I Tried Sushi And I {Kinda} Liked It!

Morimoto’s is a Philadelphia legend, but I’ve never been.  Why would I?  I don’t eat sushi.  But when I was invited by Mom Central to an exclusive mom blogger event at the hip and trendy Morimoto’s, I debated all of 10 seconds before I sent back my RSVP.  I wasn’t about to turn down that opportunity.

The thing about blogger events is, you never know what to expect.  Sometimes you travel a long distance to sit in a dreary room and be served stale pizza that clearly originated in a box in a freezer somewhere, and other times you get treated to a sophisticated affair at a trendy downtown restaurant with decadent hors d’œuvres and succulent cocktails.

Guess which one last night was?  Mom Central did it up right.  They kept the guest list small so they could hold the event in a spectacular space with fantastic food and drink, and they told us to feel free to dress up because this was an event to celebrate moms.

Sarah, Melissa and I left the burbs with plenty of time to spare because we’ve learned our lesson the hard way.  We knew the event was only scheduled for two hours, and we didn’t want to miss a minute.  Even though the traffic was backed up on the Schuykill, we managed to find Morimoto with 15 minutes to spare.

That little sign you see there — that’s all there is to declare the presence of the famous restaurant.  We actually walked up and down the block twice before we found it.  Oh, and by the by, the shops on Jewelers’ Row close promptly at 7pm, in case you ever need to know.  We were sorely disappointed — especially Sarah, who was hoping to get her rings cleaned.  Next time we’ll know to come into town a half hour earlier if we want to peruse the shops on Jewelers’ Row.

When we entered Morimoto’s, we were directed to climb a narrow stairwell, and upstairs we found a cozy room decorated with a trendy, futuristic flair.  There were benches around the perimeter of the room with small, low tables scattered about, and upon our entry, a display of Aquafina’s FlavorSplash arranged in pretty little flights so we could try each flavor — very clever and chic.

While I’m personally not a fan of drinks sweetened with Splenda, they were light and refreshing and the other ladies seemed to enjoy them.  In addition to the flights of FlavorSplash, there was a wide array of wines and cocktails and trays after trays of gorgeous Morimoto hors d’œuvres including, of course, sushi.

Now, I may drink raw milk and put raw egg yolks in my smoothies, but raw fish is not something I have ever aspired to try.  I even order my steaks well done.  But I was game.  I wasn’t about to go to Morimoto’s and not try the sushi.

The tuna pizza, which I understand is one of his signature dishes, looked like a good culprit for my introduction to raw fish.  I wish I had pictures.  Ah look, here’s one! It was actually quite tasty, but I couldn’t QUITE get past the texture.  I ate almost all of it, though, and I was quite proud of myself, I might add.

I didn’t try any of the raw meats (I’m sure there’s a more glamorous name for them) and I only tried one of the sushi rolls.  Beth showed me how to pour the dipping sauce into a miniature bowl and add a smidge of wasabi, and I gamely dunked the sushi roll and popped the whole thing into my mouth.  It was, eh.  I was happy to move on to the lobster (cooked) and the pork dumplings.  I had at least five of those.  I’d have snuck some into my purse to take home for later if I’d had room.  (And if it wouldn’t have been horribly tacky.)

Which reminds me of when I was a teacher and we were at a school dinner where two ladies at the table across from me literally pulled containers out of their purses and put their leftovers inside.  I’m not sure if I was more amazed at their chutzpah or their foresight.  Of course, I’m the mom that never even had a clean diaper handy so I certainly never thought ahead to bring storage containers to a dinner event.

But, movingrightalong.

It was great fun catching up with my Philly peeps — Sarah and Shannon, Teresa, Mel, Beth, Debbie, Heather and of course Sarah and Melissa.  And um, could I BE any more front and center?  How did that happen?

After we’d eaten our fill of the yummylicious food, we discovered one of Morimoto’s signature cocktails — the Lychee Cosmopolitan.  It was the perfect nightcap.  Well, it would have been, had we not decided to hit Jones for dessert after the Morimoto event was over.

Yes, after the event wrapped up, we weren’t QUITE ready to go back to life… back to reality.  So we decided to walk down the street for a little extra sustenance for the ride home.  We kept it all in the family and went to Jones (another one of Stephen Starr’s highly acclaimed establishments.)  Shannon and I split a carrot cake with caramel drizzle that was simply divine.  I’ll remember to order that the next time I’m there.

Mega thanks to Mom Central, for such a special event.  You guys really know how to throw a party.  And it was so much fun meeting Elizabeth and Heather.  (We missed you, Nayna!)  I’ve corresponded with Elizabeth on many campaigns in the past, and it was fun to finally put a face with a name.

This morning, I’m off to NYC for the Better-Than-A-Picnic-Picnic.  You can follow along at The Motherhood, and I’m sure I’ll be updating on Twitter.  Have a great Saturday!

Disclosure: I wrote this post after attending an event sponsored by Aquafina FlavorSplash and Mom Central. I received FlavorSplash goodies and a gift card as a thank you for posting.