Morimoto Asia Napa

Richard was fantastic as our server. eating was great! the crêpe is a wonderful and unique experience. the orange huh was a lovely surprise. the basilikum fried rice was absolutely spectacular. my only complaint would be the leiche at $40. that is also high from napa valley standards. I've never seen more than $30, and I've been gedminating here for 15 years.

We ordered soup and a main course. They arrived together so that the second one we ate was cold. The food was barely passable with little taste. The server kept referring to the pancakes that came with our meal as tortillas. I will not return to this restaurant.

This is our third trial of this new Morimoto venue in Napa. The first trip, Chef Morimoto was on site and supervised the kitchen. All the dishes were delicious, full of umami, depth of favor. The service was very uneven but I gave them a break since it was the opening weekend. Fast forward to 2 weeks later, dined there again (see my another review). What a disappointment. Last night and the third trial. What a let down again. We checked in with the friendly and proficient host. Unfortunately, it went downhill from that point. Our server Nick did not do a proper job as a server. We ordered some beer but we had to repeat to him 3 times. During the dinner, he did not check with us. The table were dirty and he did not come to offer cleaning it up. We had to ask the busboy to get a rag to wipe clean the table. He did not remove the dirty plates after the appetizers. We ordered some dim sum as appetizers and had the crispy rice and mapo tofu ramen as our entrees. All of dishes were under seasoned. Noticed it happened in the second visit too. The kitchen and the floor need a lot training work. Then, we had the mango pudding and homemade tofu for the desserts. The mango pudding is a very simple dessert. I'd give it a B- because the texture of the pudding is too gelatin. The homemade tofu is a big disappointment. The tofu should be silky smooth and soft which I could slurp it in the mouth. Unfortunately, the tofu is too firm, almost like a cake. The ginger syrup is not too sweet, which I like, with a hint of ginger favor. Regarding the price, the dim sum at Empress M is 40% less expensive but have more favors. Without reviving the kitchen, why does anyone want to pay 100% more than but get the food not much better than the Panda Express?

Monday night and service was slow and inattentive. Not many menu options if you don’t eat pork. Stir fried vegetable and tofu dish arrived in a puddle of oil and lacking in flavor. Wine by the glass pricing is exorbitant and nonsensical. The $80/ bottle wine costs less by the glass than the $60/ bottle glass. My party did find dishes they enjoyed but I would not go back.

Second visit and the food, drinks and service hit all the marks. Will definitely return and encourage family and friends to visit.