In this YouTube video, hosts Josh and Rachael Fillbrandt revisit Morimoto in Las Vegas, a restaurant founded by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. They walk viewers through the menu, noting cocktail, wine, and beer pricing before ordering a variety of dishes. Their first course is a tuna pizza on a grilled tortilla, which they praise for its crisp tortilla, microgreens, and balanced spice. They then sample the otoro (fatty tuna) sushi, describing it as buttery, smooth, and worth the $24 per piece despite its high price. Next, they try an A5 wagyu bite, noting its torch‑seared preparation, modest beef flavor, and price considerations. The pork belly kakuni with congee is highlighted as an umami‑rich, comforting dish with a table‑side presentation. They also order a 450‑degree bowl (a hot fried‑rice‑style dish with pork belly chashu and Korean bibimbap condiments) and a whole branzino that is deboned and served from head to tail, discussing the texture of the fish, the presence of bones, and the accompanying cilantro slaw. For dessert they sample a Japanese cheesecake soufflé and a blood‑orange sorbet, emphasizing the light, fluffy texture and citrus brightness. Throughout, they comment on portion sizes, price points (many dishes ranging from $20 to $140), and overall value, concluding that the otoro and tuna pizza were standout items, the dessert ranks among their favorites, and the experience, while expensive, was enjoyable. The video ends with a call to subscribe and a tease about gambling.
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Hey everybody, I'm Josh.
And I'm Rachael.
And about 4 years ago we came to Morimoto, loved it, so we're back.
Let's go.
All right, welcome to Morimoto. Here is your specialty cocktails. Looks like they start around $21 up to $30. There are some beers. Beers that are $9 to— what is that— $17. And then a whole bunch of wine.
Wine, spirits, sake. I'm sure it's all of it.
And it's a cool— this is a really cool area. We're right in the window and you can see that the sushi bar looks awesome.
It does.
And here is our menu. You can see the appetizers start around $20, push upwards of market price, which I'm sure is a lot, but otherwise $40.
Thank you. Salads are $19.
Are $13 and $19. Then from an entree standpoint, they do have steaks which are super expensive, $140 for the highest over there. Oh, and then wagyu, okay, A5, that's going up. But on the entree side, you can see there's decent prices around $40 to $50. I think that's actually not too shabby. And then your sides are $15 to $25. And then here is your sushi prices, which we do intend to get a little bit of sushi, a little bit of cooked We'll see. I think we're gonna get a pretty good variety. What do you think?
I imagine we'll get a good variety as well.
Yeah, we did have an appetizer here that has stuck with us 4 years ago. We're hoping that it's the same one, but we're gonna try to get similar. And I almost missed, they have some specialty rolls that start around $44 and $49. I believe that these are a little bit larger according to our waiter.
Yeah.
And then the maki rolls, they end up being, I think, 5 or 6 pieces, it sounds like. So a little bit smaller. And he did let us know that, uh, this one is Yeah, I don't know that we'll be getting any of that. I know, I was telling Rachael I want to do that fatty tuna, but oh my goodness, not for $24.
I don't think that's worth it.
That's tough.
Yeah, but these glasses, like, they're oblong.
They're really cool. And our drinks did come. I went with an Old Fashioned, which has a Japanese whiskey.
I went with a tequila-based drink, uh, Devil's Advocate.
This is nice and smooth. I, I've been drinking bourbon neat lately, so I can handle my whiskey this trip.
That's a very good margarita. It's a classic spicy margarita type. It's got a little smokiness to it. I'm gonna have to reread the menu.
What do you think about the fact that it doesn't have salt on the rim?
Well, I'm so blown away by these glasses, how they look round but they're oblong at the bottom. Yeah, round on top, oblong, but I'm, I'm okay with it.
You're okay with it? All right. And mine is delicious. If you like an Old Fashioned, this is good. It's nice and smooth. All right, so have you ever seen Iron Chef on Food Network? I was trying to remember, and so Chef Morimoto was actually on the Japanese version back in the '90s. And then when they brought it, I believe, and then when they brought it to America, he was one of the original ones on the Food Network.
Yes, I've been watching him for years and years and years.
Yeah, so I'm sure you know of him if you watch Food Network and have for a long time. Yeah, so we have high expectations for this meal. Big price tag coming.
Yeah.
But I hope it's gonna be good.
I would say big price tag coming because of a couple things we ordered. If we would have stuck with the original plan, probably not. We splurged a little bit.
Our waiter tucked us into a good, good amount.
He did.
So, uh, this right here, just gonna give you a heads up, this is over $100 worth of food.
Yeah, because of this, this right here.
And that.
Yeah.
But Rachael is starting us off with some tuna pizza.
Yes, with a grilled tortilla bottom. It's very delicate.
Yeah, it's got like a pepper, some tomatoes, some microgreens.
Okay.
Oh gosh, good luck. Red onions. There's a sauce I missed. But I'm gonna hopefully have seen it on the menu.
Oh my gosh.
Wow.
When we first looked at the menu, there was nothing on here that made me say, I need to try it. Our waiter came over.
Whoa.
There's some buildup heat.
That is—
It's so amazing.
