It’s time to talk about some of the restaurants in Disney Springs. I have had the fortune of visiting Morimoto Asia twice now. The first time was last summer for Father’s Day brunch and the most recent time was this spring with friends on the last day of our girls trip. Between the two trips I got a good feel for the atmosphere, service and offerings. A lot of food was tried and retried so let’s dive in!
Morimoto Asia can be found in The Landing at Disney Springs. For those of us who grew up watching Iron Chef as a kid, we all know who Japanese master chef Masaharu Morimoto is. It was exciting to know he had a restaurant in the area to try out. The restaurant has his spin on a mix of Japanese, Korean, and Chinese dishes. I love all of those cuisines so I was thrilled to explore the menu and try as much as possible.
Morimoto Asia Vibes
Instagramable
4/5 – The restaurant is very spacious with interesting light fixtures and art. The food and drinks are plated in a way that also lends themselves for great photos. The giant round tables would be great for a top shot of a food spread. The only cons I would say are it’s a very black and white color scheme. There are no vibrant colors to draw into your pictures. The dining room is so spacious that it is challenging not to get other tables in your background. Overall, if you’re trying to get some aesthetically pleasing pictures it’s definitely doable.
Family friendly
5/5 – Absolutely! My first visit last summer was with 3 adults and 2 kids. They have a kids menu: It comes with a little origami set. We all ended up working on it while waiting for drinks and appetizers. The tables are nice and spacious for bigger parties or families. Despite the fancier decor, there’s thankfully no weird or exclusionary dress code to abide by. The kids meal also comes with a dessert which was a nice touch we appreciated as well.
Date friendly
5/5 – It’s hard to speak for all couples, but in my opinion this would be a great date spot. While it’s very nice inside, it still feels welcoming. It’s not overly loud either from other patrons or music which is a notable thing to me. I like not having to yell over too much noise to have a conversation. Between the good food and chill vibe, it would be a great place to unwind with your significant other over a nice meal.
Service
5/5 – I’m happy to report the service was great both times! The staff were extremely friendly each time from the hostess checking in to the servers we were handed off to. They were happy to make suggestions and so patient with kids too. They managed their check ins to hit that sweet spot where you didn’t feel like you were looking around for help while giving you time to enjoy without random interruptions. There was seemingly no dip in quality between a quiet lunch and a hectic holiday weekend.
Morimoto Asia Consumables(Food&Bev):
Flavor
5/5 – So good that they converted me into an orange chicken appreciator. Between my two visits I was able to try the following: hot and sour soup, vegetable dumplings, pork dumplings, spicy tuna roll, california roll, beef chow fun noodles, orange chicken, Morimoto spare ribs, kung pao cauliflower, wok sautéed vegetables, and a few cocktails. The standouts of the meals were the Morimoto spare ribs and the orange chicken. I don’t particularly love mixing sweet and spicy in my meals so I was pleasantly surprised to love the orange chicken as much as I did. It had just the right amount of tarte with the savory that had me wondering if this is what all sweet and savory foods could be.
Cost Vs. Portion
4/5 – This was almost a 5/5. This is listed as $$$ online and for the most part the portions are generous; they warn you the portions are family size and encourage sharing. I do appreciate the disclaimer as it helps sort of put the cost of some of the meals in perspective. That said, I did knock it down to 4/5 overall because of how the dim sum section of the menu is priced. I love a good dumpling and the dumplings were good but 4 for $16 is steep, $4 for a standard sized dumpling is wild. All of the dumplings are this price with the exception of the vegetable which are $12 which isn’t a ton better. The only dim sum I haven’t tried were the egg rolls which come in at 2 for $15; I can’t imagine that they’d come out in a size that would justify that price no matter how delicious.
Quality
5/5 – Excellent! The food was all fresh and perfectly cooked. Absolutely no complaints.
Bravery
4/5 – Because I visited with kids the first time, I think this is a fair option even with picky eaters. They have elevated versions of chinese and japanese american favorites so nothing most people haven’t at least heard of, nothing to scare anyone away. That said, there’s no burger or fried chicken that some pickier eaters rely on when visiting a new place.
Would I recommend eating here?
Short Answer: Yes
Long Answer: I think this place is suited for a good girls night or date because of the shareable portions. My bias peaking in – I do love asian food and I can’t say that even when I lived in the area that I really knew a place comparable to this so I’m glad it’s around now. I also love an elevated version of a comfort dish, so I was primed to like it here. That said we all know because when I love something, I tend to come in with more expectations (I’m looking at you Antojitos) so it’s a good sign that Morimoto’s was able to get me to visit and have a good time twice!
By: Arely Garcia
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