evening and experience at this restaurant. Truly an exceptional experience had by all.

still creative and innovative, and now the crowds are smaller. best sushi in the city, though you'll pay premium prices for it!

One breath taking experience. This is a must go. Although the prices may be on a Beverly Hills level, it is well worth it. I even left a $100 tip! Amazing

Came here for my anniversary and the atmosphere blew me away. The service was great and the wagyu beef was the best I've ever had. I look forward to trying more of the hot dishes Morimoto has to offer.

From the moment we entered to the moment we left, it was first class treatment all the way.
The restaurant was immaculate and the staff are all dressed in black.
I enjoyed the omakase and the lychee martini was delicious.
Our server was well versed with the menu and was very professional and experienced.
The quality of food is top notch.
I will definitely save up to have dinner here again.

Amazing, 2nd time there and it was just as good if not better.

We can't come to Philly and not come to Morimoto's. We once made an entire trip just to eat here and we are never disappointed

We went for the omakase -- chef's choice -- at lunch and enjoyed seven courses plus dessert; this was about half as much as omakse at supper time. Most of the courses were sashimi prepared in various ways. The most memorable was fillets of some small fish rubbed with herbs and drizzled with yuzu soy sauce and hot sesame oil. There was at least one hot dish where the fish skin was crispy but the flesh was just barely cooked. The server was attentive and efficient. Ambience was relaxed despite spring about too chic.

Wow. This was the best sushi I have ever had. Highly recommend. Service was great as well..

Love dining here when in the area. Highly recommend for a fancy night out.

Absolutely everything I had imagined this place would be. Relaxing and inviting space. Staff is friendly, helpful and not snobby at all. Food was perfection and so were the drinks. Order one of the hot stone dishes cooked at your table side. Prices are high as expected for the world renowned namesake chef but you can save money and go for lunch instead of dinner!

The photo doesn't do justice to Seasonal Mushrooms pictured. An ensemble of mushrooms seemed like fae folk food they deigned to share with humans, to my delight.. I haven't ever tasted the complex herbs and chicory. Japanese restaurants miso soup is the barometer of a place, their's was complex and warm with delicate tofu in the ocean of flavor, warm. Also had Chilean sea bass with veggies, also good

Amazing restaurant, fabulous food, very intense flavors, fresh, would highly recommend!

Phenomenal food, drinks and atmosphere since it opened way back when. Superbly presented fresh sushi (among other delights) with a nice wine and sake list. Just go.

Loved this spot. Went for a birthday with my boyfriend and just had the best night. Omakase was fantastic and I was told by my date the shochu was to die for.

Very good service and good food, come to try JP food in Philadelphia City!

Delicious food and excellent service. It never gets boring.