Eating whole truffles is actually pretty time-honored. Back when truffles were not so expensive (such a time did exist!), they were often cooked, whole, in wine. I remember some reference, I think maybe by writer MFK Fisher, to that method of cooking in France in the 1800s. The French novelist Colette (1873-1954) gives a recipe for cooking whole truffles in dry white wine with salt, pepper, and lardons (strips of pork fat or bacon), which sounds pretty good to me! Further internet searching gives similar examples, some of them more recent but doubtless much more expensive. I imagine that your friend’s truffle was a summer truffle, tuber aestivum, rather than the prized Perigord truffle, tuber melanosporum? Because even at Morihiro’s price point I’d think the later would be priced out of reach.
the key there is lardon. you can dress up a dog turd with enough lardon, butter, and salt. why would you want to eat a whole chunk of truffle in general? deep frying it is just insanity.
as to the last bit: australian black truffles have about as much aroma/flavor as legitimate périgords to the average palate when treated properly. they also come in at half the cost because they don’t have the “prestige” of goddamn… pigs hunting them, and they’re available year round. if a restaurant here, in the middle of July, tells you that you’re getting true périgords, that’s a fucking crime. otherwise, game on.
I don’t think anyone uses pigs any more. Black winter “Perigord” truffles (Tuber melanosporum) can be cryovac’d and frozen, or preserved in other ways. Though this time of year they’re in season in Australia.
To me they’re similar to mushrooms so I’d try tempura if I had a chance and could afford it.
I actually got some Chilean “Perigords” recently that were pretty good too.
Possibly a bit late to the recent April Truffle question, but I’m sure it only happened once on April 16*
Japanese style tempura is possibly the best and quickest way to seal in all the fragrance and intensity of winter black truffle without ruining the beauty of that mushroom.
*Mori San himself said, he had never had the whole truffle tempura, so he wanted the five lucky guests that night to experience it, for fun. It’s Ichi-go ichi-e, “one time, one meeting,” kind of night from his kindness and spontaneousness. If you know Mori San as a person, he does this with so much joy, it will warm anyone’s heart. It was a wonderful night. Expect nothing there and wonderful surprise will keep on showing up.
There were only 5 guests at the counter that night, the 6th truffle was shared among all the chefs 
Had morihiro last night at the counter.
The man is truly the GOAT in LA when it comes to Shari. Also they do not skimp on portion size or course number. I waddled out of there.
Also never seen so many chefs and FOH staff at a sushi restaurant of this size. Service is not usually the first thing I think of at a high end omakase - but it was great here.
Disclaimer - they use astrea caviar
was my brother serving you haha?
Haha no - we were on opposite sides of the bar. He was mostly working on the table omakase
Picked up a couple of their new lunch bento boxes today. Was very nice. I liked the variety. I devoured it in 4 minutes flat.
The snow crab, abalone, sashimi, pickled veggies were particularly delightful. Also the extra fluffy Tamago and ripe fruit were a nice cap
Very satisfying for $100
she’s there
she’s been there for almost a year now if I remember correctly. She does the table omakase sushi (amongst other things) and Mori does the bar omakase. Place is a well oiled machine
When I did table omakase in April it was only Mori in the house if memory serves. But I am not an expert on these things and may have missed her.
Usually it’s a lineup of 4 people at the bar. Jlee’s brother on one side. Another chef on the other side. Then Mori and AI in the middle. Usually the added bar cost is because Mori is preparing the sushi. Might be some random times where he’s helping with tables if the bar isn’t full?
Thinking about hitting up Morihiro for the first time at some point on one of my trips back to LA. The menu online suggests that there are 8 pieces of nigiri, which is a bit surprising given both the price point and your comment re: course number. Is it actually more than 8?
It is more food than any omakase spot I’ve ever been to, so I wouldn’t worry about achieving satiety. But if you’re specifically interested in having more nigiri than composed dishes I’m sure they would accommodate upon request.
It’s a lot. It’s one of the places I left and I couldn’t finish my food since I was so full. Also yes, the added bar cost is because Mori-san is serving at the bar. And yes, the service was great even when I went like two years ago. They are a great oiled machine.
Their website is weird. And the menu they give you is weird.
You can eat as much sushi as you want. I have never not waddled out of there. I’ve seen people call it quits 4-5 pieces beforehand. Portion sizes for the cooked dishes are American tasting menu size if not larger. Pics below from last Saturday
@onelabneh @Foodiefromla @Clayfu
Amazing, thanks for the info 
Ignoring price, would you say it’s at least as good an experience as, say, Shunji or Takeda? (As examples of places I’ve been to and consider near the top of LA’s sushi scene, while still being possible to get reservations at.)