REVIEW: We Spent $275 Eating at Morimoto Asia in Disney World. Was It Worth It?

Each of Disney World’s four parks has something to enjoy, but if you’re looking to savor some good food, head to Disney Springs.

Disney Springs has a wide range of quick-service, table-service, and dessert shops to check out, plenty of which are led by world-renowned chefs. One of our favorite spots, Morimoto Asia, is the first pan-Asian restaurant from Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. We stopped by for a massive dinner there recently — read on for our full review!

Background

Morimoto Asia is a two-story restaurant led by Chef Morimoto with lounges, private dining spaces, and a glass-encased kitchen that gives guests a view of the action.

Chef Morimoto, who is known to many as one of the stars of Iron Chef and Iron Chef America, is renowned for his creative interpretations of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisines.

When the restaurant opened in 2015, Morimoto commented, “I’m very excited to bring this new concept to Disney, something I’ve always dreamed of.” He continued, “It’s a wonderful chance to share some of my favorite foods from across the Asian continent.”

Atmosphere

You’ll find Morimoto Asia in The Landing in Disney Springs, near Chef Art Smith’s Homecoming.

Once inside, your eyes will instantly be drawn upwards to the 36-foot-tall ceiling and its stunning waterfall chandeliers in the center of the room.

Behind the host stand, you’ll find a bar with some lounge-style seating.

The dining room is huge, with a large selection of tables on both floors.

We were led upstairs to our table, which was set with cloth napkins, silverware, app plates, and water glasses.

Right above our table, we noticed a hidden mickey in the decor.

The dining room of this spot is beautiful!

Food & Drinks

The menu has a selection of pan-Asian dishes. There are Sushi and Sashimi options, as well as a few Sushi rolls.

For Small Plates and Dim Sum, you’ll find things like Crispy Popcorn Shrimp Tempura and Shumai.

From the Meat and Poultry section, you can order dishes like Orange Chicken, Mongolian Filet Mignon, and the popular Morimoto Peking Duck.

Duck Ramen, Tonkotsu Ramen, Morimoto Gomoku Fried Rice, and Morimoto “Buri-Bop” are some of the Noodles and Rice options.

For Vegetables, you can order the Wok Sauteed Chinese Vegetables, Kung Pao Cauliflower, or the Stir-fried Tofu Medley.

Lastly, for Dessert, there are a variety of options, like the Mochi Mochi, Yuzu Pie, and the Melon Cream Soda Float.

First, we ordered a few drinks: Blushing Dragon, Sake Sangria, Lychee Martini, and The Forgotten Highball.

The Blushing Dragon is a mocktail made with grapefruit, Calpico (a Japanese non-carbonated soft drink), and club soda. We ordered this for $7. It was an incredibly refreshing, lightly carbonated drink with a light hint of citrus flavor. It wasn’t super sweet and reminded us of a grapefruit Spindrift.

The Sake Sangria, which we ordered for $17, is made with sake, light white wine, plum wine, Asian pears, apples, and tangerine juice. The white wine in this was very prominent, and we thought the fruits mixed together in this drink.

The Lychee Martini is made with Absolut vodka, lychee liqueur, and lychee berries and costs $18. We thought this drink was very well-balanced. You can taste the vodka, but it was still smooth and a bit creamy with a mild sweetness from the fruit.

The Forgotten Highball, which is made with Roku Japanese gin, lavender, lemon, and soda water, costs $15. The strawberry and soda water in this were the most prominent flavors — it was tart, light, and a bit sweet!

For starters, we ordered the Spicy Salmon Sushi Roll, Berkshire Pork Lettuce Wrap, Shumai, and A-5 Wagyu Burger Bao.

The Spicy Salmon Sushi Roll is made with salmon, spicy mayo, and scallions and costs $17.

This was made with high-quality salmon that was buttery and tender. It was delicious, but we would have liked it to be a bit more spicy!

The Berkshire Pork Lettuce Wrap is made with ground Berkshire pork, shitake mushrooms, bamboo, water chestnuts, and hoisin sauce and is served with baby iceberg lettuce. We ordered this for $16.

