Great pics of Morimoto Asia but review bad

[mickeysimba]

I think this restaurant looks stunning inside, but I was really disappointed to read this review. Has anyone else been and had a good experience with food and service? Is the sushi good?

https://luxerecess.com/marimoto-asia-disney-springs-dessert/

 

[freshmanjs]

Agree with the review. Restaurant is beautiful. Service was horrible (we complained to the manager and got offered a free dessert, which never arrived). Food was mostly mediocre.

Pad Thai - awful
Ribs - good
Peking Duck - mediocre
Egg Rolls - poor
Black Cod -- ok, but not nearly as good as at Nobu

 

[mickeysimba]

So disappointing! They are charging Nobu prices, so I don't see why they can't offer Nobu level food, too, especially in an effort to get more convention traffic to Disney Springs.

 

[denecarter]

My daughter and I spent almost 2 hrs there on a fabulous meal in October. We ordered 3-4 appetizers and the Peking duck. They were brought out one by one. We enjoyed it and are returning in July.

And did it drive anybody else crazy that the title of the review and the review itself misspelled Morimoto at least 3 times... while incuding a picture of the restaurant sign with the correct spelling?

 

[soniam]

My daughter and I spent almost 2 hrs there on a fabulous meal in October. We ordered 3-4 appetizers and the Peking duck. They were brought out one by one. We enjoyed it and are returning in July.

And did it drive anybody else crazy that the title of the review and the review itself misspelled Morimoto at least 3 times... while incuding a picture of the restaurant sign with the correct spelling?

Thank you. It drove me frickin' nuts. I actually had to tell DH about it. It was weird that it was multiple times too.

I think the biggest issue is that people are expecting Nobu quality food, and it isn't supposed to be like that or on that level. It's supposed to be Asian, not Japanese, and a bit more casual. I am looking forward to eating there. I have actually read some good reviews too. The restaurant is definitely beautiful.

 

[Travis B]

I thought it was fine when we were there in October - my experience was positive overall.

 

[rsimon]

We have eaten there many times and have gotten good service. The food we have had has been very good and they have been willing to change things up on request without issue. That said, doing a Forrest Gump analogy, servers are like a box of chocolates and I would definitely not put up with bad service and expect the manager to take care of it if I had a bad server. I am very vocal about this when I do get bad service someplace.

I always read reviews with an eye on what was ordered, what expectations the reviewer had, and what are their likes/dislikes.

First, I wouldn't order a tempura calamari salad and then say it could have been saved with grilled calamari. What do they think the dressing will do to the tempura? Make it crispy?
Second, they asked for gluten free stir fry and the reviewer "suspects" that it was coated with something that wasn't gluten free. It could have been rice flour or something that was gluten free for all they know. Why critique it unless you know for sure it was wrong?
Third, I wouldn't order a panko covered hamburger for the kids and expect it to be anything special other than a meat ball covered in panko. Doesn't sound all that good to me and I wouldn't expect much.

I have ordered sushi there, Peking duck, miso soup, the ribs, noodles, house greens, orange chicken, and black cod. They were all very good and I would order them again.

 

[caralovesdis]

We went in October as well and LOVED it.... only place my oldest son has asked to go back to on our next vacation. Not everyone is going to like it. I never go in having high expectations though too

 

[MrToadsWildRide]

Has anyone else been and had a good experience with food and service? Is the sushi good?

I have eaten there. Several times. Enjoyed them all.

Here's a brief write up I did on my first visit.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/morimoto-disney-springs.3458925/#post-54649810

 

[freshmanjs]

First, I wouldn't order a tempura calamari salad and then say it could have been saved with grilled calamari. What do they think the dressing will do to the tempura? Make it crispy?

Well, since the signature dish at Nobu for many years has been the sauced rock shrimp tempura (which is indeed very crispy)....yeah. Funny you don't know that, since you are belittling others expectations based on what they order.

 

[rsimon]

Well, since the signature dish at Nobu for many years has been the sauced rock shrimp tempura (which is indeed very crispy)....yeah. Funny you don't know that, since you are belittling others expectations based on what they order.

You are comparing "calamari tempura, lettuce mix, tomato, red onion, cucumber, morimoto ginger-onion dressing" listed as a salad and "Rock Shrimp Tempura with Shichimi Ponzu or Creamy Spicy Sauce" listed as a hot dish? Dressing and a sauce are really two different things along with the other components of the dishes. The only thing they have in common is tempura.

I was saying that I wouldn't order it and expect it to be more crispy than the same dish with no salad and dressing on top. If the server lets it die on before service or the cook over dresses the salad, it is going to get soggy and I would definitely send it back. The sauce at Nobu would do the same eventually given time. Others have reviewed this at Disney Springs on other sites and really enjoyed it. Either dish would not be as crispy with the sauce though as without.

