Falling in Love at Morimoto Doha
Falling in Love at Morimoto Doha
Morimoto, Doha
On my latest trip to Qatar one of my favourite meals was at Morimoto Doha, the sleek new Japanese restaurant at the Mondrian hotel.
My visit to Doha opened up my eyes to all the new things that had sprung up in the city in just the last couple of years. Having spent three weeks exploring, I’d say that both Morimoto and the Mondrian hotel are two stunning examples of how far this beautiful peninsula state has come.
The Mondrian is one of Doha’s newest and most eclectic hotels, and is well worth a visit even if you don’t end up eating there. Most of all, I love the mad Alice-in-Wonderland interiors, kaleidoscope swimming pools and culinary delights.
The theatricality of the lavish 5-star Mondrian Hotel carries through to the restaurant itself with its ravishing, candle-lit chandeliers, gold pillars, and pricey ingredients.
Dinner at Morimoto, Doha
Morimoto Doha provides a multi-sensory culinary experience and makes a good stab at producing modern Japanese dining.
In addition, the experience at Morimoto Doha is also one that you would associate with its larger-than-life celebrity chef, Masaharu Morimoto. When Chef Morimoto isn’t hosting the Iron Chef, then he’s hard at work expanding his genius restaurant empire.
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In fact, my experience has been so good that I’d hazard a guess and say that Morimoto is probably the best Japanese restaurant in Doha. Therefore, it follows that a dinner at Morimoto is an experience not to be missed.
To business then! Our dinner at Morimoto Doha starts with whitefish carpaccio with yuzu, ginger and chilli oil.
The fish is effortlessly done; it’s slim, supple and tastes great. For all the Londoners, it’s a very similar dish to Roka’s yellowtail carpaccio.
Next, we move on to the incredibly moreish rock shrimp tempura. There is immense satisfaction to had in dipping these crunchy morsels into wasabi aoili and spicy Kochujan sauce. Yum
Finally, our trio of starters end with Mizuhiki salad, presented in a transparent scroll and tied shut with a silk ribbon. The scroll is dramatically opened to reveal jewel-like pieces of steamed lobster on heirloom carrots, daikon and asparagus.
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The unmissable sushi & sashimi at Morimoto Doha
The Chef’s Selection of sashimi is a must-try at Morimoto – especially the rose-spiralled tuna Maguro. Apparently the tuna is flown in first class all the way from Japan, which is a story that I probably shouldn’t love as much as I do.
However the fish finds its way to Morimoto Doha, it’s beautiful, simple, cut wonderfully and fresh. The tuna leads the way to the other sashimi and sushi, of which I also love the salmon, a favourite as always, and the hirame, saba and kanpachi.
Following this, our next courses come from the Japanese grill, the first of which is a braised black fillet of cod with ginger-soy reduction. It’s very much like the famous miso black cod from Nobu, and at Morimoto I love the additional ginger zing.
The fish falls wonderfully into chunks that are slathered in that sweet-sticky-umami sauce. It’s really very delicious.
Save some room for dessert
By the time we get to the braised lamb shank we’re already quite full, but can’t resist pulling pieces of the fragrant meat off of its long bone. The lamb shank comes with a saffron risotto, which I don’t quite understand, although I’m sure if I had asked there would be some sensible reasoning behind it.
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For dessert we pop generously sugared Agepan doughnuts into our mouths, followed by spoonfuls of melting chocolate sphere, caramel ganache and rose water sauce.
All in all, dinner at Morimoto Doha has been an intensely flavourful and skilled affair. I only regret that I won’t be able to return as much as I would have wanted. Oh well – more reason to head back to the Middle East :)
The Details
Morimoto Doha, Qatar
Address – The Mondrian Hotel, Doha, Qatar
Website – Morimoto, Doha
Phone – +974 4045 5999
Our dinner at Morimoto, Doha was complimentary. This does not affect our review in any way. All views are our own and as ever we aim to provide useful and honest feedback.
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