Other than a small sign embedded into the wall, and surprisingly discrete green doors leading into the restaurant, it is easy to walk by the entrance to Morimoto’s restaurant on Chestnut street that lies not too far from the Independence Hall. I ended up selecting this restaurant for lunch when I was in Philadelphia because it is one of two restaurants (the other ironically in New York City) owned by Iron Chef Morimoto.

The interior is a stunning work of art with a crested wooden wave floating high about your head and intricate designs impressed along the walls drawing down to the sushi bar and kitchen area at the back. A sculpture at the entrance splits the room into two with two walk ways splitting the main dining area into four main rows lined with glass tables and very comfortable modern wooden chairs. Each set of tables are separated by a thick layer of frosted glass embedded with a pulsating light at the bottom that cycles through calming tones of colours including purple, green, blue, and red. The shifting colours also incidentally pulse through the Morimoto sign that sits outside. Trendy lounge music pipes throughout the restaurant and even though the restaurant was fairly empty throughout my lunch the music never became overwhelmingly loud.

The interior is a stunning work of art with a crested wooden wave floating high about your head and intricate designs impressed along the walls drawing down to the sushi bar and kitchen area at the back. Though not Michelin starred, I thought the food was going to be more expensive given the name behind it but most dishes were reasonably priced. Morimoto offers a better valued set lunch including a salsad miso soup and a main course ranging between USD16-21 dollars. You can of course order individual dishes off the menu or the sushi menu but they also offer a set of tasting menus ranging from USD40 to USD80. I decided to pick one of these since I thought it would be the best way to not have to choose one particular thing and get a taste for many different courses without ending up with lots of food leftover. Based on the cost, the number of courses and the quality of ingredients improves as the price increases and better yet, you can still order it even if you are dining by yourself. Read on to find out what I ended up actually getting.

First course: Yellowtail fish tartare with freshly grated wasabi and a sweet plum palette cleanser. A delicious combination of the sweet soft flesh of the fish combined with some crispy onions and a slightly salty brine. They served really fresh wasabi since it had that different kick and I could see and feel the moistness of the freshly grated wasabi root.

Seared red mackerel sashimi and salad drizzled with chive oil. The searing charred one side, but left the other side still raw. The chive oil had a subtle flavour but went well with the salad.

Tempura style rock shrimp (prawns) in a sweet chilli aioli sauce sprinkled with chives and served with endive leaves. The shrimp was nicely cooked though I thought the tempura batter was far too thick to be considered real tempura. The aoili had a nice kick to it and the endive leaves helped give it a bit more of a fresher taste to the pallete.

Miso black cod with olives and bell peppers. Fantastic fish perfectly cooked, warmed and the flesh almost falling apart it was so tender. The bell peppers smelt so sweet when the plate arrived and definitely brought brightness to the plate.

A variety of sushi including toro, yellowtail, needlefish, fluke and one other fish I didn’t get and freshly grated wasabi. Not much to say here except that it was very fresh and authentic sushi beautifully presented served with more of the really freshly grated wasabi.

Morimoto’s final tasting course was dessert and arrived in the form of a green tea and chestnut roulade served with a scoop of brandy chestnut ice cream and a raspberry sauce. A nice light dessert that helped round out the massive meal.

Details: Morimoto
Found on: 723 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Contactable on: +1 215-413-9070
Highlights: Attention to detail all the way from the food, atmosphere in the dining hall down to the bottom floor where private rooms and the rest rooms reside. Fantastic quality and freshness of food.
Room for improvement: Sparkling water and drinks are quite expensive
The Kua Rating: 8.5 out of 10