Morimoto Asia Restaurant - Walt Disney World Resort

Morimoto Asia Restaurant - Walt Disney World Resort

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Posted 2022-09-19 by Gail Clifford MDfollow


You may be familiar with the name "Morimoto" from Iron Chef but recognizing the name and experiencing the food are two entirely different sensory experiences. Once you've been to Master Chef Masaharu Morimoto's Disney Springs Morimoto Asia restaurant, though, you may find all your senses are instantly standing at attention. That's now our experience when hearing the name and reliving our visit to his Disney Springs restaurant. His ability to interpret Japanese, Chinese, and Korean dishes is matched by the restaurant's award-winning architecture. If you start your feast with your eyes, you'll be enchanted the moment you walk in the door.Welcomed quickly by fast-working, smooth-talking maître ds, we were promptly whisked back to our booth table by a lovely young woman wearing a kimono-style uniform. Drink orders taken, we had time to sit back and gaze around us.



Seated near the kitchen, the glass-lined area revealed a rack of Peking Ducks, ready to be delivered upon request. One duck serves two. Their roasted skins shone in the gentle spotlight, somehow away from the bright lights a busy kitchen requires to move smoothly.Without a voice raised in the kitchen, the primary sounds you'll hear are murmurs of contented diners enjoying their meals. See the other people that, like you, are gazing up to the ceiling, with its tiered strand chandeliers reaching a full story of the building. Upstairs, beneath a gently curving wave, spot the shogi-like doors, open in welcome.Pictures of Asian faces alight the walls and add to the ambiance as do the Asian characters, painted in the most fortunate red against the dark wood beams.



Our smiling server, Emma, delivers water and asks what else we'd like to drink. She's happy to assist with wine pairings and paring down meal decisions. With her guidance, the wine connoisseur of our group was able to choose between a light, crisp, refreshing white wine or a lively, vibrant, "fruit-forward" white wine. She also requested allergy information so she could assist with our choices and confirm we'd have no issue, which was incredibly helpful.



White wine and mocktail accompanied edamame served with thick sea salt. And another wonderful meal begins.



My colleagues chose sushi rolls, ordering the salmon and eel. The eel paired with avocado, they told me, is "fresh and delightful," and, when accompanied by the thinly sliced ginger, "Just delicious." We accidentally received this spider at first instead of the eel, so that was promptly replaced and appreciated by my sushi-loving friends.


They told me it's very important to make sure you put the entire bite in your mouth to receive the full effect. Please note, even the delivery server made a point of identifying the food allergy of my colleague when the spider sushi was placed, so we were never in danger.



As much for the photo opportunity as an anticipation of the enjoyment of the meal, we chose a burii-bop which was prepared tableside. His Korean style yellowtail rice bowl is served in a hot clay pot, 450 degrees, our tableside chef told us, finished with an egg yolk and white rice. The yellowtail is presented in the hot pot, promptly sliced into thinner sections, and pushed to the edges of the bowl to cook. He told us that only one side is cooked to leave the texture of sashimi. My colleagues tell me that it tasted as though it had cooked through. The bowl was so hot, the egg yolk cooked quickly. My colleagues felt it was as delicious as it looked entertaining.



With my celiac disease and challenges with the Japanese sauces, my order was a simple orange chicken, but they had to hold the sauce and grill the chicken independently. This simple white rice and chicken dish was one of the best I had during this visit to Orlando. What they say on those chef shows is correct: When it's something simple, it must be perfect. Mine was.



While they did have some dessert offerings, none of us had room to have anything else while at the restaurant, and we knew that walking around Disney Springs would give us plenty of opportunity to not only work off some of the calories but allow ourselves to digest and have another treat elsewhere. It's easy to see that it would be quite possible to have your dessert here and complete your night at Disney Springs without visiting any other establishment.



On the second level, you'll not only have an excellent view of the restaurant below, but access to the sushi bar and chefs actively preparing sushi rolls for the guests on bar stools in front of them as well as other patrons. Over to the right, you'll find the bar, another space to sit and enjoy a cocktail each night.



Centrally located in Disney Springs, it's important to have a reservation if you'd like lunch or dinner during traditional meal hours. There's a companion bathroom upstairs with the restrooms on the main level at the back of the restaurant behind the staircase. Oh, and don't be put off by the line up the side of the building… that's for Gideon's Bakery. With a reservation, the wait at Morimoto Asia is minimal. The staff is that good.

And, on a personal note, it was my first ever TikTok. Our Orlando representative taught us how to upload them and we completed it before we ever left the building.

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93970 - 2023-06-12 01:08:07

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