Morimoto Napa

Napa, CA

I was first introduced to Iron Chef as a high school junior in Bio. Mr. K would break from his lectures to discuss the latest episode he'd seen and always mimic the chairman yelling "ALLEZ CUISINE!" This was the old school version with the terrible English dubbing that was on at odd hours of the night. The only reason they were able to have an Iron Chef America was because they brought over an original Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto. Morimoto has always been the anchor to the Iron Chef cast with his innovation and superb knife skills. I had always wanted to experience a dining adventure at one of his NYC restaurants, heck even Philly and imagine my joy months ago when I heard he would open a restaurant in Napa. So finally last night, the dreams to dine by the hands of my favorite Iron Chef became a reality. 

The excitement of the possibility of seeing Morimoto was quickly met as we strolled past him as we were being seated. The chef, checking each item before it was delivered, was working furiously in the kitchen as a small line of patrons had gathered awaiting a chance to meet him. We knew that would be us waiting in line once our meal was completed. 

White Lilly and Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale

The cocktail and beer selection was solid, centered around Asian flavors such as yuzu, lychee and calpico. The beer and sake menu was dominated by Morimoto branded items, I'm guessing this is where the money is made.  We opted for the White Lilly ($11) and Black Obi Soba Ale ($15). The White Lilly was refreshing and crisp, centered around shochu, calpico and yuzu but a little light on the alcohol for a cocktail. Although extremely dark, the Obi was light and complex with layers of flavors.

The real task at hand was deciding whether to select the Omakase 7 course menu ($110) or selecting our own dishes based off the reviews we had read. We opted to choose our own items, mainly because we wanted to have a variety of nigiri to try. 

Tuna Tartar

We started with two cold appetizers, the Toro Tartar ($25) and Tuna Pizza ($18). The Toro Tartar came with six accompaniments, from right to left, nori paste, wasabi, creme fraiche, chive, avocado and crispy rice. The presentation was beautiful, the toro and sauces individually placed in wooden trays on a large bowl of ice with two chilled spatulas to scoop up and mix the ingredients. A small cup of dashi broth added an addition flavor dimension to play with. Above all, this dish was fun and allowed for creativity in mixing the various components.

Tuna Pizza

The Tuna Pizza was the dish of the night, as it showcased the creativity of Morimoto's usage of Japanese ingredients in an original manner. The cracker thin crust was covered entirely by tuna sashimi, combined with anchovy aioli, olives and jalapeños. I despise anchovy, but somehow found myself licking this aioli off my fingers. The spice was perfect  and all the while the strong flavors never overcame the fresh smooth flavor of the tuna. After it was gone, it made me wanting more.     


The second round of dishes were hot appetizers. Having read so much about the oyster fois gras ($19), I was very excited to taste the mixture of three rich heavy flavors, uni, fois, and oyster.

Oyster Fois Gras

Unfortunately, this dish just had too much going on. The oyster was overcooked, the thick black sauce overpowered the sweetness of the ocean and fois was lost. It was a fun idea, but not something I'd order again. The second hot appetizer was Morimoto bone marrow ($16)

Morimoto Bone Marrow

Ever since having Bone Marrow at Wolfgang Puck's CUT, I've been in love with it. Morimoto's version was overpowered with the Teriyaka and spices and lost the delicacy of the marrow itself. Although the presentation was impressive, a genuine Flintstones moment, this dish could've been left out.

The main entrees were next, I ordered the Surf and Turf special ($45) and Chu-Toro had the Sea Urchin Carbonara ($18). The Surf and Turf came with a substantial sized Austrian Waygu Filet covered in puff corn. The steak was done medium rare per my requests and was soft and flavorful. It was a solid filet, but nothing memorable. The Hamachi Guacamole were about eight strips of fish, small chunks of avacado, cilantro, lime and chili oil in a pipet. I was instructed to mix the ingredients together to create the guac. It did taste like guac, but i would've preferred the  lobster that Omakase guests received. The potatoes were nice bites, covered salted and fun to eat.

Australian Waygu

Hamachi Guacamole

Surf and Turf with Fingerling potatoes

Before our dinner that night, we looked the menu over and the Sea Urchin Carbanora was amongst the top of our list. Chu-Toro had never been a uni fan, but since the uni noodles at Sushi Zo developed an affinity for the rich sea flavor. This Carbanoro's flavor was good, rich creamy but the saltiness of the bacon masked the uni. The noodles themselves were stuck together in a clump and too soft. A fun dish, but could not beat our favorite uni noodles.

Sea Urchin Carbonara

At this point, we were a little underwhelmed by the meal as a whole, good, unique ideas with decent but not precise execution. As sushi lovers, we were hoping that this would be the nearby great quality Sushi bar we often crave.

Hamachi, Sake, Hirame, Kanpachi, Japanese Tai Nigiri

Chu-Toro, Tako, Mizudako, Hotate Nigiri 

Without describing each bite of fish, overall the fish quality was fresh and smooth. The sweetness of the hotate and chu toro was lacking and the sushi rice was hard. Not enough to uproot our fave Nor-Cal sushi place Sushi Zone.

Our last course consisted of two desserts, Blueberry and Earl Grey Tea Creme Brulee and Morimoto's 'doughnuts.'

'Doughnuts' with variety of dipping sauces

Blueberry and Earl Grey Creme Brulee

Similar to the Toro tartar, the doughnuts ($12) were fun, lots of dipping condiments ranging from Japanese molasses and honey lavender to green tea and ginger sugars but not something I'd order again. Adversely the Creme Brulee ($12) was unique and complex layered by tartness of the blueberries, the sweetness of the almond caramel and citrus of the earl grey. The lemon grass sorbet was a refreshing pallet cleanser to finish the meal. 

Overall the meal was exciting and fun and we will come back for the Omakase if chef Morimoto is around. But the quality of the flavors was far from perfect and there's work to be done if Morimoto Napa hopes to earn a Michelin star in the Napa Valley. 

Rating 6.5/10

August 8, 2010