A night out at Morimoto's Waikiki

Thanks to Ed and Ginger, our big night to Morimoto’s Restaurant Waikiki was this Wednesday. Our reservations were for 5:30PM. When we arrived, the valet took our car, we walked up the stairs to Morimoto’s, and the hostess greeted us by name and sat us in our designated outdoor table. What a gorgeous place, the décor was elegantly modern with the largest kitchen I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. The chefs were busy in the kitchen and the waiters and hostesses were busy too.

Our waiter, Thomas, came right over and put our napkins on our lap, poured our water and he said “Happy Birthday, Mr. Jue, you really look good for 75”, shook my hand and said, you can call me, Tom.

Wow, Tom was my new best friend. He asked if we had been here before. We said, no, but most of the family had been and they were very impressed with the restaurant’s décor, service and especially the food. We were told that Chef Masaharu Morimoto was here tonight and will be cooking. Tom brought our menus  and we began a dialogue of the different dishes and how each was prepared and the sauces, etc.

I could tell that Thomas was very proud of the restaurant; he didn’t rush us and patiently answered our questions. Thomas brought Donna her wine and I stayed pat on my water. I had my camera with me so I got up and started taking pictures; soon I realized we were the only ones in the restaurant. Yes, the only ones. It was probably then that Thomas came over and said this would be a slow night and we picked a good night to come. Well, you can’t believe what Tom says, in 30-45 minutes, the outdoor section was almost filled and the inside was filling fast. I later walked through the inside dining area, the sound decibel was very high, I'm not sure anyone heard anyone as it sounded like the Fox channel where everyone is talking at once.

By the way, we did catch a little bit of the sunset around 6:45PM. Due to the heavy clouds, we didn’t see the “green flash” on the horizon.

The food, of course it was delicious, Donna had Spicy Tuna Maki, Mixed green salad, Black Cod and Carneros Pinot Noir wine, I had Oxtail soup, Rack of Lamb, SD Rice and 3 flavors Sorbet. They also brought me a melon sorbet with an orchid with “Happy Birthday” inscribed on the plate with chocolate syrup.

Even though the was restaurant filled, it was the two of us and a very memorable evening….Thanks, Ed and Ginger.

We made it....

My birthday plate; melon sorbet with cubes of melon underneath, a blueberry and raspberry on the side!
They gave me a break, no singing or candles.
(Thank you, Diane Sarich)

Allen and Donna with Marianne's condo in background.

First come first served....and the best table for the sunset.

Rack of Lamb

Black Cod with Ginger shoyu reduction and five black beans.

For dessert, it was watermelon, pineapple and melon sorbet resting on the actual fruit.

Outdoor dining area. Donna is in the middle.(black sweater)

Main dining room with sushi bar and kitchen to the right.

Outside dining area with fire pit.

The Chef's in a beautiful kitchen. Chef Morimoto is back there  somewhere.

Artifacts could be coral.

Swimming pool

Okay, one last picture and we're on our way home.....it was a good night.
If we seem to be color coordinated, it was not by design?
Good night....