Philly Beer Week at Morimoto

Morimoto had a specially designed five course dinner tonight with Rogue Beer pairings featuring Morimoto signature beers and Rogue specialty beers. For my friends and me, it was the perfect excuse for a weeknight of drinking and extravagant dining.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Chef Morimoto was near the hostess station, welcoming diners. We sat down at our table and found a menu specially printed for the beer tasting menu and signed by Morimoto and John Maier, brewmaster at Rogue Brewery. Throughout the meal, Morimoto and representatives from Rogue roamed throughout the restaurant checking on diners and thanking them for coming. It was nice to see that Morimoto hasn't completely abandoned us for New York City and still spends a lot of time in Philly.

The meal started off with toro tilla, a piece of tuna with fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, wrapped in a tortilla. It was good, but I would have liked a little more kick. With my last bite I actually got more of the spicy aoli, which made a huge difference.

The toro tilla was paired with Rogue's Mom Hefeweizen, which was a nice Belgian style wheat beer.

The second course was steamed mussels with lemongrass, curry, and Morimoto pilsner broth, paired with the Morimoto Imperial Pilsner. This dish was decidedly underwhelming. My mussels were a little cold and a couple were not even open. My friends all had either empty or closed shells on their plates.

The third course definitely made up for the subpar mussels. It was a Kurobuta pork (kind of the pork equivalent of Kobe beef) with an apple mizuna salad, paired with the Morimoto Hazelnut Ale. The pork was delicious -- there was a perfect crust of panko breadcrumbs and hazelnuts surrounding a tender and tasty slice of pork. It was paired with a delicious hazelnut ale.


The next course was a selection of sushi paired with Morimoto Soba Ale. The beer was nothing special; in fact my friends felt it had a strange aftertaste. However, the sushi was excellent; the yellow tail was particularly good.

The final course was a Rogue Chocolate Stout Ice Cream Float. I really enjoyed this, although one of my friends would have liked to have had the beer separate from the ice cream.


On the way out, we got pictures with Chef Morimoto and Brewmaster Maier!



All in all, it was a fun night out -- we got to enjoy a great meal, have some great beer, and meet a celebrity chef. (We also spotted Stephen Starr, though I didn't get to yell at him for appearing on Top Chef and not mentioning Philly at all) Service was excellent the whole night, and we even got fun little giveaways like Rogue temporary tattoos and a Morimoto magnet. Plus, we got to take part in Philly's Beer Week, the nation's largest beer festival. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to check out any other beer week events, but there are still a couple of days left!