Morimoto NYC: Omakase bar night 7, the porn

Night 7, variations on themes but still no repeat dishes. No nitrogen intermezzo, but a torch came out.

mushi awabi steamed abalone with apple cider vinegar. Rather than playing up the richness of the abalone, this contrasted it with acidity. The texture was great -- more bite than chew, lightened by coolness and acidulation.

buri pastrami with schimi. Buri pastrami (made in-house) with dried candied olives, a caper berry, and a foie gras croissant. Different kinds of richness all together.

onkou sumiso ae monkfish with mustard miso The Japanese key lime, squeezed over the top of slightly bitter broccolini, the fish, and the sweet/hot mustard ended up creating a subtly rich amalgam of tastes.

Uni, lamb, and kobe sashimi, with a ginger shallot dip for the lamb, garlic soy for the kobe, and sea salt from okinawe for the uni.

fluke and amber jack

shijimi jiru freshwater clam soup. Strips of a starchy root vegetable in a light broth with tiny little river clams (about the size of a thumbnail).

Fugu Carpaccio with ankimo puree and ponzu. Hot olive oil poured over the fugu, topped with monkfish liver and ponzu. There were also red shiso flowers in the garnish.

intermezzo mango sorbet with mango coconut sauce and mango black seseme salsa.

Tuna collar with habanero sauce. Broiled tuna collar is amazing, it is like they made steak out of butter. The best part of this was the sauce. It had real heat from the habeneros while also showing the flavor of roasted peppers and made a deeply flavored condiment for the richness of the tuna.

ankou nabe monkfish hot pot. Monk fish meat, liver, skin and collar in shantung broth with greens and mushrooms. You scooped the flesh out of the pot with a slotted ladel and dipped it in a ponzu sauce, then finished the broth with a soup spoon.

boston mackerel and yellow tail

shake chazuke salmon rice bowl with green tea and yuzu pepper sauce. The salmon, which had been salt-cured back when they were running, was steaked and cooked with the rice. You then poured green tea from a pot over it and mixed in the yuzu pepper which came as a dollop on a demi-tasse spoon.

pre-dessert white chocolate mousse with pomero ume compote

Dessert chocolate tart. Salted chocolate and caramel stacked with a tuille and yuzu ice cream.

Comments

How did you get a copy of the omakase menu??? I was at the lounge last night and then came upstairs to say hello to the Iron chef and on the way out I remembered to ask for a copy but the front desk people said they didn't make copies???? or that it wasn't ever available since "he" creates it on the spot???

[augieland]

The omakase menu is different every time as you can see from nights 1-7. At the beginning of each meal I simply request that they give me a list of what i have eaten at the end.

By the way, after each time you were at the omakase counter, was there any more suspicion that you might be some sort of a critic? Any more effort made on their behalf to impress? I'm very curious to know... I'll be going myself and a few friends for my birthday. I'm also hoping to trail in the kitchen part time but specifically learn his style of kaiseki... not sure if this is even a possibility.