Augieland: Morimoto NYC: Omakase bar night 10, the porn

Night 10 (yes night 9 is missing, it was a late evening impromptu that was of course both creative and fantastic but I didn't have the camera and my senses were well dulled by the time we walked in, so not much to report). Whether or not you count the in-between sushi pieces along the way, I think we are in the area of about a century of dishes without repeat here is the porn...

Baby white shrimp tempura with sudachi the tiny little piece of sudachi adding a bright ascorbic zing when squeezed over these sweet, miniscule shrimp.

Conger Eel with a sweet and sour dipping sauce

Blue crab with apricot sorbet and Japanese vinaigrette espuma an interesting play between the sweet meat, the zing of yuzu in the foam, the nectarous sorbet, and the briny crab roe. (Yes that is a bowl made of ice).

Sashimi: Okoze (scorpion fish), otoro, katsuo with 10 yr soy a very spicy yellow mustard was served with traditional soy for the katsuo (bonito). The 10-year soy thickly clung to the most marbled toro I have seen.

Lobster salad -- took a picture and had a taste but this was wife's supplement for the sashimi course so not much more to say than the lobster was sweet and the other ingredients had varying levels of pickley acidity to contrast it.

Wild Japanese striped bass with plum paste in bonito broth the way good bonito broth can thoroughly contribute an aroma to a dish while staying out of the way of the flavors is an amazing thing.

Sweetfish with plum and tadai pepper sauce skewered to appear as if it were swimming and grilled, it tasted of scorched river silt while you chewed. After, though, a fascinating and building aroma developed that made me wish I had eaten more slowly.

Japanese beef with summer truffles the next time someone tells you meat (whether or not they are calling Kobe, or Waygu) from America, New Zealand or Australia is remotely in the realm of Japanese beef as far as aroma flavor and texture go, just assume everything said after that is stupid. Best or not is inconsequential, this is unlike everything else across the board. The summer truffles, although pretty, brought little to this party.

Sushi: uni, maguro, kohada, kinmeidai, shima aji, baby ginger

Simmered cherries with earl grey icecream god these guys are good at not screwing up a meal with overly sweet stuff at the end. The cherries had their own subtle sweetness with nothing extra and the ice-cream had all the aspects of a perfect cup of earl grey -- color, tannin, sweetness.

Basil sorbet with strawberry salad and balsamic reduction the sorbet tasted of basil, not basil sorbet, but basil the aroma of torn leaves. The crackers had licorice notes, the strawberries were sweet, and the balsamic thick, sweet, dark and woody. Officially according to Wife the greatest dessert ever.