I was criticizing the review for suggesting that the dish would have been saved with grilled calamari when they knew what they were ordering. If they wanted something different or the prep/delivery of the dish was off, send it back. Make them do it right. I have sent back many dishes at much better places than anywhere Disney has to offer so it happens everywhere.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We had dinner here on Dec. 28 and it was hit or miss. The service at the bar was slow (they really need more than 2 bartenders - this was during Christmas week!) and service at dinner was slow. Our dishes came out quite haphazardly and the sushi was so late we almost canceled the order (we had tickets to a movie and had given ourselves 2 1/2 hours for the meal and we JUST made it to the movie on time). The waiter and manager were apologetic. I was just disappointed that we didn't have time for dessert because I really wanted to try a bit of everything.

That being said. If in Disney Springs, again, I would go back (though we prefer the Boathouse for food and service). I would, however, avoid the dumplings (completely tasteless) and the sushi (so unimpressive. will stick with Kimono's when at WDW). We really enjoyed the Peking duck, the spare ribs and the cocktails! I do hope the other food and the service improves. This place holds promise. They just aren't there yet.

 

[atricks]

We tried this place twice, first night (week after opening) was horrible service, and had the manager over 4 times. (We didn't have a complicated order.) We chalked that up to being new. The second time the service wasn't as bad, but it was still bad. After the second time we aren't going back. Better options elsewhere.

 

[Disbug]

I was there on opening night and did enjoy myself, but it was a bit of a mess. The friendliness of the server was there, but the experience and other needed qualities were lacking. I never got a refill on any of my beverages, for example. Also, one of the items I ordered never showed up. I ended up spending $90 for the black cod, an appetizer, a beer, and a bottle of Morimoto's signature beer. I also had to remind my server that I never received one of the dishes I was charged for. As for the souvenir beer bottle, Morimoto signed it but the signature melted off... so a permanent marker was not used. I would say my dining experience was bad overall, but still I enjoyed being there on opening night. The prices being charged are not in line with the quality of the service or the food. People on either side of me were getting complimentary adult beverages and desserts, for slow service, even though I was seated ahead of them and had not received my food either. So the suits were trying to keep everyone happy and that was appreciated. When I go back, I will stick to the sushi, or another modestly priced dish since the high end dishes were noticeably lacking. I would expect a menu adjustment in the future to streamline the dishes they can execute best, otherwise, I do not see a long future for this restaurant.

 

[soniam]

Well, since the signature dish at Nobu for many years has been the sauced rock shrimp tempura (which is indeed very crispy)....yeah. Funny you don't know that, since you are belittling others expectations based on what they order.

Nobu is not owned my Morimoto. He was the head chef there several years ago, not the owner, and has since gone out on his own and opened his own restaurants. We should really stop comparing it to Nobu and compare it to Morimoto's restaurants.

 

[a742246]

Everything we ordered was well prepared and tasty and the service was excellent, been there twice! Note: We eat late lunches!

 

[AshleyLovesDisney]

I stopped reading when she said "nobody goes to Disney World for the food."

Umm......I do. Dining, to me, is a big part of the Disney experience and we've had some really excellent meals during our visits!

Anyone snobby or uninformed enough not to realize that shouldn't be reviewing Disney restaurants, full stop.

 

[freshmanjs]

Nobu is not owned my Morimoto. He was the head chef there several years ago, not the owner, and has since gone out on his own and opened his own restaurants. We should really stop comparing it to Nobu and compare it to Morimoto's restaurants.

Well, we could do that. But Morimoto's actual restaurants are so far superior to anything at Disney (and to any of the Nobu locations), it wouldn't even be an interesting discussion.

 

[freshmanjs]

I stopped reading when she said "nobody goes to Disney World for the food."

Umm......I do. Dining, to me, is a big part of the Disney experience and we've had some really excellent meals during our visits!

Anyone snobby or uniformed enough not to realize that shouldn't be reviewing Disney restaurants, full stop.

Disney has some decent food for a theme park resort. However, it is not a very good dining destination compared to many other places. We routinely get far better food at home in restaurants (and out in NYC) than we get at Disney. Agree with the reviewer on that point. Would not go to Disney World for the food.

 

[Jetta8300]

We may try it out but their sushi menu looks extremely limited. We absolutely love sushi and have some great restaurants around our house, we are very spoiled. We usually like the "special" rolls, but it looks like this restaurant is more limited to your typical rolls that would be like the "small" rolls. Not very exciting so we are still undecided.