Berkshire pork, which is typically incredibly rich and tender with a bit of marbling and complex flavor, is known to be the Kobe beef of pork. This sharable dish did not disappoint! The filling lived up to the richness we would expect from Berkshire pork, with a lot of umami flavor from the mushrooms. While the flavor was there, the mushroom texture was not all that present, so you might still like this even if you are mushroom-averse.

We also loved how crunchy and fresh the lettuce cups were — a perfect vessel for this tasty dish!

The A-5 Wagyu Burger Bao is a house blend of ground A-5 wagyu and filet, lettuce, cucumber, and special sauce served on a bao bun. It comes with two pieces and costs $19.

This was packed with flavor, from the tender, savory beef to the bright and crunchy slaw-like veggies on top. The special sauce tasted similar to a garlic aioli and added a nice creamy texture, and we loved how sticky and soft the bao was. These almost tasted like a fun Asian twist on burger sliders.

The Shumai, from the Dim Sum menu, are purse-shaped dumplings filled with pork, shrimp, mushrooms, and tobiko caviar, and they cost $16.

The first thing we noticed about these is that they are meaty. Between the pork and the shrimp, they had a bit of a chewy texture that wouldn’t be for everyone, but if you love savory flavors and are looking for something adventurous, they are worth a try! We loved the Dim Sum Sauce, which was like a soy sauce but sweet and tangy.

For our next round, we ordered the Morimoto Spare Ribs, Morimoto “Buri-Bop,” and the famous Morimoto Peking Duck.

The Morimoto Spare Ribs are pork ribs with cilantro and hoisin sweet chili glaze. We ordered the 3-rib portion for $18. Two out of three of these ribs blew us away. They were incredibly tender and the meat fell right off the bone, but the exterior was crispy and covered in a delicious, sticky sauce.

The glaze was sweet and tangy with a mild spice, and we loved it. Unfortunately, one of the three ribs wasn’t quite as tender, but we still recommend these regardless.

The Morimoto “Buri-Bop” is a Korean-style yellowtail rice bowl served in a hot clay pot and prepared tableside with egg yolk. We ordered this for $36.

This dish was a ton of fun to watch — your server will bring it out and make it in front of you, explaining the components as they go. Once it’s complete, each piece of fish will have a cooked side and a sushi side. Overall, this had a lot of flavor — a nice balance of sweet citrus and ginger, and the fish was nice and tender.

The Morimoto Peking Duck is a carved house-roasted whole duck, served with apricot sweet chili, hoisin miso, and your choice of steamed flour tortillas, bao buns, or lettuce cups and your choice of steamed white or brown rice. This is a hefty portion, listed as “for 2,” and it costs $79, but we shared it with our table of four!

This is a high-quality dish that has a lot of great textures and flavors. The duck was incredibly tender with a perfect, crispy skin exterior. There was a bit of fat that gave the duck a ton of flavor, and when paired with the umami-forward hoisin miso and sweet apricot sauce, each bite was complex and well-balanced.

The steamed flour tortilla “pancakes” were soft, warm, and a bit sticky from being steamed, creating a fun mixture of textures that we really loved — especially when you add the crunchy cucumbers and carrots to the mix.

This is an expensive dish, but we thought it was worth the price. It was very well prepared and tasted decadent and elevated, and there was a fair amount of it. If this is within your budget, it’s worth it to experience it at least once!

Lastly, we tried the Churro Donuts for $14. These were coated in cinnamon sugar and served with a white miso caramel sauce.

These were also a lot of fun. While the donut batter itself wasn’t particularly flavorful, the cinnamon sugar paired with the crispy exterior and super soft inside made this really decadent. On the side, the miso caramel was rich, almost like a Bananas Foster sauce, and gave this dessert a fun complexity that we really loved.

Should You Go?

Morimoto Asia is one of our favorite restaurants in Disney Springs and we highly recommend it!

If it’s in your budget to check it out, there are so many great options to try here. The food is amazing, the dining room is stunning, and it’s a great spot to try something new.

The Peking Duck is famous for a reason, and even if you’re not interested in trying out this popular dish, there are a ton of options on the menu.

Our readers gave this spot an 8.06/10. One reader particularly liked the Spare Ribs and said the interior is like being in NYC. Another said it was pricey but worth it for what you get.

We’ll keep bringing you all the latest, so stay tuned to AllEars for more!

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