It's so fresh. The crispiness of that tortilla on the bottom is perfect. The microgreens add a nice freshness. The sauce has some spice. Man, that is delectable. I am so glad our waiter suggested this one 'cause it is on fire. It is so good.
Yeah, this was definitely not one that we were intending No, but that is—
I could, I could say I would definitely go back for it. I'm gonna eat all 3 of my pieces of that for sure.
Okay.
Yeah.
And Rachael's gonna make me do the expensive stuff.
I am.
So our waiter said you do not need soy sauce for the tuna pizza.
No, because there is so much seasoning on there. Oh God, you're gonna love it.
But he did recommend it for the otoro.
Yes.
So the otoro is the fatty tuna. He said this is like the crème de la crème of Sushi. It is the most expensive sushi that you do not get when you do the big chef's order.
Yep. It looks delightful.
All right, I understand what he's talking about. So he was talking to us about how it's, it's just like smooth, it's buttery.
Yeah.
It is the most smooth, buttery, melty sushi I've ever had. It's delicious.
Yeah?
$24 a pop though.
Is it worth it?
It's an experience. I don't think I could do more than one piece.
Yeah.
Also, God knows what it's gonna do to you. He did say it's pretty rich. Yeah, because it's, it's pretty rich.
Are you gonna go for the wagyu next?
Yes, but okay, yes, I would get this. Do you need more than one or two bites? Probably not.
Well, I think that's the piece of it too, is you don't need that much.
And so this is the A5 wagyu. He said this is the best way to get it if you want to taste it but not spend $175.
Yeah, because I think it was like minimum of 4 ounces or something.
Something like that on it.
Yeah, it was, it was pricey.
All right, so they do torch it back on the sushi station. It's very delicious. Nice fatty, good fatty in a good way, like with flavor.
Yeah. Is it— can you taste like beefy?
Not as much as I was thinking.
Oh, dang it. Okay.
So for me, I'd definitely get the tuna and skip on the beef if I'm gonna choose one.
So it's a good thing we only got one of those ones.
Yes. Okay. We have a square cut of the pork belly. Kakuni literally means pork cut of square cut. Braised pork belly, burdock root, fried burdock root as a garnish, and we have a dried scallop rice congee. Congee is a soupy rice, like a rice porridge. So like I said, we want to make this dish as ugly as possible.
It does turn it ugly. Yes.
It looks uglier, but it's gonna be more flavorful.
Yes.
This is the dish. So it's rice congee. It's some short rib and—
No, pork belly.
Oh, pork belly. Yeah, even better.
Wow, that congee is so smooth and creamy, and then that pork belly just offers a nice, nice meaty flavor. It's an umami bomb in your mouth. It's so comforting. Like, I imagine this is what grandma makes. Like, this is good.
Yeah, Chef Grandma. That is so good. And you will see that, uh, the waiter came by and did shred the pork at the table.
Yes.
And he does do a nice little presentation.
That pork is so tender.
And he's like, it's really pretty and I'm gonna make it ugly. And it's true, it does look ugly, but it's so tender.
That meat is so tender. There's a hint of sweetness to it too. It's really, really good. But it's one of those dishes that just warms your soul.
Nice.
And I love that feeling. All right, but I'm gonna tell you that, uh, yellow— what is that?
The otoro.
Yeah, the otoro.
Splurge if you can do it.
Splurge on that. That was amazing.
Yeah, the wagyu not so much.
Yeah, I could I could pass on the wagyu, but that fatty tuna was yes, I agree.
And we got a couple more dishes to come.
All right, so 450 degrees bowl. I just poured in our chef's special sauce with sesame soy. Here the pork belly chashu, which has already been cooked. We're putting it onto the 450-degree bowl to make it extra tender.
Oh my gosh.
What was the sauce again? Sweet sesame soy. Okay, and the traditional bibimbap condiment, which is a Korean dish where Chef got the idea from. That has an egg yolk, spinach, carrot, daikon radish, pickled mustard down here, uh, Japanese chili paste, yuzu kosho, uh, sun-dried pepper strip, and the nori, the seaweed.
Look at that steam roll off there.
That is cool.
So this, I forgot what it was called.
It's a something bop, kind of fried rice.
Yeah, it's like a fried rice that they do right at the table. Uh, this is pork belly, this one is.
And that's a 450-degree bowl.
Yeah, so don't touch it.
This is the dish that Chef Morimoto won with on Iron Chef.
Yes.
So let's check it out. Now there is a yellowtail version of this as well, so you can do pork or yellowtail. We decided to do pork because we knew we were doing a whole fish. You don't know that yet. Don't don't spoil the surprise.
I was like we didn't say that yet.
So I'm gonna go ahead and try this first. So it's freaking great.
Yeah.
I expect it to be good. Very strong, nice, sweet soy sauce.
Oh good.
Which they did say they they mixed in there. How about this? If you like fried rice and you like pork belly, you should probably get this.
Yeah.
And don't touch the bowl.
Yeah because it's hot. Okay now. We did a whole fried fish. It's a branzino. He says it's deboned and you can eat it from mouth to tail. So are you gonna go for the tail?
