Morimoto Asia Dining Review

Headed by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Morimoto Asia is located at Disney Springs in Walt Disney World. This is Chef Morimoto’s first pan-Asian restaurant, featuring flavors from across the continent with a focus on Thailand, Korea, Japan, and China. So it is different from his other restaurant locations in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago.

Morimoto Asia is in The Landing of Disney Springs sitting next door to Raglan road. The water is behind it and Sprinkles Cupcakes is conveniently located across a bridge in front of it (good spot to stop for dessert after).

Morimoto Asia Quick Breakdown

• Service: Table-Service
• Type of Food: Steak, Chicken, Allergy Options
• Price: $$$
• Location: Disney Springs
• Disney Dining Plan: Yes, 1 Credit for Lunch 2 Credits for Dinner
• Discounts: Tables in Wonderland, Annual Passholder
• Features: Reservations, Alcohol
• Good For: Asian, Casual Dining
• Menu: Official Disney Dinner Menu

A Tour Around Morimoto Asia

This building is packed with details, be sure to take a close look at the exterior. When it lights up at night it’s really a fun treat to see.

A look into the kitchen at Morimoto Asia. It was bustling the entire time we were there and my spot had a prime view of what was being served up. I saw a lot of fried rice. I was kinda disappointed I didn’t opt to go with that dish.

Morimoto Mai Tai

Morimoto Asia Dishes

The following is a few of the dishes we have tried from their menu.

Kanikama Rangoon

I was hoping for the delicious cream cheese goodness I expect from Krab Rangoon, but this was all Krab on the inside. For the hefty $10 price tag I suppose it was a good thing that it was packed with meat but it lost the flavor I enjoyed and was hoping for in this dish.

Edamame

Fresh Edamame topped with delicious sea salt. This bowl was quickly gone and we were super happy when there was a mixup in the kitchen and we got a second dish by mistake. That second bowl of Edamame didn’t last very long either.

Blistered Shishito Peppers

For you spicy lovers out there this is a great app. Flash fried shishito peppers with maldon sea salt, and wasabi crème fraiche.

Morimoto Spare Ribs

Honestly, this deserves better than just an appetizer option. The spare ribs were so good I could have easily had them as my entire dinner. The coating of hoisin sweet chili glaze was just magical and crunch and a perfect pairing with the pork. I think I blinked and these were gone off the table and everyone’s plate. If we didn’t have so much food on the way I definitely think we would have ordered a second app of these.

Shrimp Tempura

The shrimp was super fresh and you could tell it was definitely higher quality sushi. I wasn’t wowed by the sushi here, I have had better sushi at other Orlando sushi spots. Also for those of you who don’t love spicey things I did find that the spicy mayo I thought was kicked up a couple of notches from what I typically get.

Morimoto Gomoku Fried Rice

When ordered as is this fried rice is packed with duck, chicken, pork, shrimp, vegetables, spicy house sambal sauce. If you aren’t a fan of some of the meat options good news! Just ask your waiter and you can remove any of the meat options listed above.

Orange Chicken

WOW! We were all just blown away by this menu item. A few of us at the table got it and we were super impressed. It was very fresh and nice it crunchy. The orange flavor was pretty powerful, not sure if it’s because it’s orange season and you can get fresh oranges here in Florida but this is definitely a dish we will be back for again.

This is a plate of Tempura Chicken, Chinese broccoli, wok-tossed with a sweet Florida orange sauce. The portion here is massive I definitely think this dish could have been split. It would totally come back and probably pair this with some fried rice and split with my husband and be stuffed full.

Beef Lo Mein Noodles

This classic lo mein dish got two thumbs up from me. It was more than enough food, again I almost felt like this dish could have easily been split with someone else. The beef lo mein includes stir-fried noodles, beef tenderloin, napa cabbage, carrot, bean sprout, mushroom, scallion.

Kung Pao Chicken

This dish ended being too spicy for my husband. Our waitress said it was a 5 out of 10 on the spicey scale and he thought it was spicier than that. He ate about half and said he was glad he ordered the rice, it helped cut some of the spice down.

Morimoto Asia Recommendation

We loved the atmosphere that this restaurant had to offer. There are so many elegant details throughout the entire place. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to watch the action in the kitchen.

Now as for the food, I think considering this place is marked as signature dining it just didn’t live up to my Disney signature dining expectations. That could be in part because we ordered the wrong dishes but in theory, every dish at a signature stop should be out of this world.

I also didn’t like the fact that I felt like we were being pushed through our dinner quickly, something not typical of a Signature dining experience but typical of a standard Disney sit down. I get they want to fill tables and get as many people in as possible but if they want to keep the signature experience title and charge two Disney Dining Plan credits they need to change or drop pricing. 

UPDATE: I am happy to say that when we went back for a third try this place won us back over. The food was all a win. I don’t think there was a bad dish that anyone had. We all really loved everything we ordered. This defiantly has me wanting to go back to Morimoto and try some more options off the menu. Also while all our food came out rather quickly there was no rush to this meal and I didn’t feel like we were being pushed out to seat the next party.

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If you are interested in booking a reservation for Morimoto Asia you can do so through My Disney Experience or Open Table. We find reservations are rather easy to make here last-minute via Open Table so you don’t have to rush when booking this restaurant.

Want more dining tips? Check out our Best Disney World Restaurants recommendations along with Worst Disney Dining Sit Down Restaurants. If you are visiting with young ones read our Best Places to Eat with Kids at Disney World.