Nobu has the reputation of being a fine dining Japanese Restaurant in London, which is the exact reason I never thought I would be able to enjoy a meal there. Fortunately two of my close friends generously took me there on my 21st birthday. Nobu produced one of the most copied dishes such as the miso-black cod, and brought attention to Japanese cuisine to the level it deserves, I was really looking forward to it.
After hearing countless times of Nobu in the media, I had a feeling it was a restaurant with pretentious surroundings, which would make me feel uncomfortable to even breathe at a normal rate around other customers. I was wrong. The decoration was effortlessly elegant and crisp, the simplicity of the setting made me feel more at ease than I thought. As I was thinking how comfortable I feel sitting in the famous Nobu and enjoying the view of a sunny Hyde Park, the menu arrived and the three of us had never been so confused in a restaurant.
I understand that in Japanese Cuisine there are no clear sections for starters and mains as it does in Western cuisine, but the menu was so confusing that we find difficulties differentiating dishes from main course or starters. The only thing that would indicate the difference is the price for each dish, which are all pretty much the same so that didn’t help; it took us half the dining period to order.
The restaurant started to get filled up, and the type of customers are in fact, pretentious businessmen and spoilt wives and kids as I had imagined. My breathing rate slows down.
After a round of miso soup, a plate of perfect looking assorted sushi arrived, those little pieces of art taste just as good as they look. But it is highly questionable of whether it is worth £32 for ten pieces of sushi. We had scallops in black pepper sauce, which was highly unmemorable with a black-bean-like-sauce with some vegetables, as was the grilled salmon fillet with teriyaki sauce, the fillet was undoubtedly very fresh, but it was so well done that it almost tasted bland.
A borderline satisfactory with the main course, the dessert really did save the day. The coconut cake with chocolate streusel and passion fruit jelly, and the chocolate fondant with green tea ice cream were out of this world. Such well balanced between the richness of chocolate and the refreshing jelly and green tea with sprinkles of assorted seeds and nuts.
I was very appreciative for this trip to Nobu but I have to say that would be the last time I visit the restaurant. The food was good especially the desserts, however it was very overpriced for the ingredients it serves. I believe you could find food just as good in other parts of London with half the price, in fact, I know you could. Saying that, based on the type of customers on the night, it is definitely not the food Nobu concentrates on, but the reputation these customers give them, and the social status they give these customers.
After hearing countless times of Nobu in the media, I had a feeling it was a restaurant with pretentious surroundings, which would make me feel uncomfortable to even breathe at a normal rate around other customers. I was wrong. The decoration was effortlessly elegant and crisp, the simplicity of the setting made me feel more at ease than I thought. As I was thinking how comfortable I feel sitting in the famous Nobu and enjoying the view of a sunny Hyde Park, the menu arrived and the three of us had never been so confused in a restaurant.
I understand that in Japanese Cuisine there are no clear sections for starters and mains as it does in Western cuisine, but the menu was so confusing that we find difficulties differentiating dishes from main course or starters. The only thing that would indicate the difference is the price for each dish, which are all pretty much the same so that didn’t help; it took us half the dining period to order.
The restaurant started to get filled up, and the type of customers are in fact, pretentious businessmen and spoilt wives and kids as I had imagined. My breathing rate slows down.
After a round of miso soup, a plate of perfect looking assorted sushi arrived, those little pieces of art taste just as good as they look. But it is highly questionable of whether it is worth £32 for ten pieces of sushi. We had scallops in black pepper sauce, which was highly unmemorable with a black-bean-like-sauce with some vegetables, as was the grilled salmon fillet with teriyaki sauce, the fillet was undoubtedly very fresh, but it was so well done that it almost tasted bland.
A borderline satisfactory with the main course, the dessert really did save the day. The coconut cake with chocolate streusel and passion fruit jelly, and the chocolate fondant with green tea ice cream were out of this world. Such well balanced between the richness of chocolate and the refreshing jelly and green tea with sprinkles of assorted seeds and nuts.
I was very appreciative for this trip to Nobu but I have to say that would be the last time I visit the restaurant. The food was good especially the desserts, however it was very overpriced for the ingredients it serves. I believe you could find food just as good in other parts of London with half the price, in fact, I know you could. Saying that, based on the type of customers on the night, it is definitely not the food Nobu concentrates on, but the reputation these customers give them, and the social status they give these customers.
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