REVIEW: The Best Japanese Food at Disney World Is NOT at EPCOT, Trust Us.

Disney Springs is hands-down one of our favorite places to dine at Disney World. There are SO many different restaurants — from upscale and swanky to casual and creative.

Morimoto Asia opened at Disney Springs on September 30th, 2015, and we’ve been enjoying this restaurant from Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto ever since. Morimoto Asia just recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and we got to party along with them — and Chef Morimoto himself!

If you ever get the chance to go to a bluefin tuna carving ceremony led by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto himself — do it. We were lucky enough to attend the 10-year anniversary celebration at Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs and got to sample dishes and sake created by Chef Morimoto. As if we couldn’t love this restaurant any more, this definitely sealed the deal!

The event kicked off with a ceremonial breaking of the sake lid. The Morimoto Shochu Sake is made with rice and Hyankunensui, “one-hundred-year-old water” found underground at the foot of Mt. Hakusan. The sake was incredibly smooth and not as strong as we were expecting. It had nice floral and herby notes to it, and when served in the cedar cup, you also got some cedar notes.

We then got to watch Chef Morimoto carve a massive bluefin tuna before chowing down on it, in addition to other assorted sushi.

Chef Masaharu Morimoto carves a large bluefin tuna at the Morimoto Asia 10-year anniversary event

Overall, it was just as fantastic as you would expect. All the fish is cut easily and correctly, so you can easily bite it in half, even with chopsticks. It was chilled and fresh, and we didn’t even feel the need to add soy sauce or wasabi. The fish and rice were stars on their own.

We sampled the street food satays as well. First up was the bulgogi beef, which was SO tender and had that teriyaki sort of flavor that reminded us of beef jerky in the best way — not in texture, but in flavor. It basically melted in our mouths. The carrot was good, though it was just a carrot, but it had sweetness to it — almost like honey. The most surprising one here was a large trumpet mushroom, which we loved. It was almost meatier than the beef itself — great texture, not too funky but definitely earthy, and we loved the addition of the mayo sauce on top.

Street food satays — Carrot, Bulgogi Beef, Trumpet Mushroom

The Tuna Kakuni Lettuce Wrap was full of flavor — and most of it was spicy! This tuna was braised like pork belly — which is where the “kakuni” comes from in this dish — so it was meaty and we almost mistook it for duck! There was a brightness from the ginger that helped balance things out.

The Peking Duck Bao Bun was excellent. Morimoto Asia is known for its Peking duck, and it’s easy to see why. It is so tender, moist, and flavorful. There was still a bit of that crispy skin on the meat, and it added a lovely crunch in addition to the cucumber. The bao bun itself was doughy and fluffy, and slightly sweet.

We also had the Crispy Popcorn Shrimp — tempura shrimp tossed in spicy gochujang aioli. This was literally the most perfect tempura batter — perfectly crunchy with a nice pop from the shrimp. The gochujang aioli is sort of like a Bang Bang or firecracker sauce, with more spice.

Peking Duck Bao, Tuna Kakuni Lettuce Wrap,

The Spicy Wonton Ramen was one of the best things we tried all day, which is saying something considering everything we had was remarkable. The broth was SO flavorful just on its own — it was salty and savory and might have been the best ramen broth we’ve ever had. The pork was fatty without being overly so, and the noodles helped to cut down on some of the richness here.

We tried the Takoyaki, which is like a savory octopus fritter. The octopus was cooked well — it was a little tougher, but we’d prefer that over being undercooked. The batter was slightly sweet, which paired well with the salty teriyaki sauce.

For dessert, we had the “Kakigori” Shaved Ice Mochi Donut made with rainbow syrup and condensed milk. This was a dense donut! It had a great, sweet icing. We loved the fruity pebbles, which paired well with the icing and rainbow syrup.

We could go on and on about how much we love this restaurant, and this event was such a fun celebration of that. Our favorite dishes we tried this time around were the beef bulgogi satay and the popcorn shrimp, though we’ll be thinking about that ramen for a long time!

We’ll be on the lookout for more special events and updates you need to know about at Disney World. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!