Morimoto Asia at Disney Springs

We arrived at Walt Disney World Resort on Friday evening the weekend of the first Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon. We were staying at Port Orleans Riverside, which meant we could take the boat to Disney Springs. We had what we thought was plenty of time to get there, but it took a full hour and ten minutes for the (dark, rainy) boat ride and navigating through the Disney Springs Friday night crowd.  It was shoulder to shoulder and we hustled across through to arrive 10 minutes late for our 9:30 reservation.  

The interior alone is reason enough to visit Morimoto Asia.  It's visually stunning.  It was a packed house, but we were seated promptly and the service was adequate.  It's always hard in restaurants that are packed and noisy to hear the server, much less the other person at your own table!

We'd had a long day of traveling and were not terribly hungry, so we thought a couple basic appetizers and a refreshing beverage would set us up quite nicely.  The menu is fairly standard Asian fair.  We chose the vegetable roll and kakuni pork bao.  Both were tasty, if somewhat unremarkable.  The pork bao was missing the lettuce and spicy mayo, but the pork belly and steamed bun were good enough on their own.

What made the night was the sake sangria:  Asian pears, apple plum, tangerine juice, sake, light white wine, and plum wine.  It's sold by the glass for $12 or a carafe for $34 (serves 3-4).  Hmmmmmmmmm....you know you will likely want 2 glasses, so, you might as well order the carafe... Good choice! And delicious!! I only wish there had been more of the amazing Asian pear, which was used as a garnish.  

Needless to say, the trip back to the resort was far more entertaining!  We barely made the last boat at 11:30 and thoroughly entertained our fellow travelers, at least that was our perception!  

Would we return?  Yes.  The interior of the restaurant and the sake sangria warrant another visit.  The menu is extensive and I would definitely like to make a more adventurous sampling of some of the more interesting sounding dishes, for example, the L.A. BBQ Kalbi.  It's great to see Disney Springs seriously entering the food as a destination scene and Morimoto Asia is a great addition.