If I eat the tail, will you eat the head?
I mean, I might eat that cheek. He said there's a lot of meat on that cheek.
All right, well, let me at least— I'll eat half of the tail. He said that this was his favorite part. Yeah, our waiter could be lying to us. Completely about this stuff.
Or he's a— he's really good. I mean, he's either really good or he could be lying to us. We don't know.
I like it because it's like a chip.
Okay.
But then I know that there's like, I think, bones in there.
No, he said it's deboned.
I don't know, it feels like there's some bones in there, but I just swallowed them, so here I am.
And there's some tofu too.
Yeah, so I'm gonna try some of the meat Yeah, you should.
Now there's a ton of cilantro slaw in there. Josh will probably stray away from that cilantro.
Yeah, I'm not a huge cilantro guy. I'm one of those people. But let's try the fish.
The fish looks nice.
Also, there's a couple pieces of tofu that come on it, and Rachael's gonna eat the head. All right, so I'm gonna try some of the meat. I'm pretty sure it's meat. They said no bone.
It makes me nervous because whenever you see a whole fish and you can legit see the whole fish.
It's freaking awesome.
Is it good?
Yeah, I'm still scared to eat the fish head. Yeah, but the meaty portion is great. We'll see what you think about the tail and the head, but the meaty portion is awesome. There's a ton of sauce, which I'm glad that it's not completely doused in sauce because I want that crispiness still.
Yeah, that's why I wanted it fried.
Yeah, yeah, I think it's great. If you're enjoying this video and looking for more Las Vegas restaurant reviews, be sure to hit that subscribe button. We have almost 200 restaurant reviews in Las Vegas alone. So before we finish, we are one of the final tables to be seated because we got seated at like 9 o'clock. Kitchen closes at 9:45. This is your dessert menu. We are hoping to probably do something off of it, but you can see it's in the $20 range. Grab a coffee for $7.50, uh, cappuccino for about $10, but your desserts are around $20. She's doing it. I was just asking her, I was like, are you gonna actually do it?
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do a bite of it.
You just don't want to take the whole face though.
Yeah, because what if you like it? What if you want it?
There's half of the face. Just pick it up. I think you gotta do that with your hands. Oh God.
It feels sharp, like there's a bone in there.
Yeah, like a skull, like a fish skull.
I don't know that I recommend eating the fish head. I can't spit it out.
Oh, I'm gonna keep you on camera so you don't spit it out. You got this. It's so Is it bad?
No, it tastes delicious. I love the crispiness of it.
I mean, the fish itself is awesome, and we both ate the tail.
There's no way you can tell me there's not any bones in there, because I can— I swear I'm biting them.
Just softened fish skulls.
That's not even soft, it's hard.
I kind of want to try this Try it. That was a jawline. I think that was decent.
That's probably where the extra meat is.
Yeah, but I agree. I can know— I can tell there's some bone.
I'm still chewing. This is gonna take me a while to get through.
All right, Rachael, have you ever had a Japanese cheesecake soufflé?
I have not, and I'm pretty excited because we have been— we've not been getting the best desserts lately on our places we've been going.
I don't disagree.
I'm gonna try the blood orange sorbet first.
Can't be bad, right?
Ooh, tart like a blood orange. Nice and smooth sorbet.
Are you gonna eat the flower?
No, but I am gonna try this.
Oh wow.
Oh, that's light.
That is— looks super light.
That's good because we are pretty full.
Yeah, okay, I'm nervous. Whoa. It's like the lightest, fluffiest cheesecake ever, and it does not have the heaviness of cheesecake. That's so good. Yeah, it's like, it's like the perfect mix of a soufflé and cheesecake because it definitely has a cheesecake flavor.
Yes, because cheesecake can obviously be a little bit too heavy at times.
Yeah, this to me reminds me of a deconstructed, you know, because you got your graham cracker crust over here, your fresh fruit. Your sorbet.
It almost looks like a cake to me.
It does not have the texture of cake.
Okay.
It definitely has a cheesecake flavor. I don't, I don't get a texture of cake, but I can see where you're seeing that.
Yeah, it looks that way.
It definitely has a cheesecake texture.
Okay.
Yeah, that's weird. That's so good.
All right, I can't wait to try it. All right, we just wrapped up here at Morimoto. Loved it.
It was delicious.
Uh, like I said at the beginning, that was an expensive meal.
Yeah.
But I really enjoyed it. Uh, my favorite bite was the otoro. I've never had that before, and yeah, who knows if I'll have it again at that price. That's expensive.
I agree. It was really delicious. Mine, because I'm going more on what you get for your money. That tuna pizza, yeah, that was delicious. You get 6 slices of that if you're sharing it, or if you're, if you're not sharing it, you get 3. If you're sharing it, man, that was good.
Yeah, and I truly, I, I even think that the dessert might be one of my 5 favorite desserts here in Las Vegas. It just hits for what I'm looking for— something fairly light, something with some like citrus. Yeah, citrus acid going on. And it just nailed it for me.
I would say, if nothing else, it's definitely a top dessert of this year.
On that note, we're going to go do some gambling.
That's right.
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