The Florida Foodie
A Lovely Lunch and Stroll at the Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens
By Saucy Sarah
The Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens, located in Boca Raton off Jog Road is a botanical treasure in Palm Beach County. The Morikami gives the public the opportunity to experience Japanese culture through meticulously manicured gardens, museum exhibits, special events, and also food. 
The Cornell Café, located at the Morikami is an open-air dining experience offering an inspired Pan-Asian menu 11:00am to 3:00pm Tuesday thru Sunday. The Food Network has named the Cornell Café at Morikami one of the top three museum food destinations in the country. It is definitely worth the drive for a great lunch and a little bit of culture. Admission to the Morikami is required to dine at the Cornell Café. Adult admission is $13.00, children are $8.00. There is a senior price and children under five are free.
I took my mother for Mother’s Day for their three course pre-fix menu – a nice sampling of their regular menu. For our starter, we chose the crab cake and bang bang shrimp ($7.25). Delightfully crunchy small crab cakes with a mustard aioli and tempura shrimp in a sweet glaze. For our main course, we selected the sushi sampler plate ($8.95) and the Mahi Mahi with mango chutney ($10.95).
The Cornell Café offers an impressive array of sushi and sashimi. The combo plate allows you to try a variety of what the café offers. I was delighted by the offerings on the combo platter. All the sushi was prepared with care and made with high quality ingredients. The Morikami also offers a Sushi & Stroll series where you can sample their sushi and stroll the gardens certain nights of the year. Call for details.
Along with the sushi, the café has other Asian inspired entrees. The Mahi Mahi with mango chutney was a marvel. The outside of the fish had a golden lacquered bark that was crunchy and kept the interior of the fish moist and flaky. The chutney was a nice compliment to the rich savory fish. The vegetable medley that accompanied the fish was crisp and fresh. A perfect pairing.
For our dessert we chose a Mango Cheesecake ($4.25) and a Chocolate Mousse Cake ($4.25). Both were good, typical restaurant dessert fare. I would like to go back and try some of their more inspired Japanese sweets such as the Japanese cake roll; sponge cake layered with a fresh cream filling ($2.50) or the Manju ice cream; two ice cream bon bons wrapped in rice paste ($2.95).
After your meal, take a leisurely stroll around the gardens, check out the current museum exhibits and immerse yourself fully in the Japanese culture. A trip to the Morikami is all about serenity and enjoyment. One trip and you will want to return often.
In her previous life, Sarah, a Palm Beach County Native, spent ten years working in various high-end eating establishments around South Florida. She is currently a fiction thesis candidate in the MFA program at Florida International University where she also teaches creative writing and rhetoric. If that is not enough, Sarah is also the owner of Cakes by Sarah, a local custom cake shop. Sarah lives in Lake Worth with her husband and two beautiful boys. “Food, fiction, and family are my life.”
