Lunch at Morimoto Napa

Growing up in the Napa Valley was something I definitely didn't appreciate until after I left. Change is inevitable in a place like Wine Country. It's hard not to cater to the rich winery owners and tourists who come to pay them, and these tourists expect a level of dining on par with the world renowned wine made in The Valley. We passed through Napa yesterday on the way to see my parents and decided to have lunch at Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's restaurant in Napa,  Morimoto Napa.

To start we had the Waygu Beef Carpaccio. Thin cut Waygu Beef marinated in soy and sesame oil with ginger, garlic and topped with fresh cilantro. We instantly thought of the beef carpaccio we passed up in Barcelona in favor of salmon. But after this dish we are definitely planning to have it next time we go back. 

My boyfriend ordered the Sea Urchin Carbonara lunch set, which came with a small salad, some veggie tempura with wasabi yogurt dipping sauce and a few pieces of sushi.

The Sea Urchin Carbonara consisted of Santa Barbara sea urchin, udon noodles, english peas, thick cubes of smoked bacon, crispy shallots, poached quail egg and nori slivers. It was incredibly rich, too rich for me but my boyfriend absolutely loved it and ate every bite, but left me plenty of tempura, yum!

I kept things simple and ordered a Soft Shell Crab roll and a Spicy Tuna Roll. I always forget how hard the soft shell crab is to eat in bites like sushi, so it was a challenge for me to eat. The spicy tuna was delicious, you could taste how good and fresh the fish was. I was satisfied with my classic choices.

Dessert was adorable. A S'More Sundae with graham cracker ice cream, soy soaked chocolate and toasted marshmallow on top of a thick slice of graham cracker with more chocolate. 

Lunch was satisfying. We went to my parents after a few car dabs in the parking garage. Grilled some summer veggies brought Marley home with us. It was honestly the perfect Saturday.