You know you're going to have a magical experience when dining at Iron Chef's Morimoto's signature restaurant. Located in the MGM, the space and ambiance is modern and intimate with high ceilings and beautiful minimalistic decor. My boyfriend and I came here for our BAEgas trip and were definitely happy with our choice.
We started off with the chef's combination sushi, which comes with 10 pieces of nigiri and a roll. I don't quite remember all of the items included but the halibut, toro and sea bass were definitely the standouts. The fish is very fresh and up to par with some of the higher end sushi restaurants. The spicy tuna roll was one of the best I've had yet, and I don't even really care for spicy tuna rolls! This isn't your average chopped up bits and pieces of leftover tuna you don't want anymore. The roll had nice, fatty chunks of tuna along with a douse of spicy mayo.
For our entrees, we went with the ishi yaki kakuni bop and the surf and turf. Reminiscent of bibimpap, the ishi yaki kakuni bop had kakuni pork cooked over a hot stone bowl with vegetables and a jidori chicken egg, followed by a generous pour of soy and sake marinade. Once finished cooking after a nice demo from our waiter, the sweet and savory rice becomes soft and fragrant with chunks of rich, fatty, melt-in-your-mouth pork. The surf and turf included a piece of snake river farms wagyu beef and a chilled hamachi (yellowtail) crudo on the side. You really do get the best of both worlds with this dish. The wagyu beef was so tender and buttery and the combination of fried black garlic and nuoc cham flavor was just heavenly. The cold hamachi salad was a nice contrast to the beef and definitely a nice palate refresher.
Ah, but the magic doesn't stop there. We had just enough room for dessert and decided to go with the Coconut Mango. Mango mousse, coconut cake, charcoal meringue and coconut green tea sorbet topped with fresh passion fruit. Trust me when I say you've never seen a dessert like this before. I had a few reservations about how tasty this flavor combination could be but the first bite and each bite following after that was extraordinarily good.