A special birthday meant a trip to Nobu. Some how I had never been despite the other half having been 3 times and was always talking about it. I was bit surprised as the dining room style felt very much like a canteen rather than the high class restaurant I expected, especially compared to the entrance and bar area.
We were absolutely starving so ordered quite a lot. We also had some great cocktails, every variation of mojito they had on the menu.
First up yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño. Was very tasty but incredibly limited in terms of amount, was slightly concerned how many dishes we may need. There is a hint of spice but quite probably the mildest dish I have ever had with jalepeno on the description!
Next up was creamy spices baby shrimp tempura. A solid dish but not spectacular, but we finished in what felt like seconds so must have been pretty decent with hindsight. The picture looks like a full bowl but actually a lot salad leaves underneath.
Next up pork belly with spicey miso. This was more like it, the flavour was exquisite and so unbelievable morish. I had to slow the other half down so that they actually savoured it. The only part I would change was the size, too big to eat in one go but a bit too chewy to bite off. You end up with everything in your mouth but as a youngster I would have been told off for stuffing my mouth full. A little smaller and 8 chunks instead of 6 would have been perfect.
Then the star dish came. Miso style black cod is certainly a must have, we had with steamed broccoli. The dish made the evening, we had very similar in santorini recently but this was something else. For
someone who eats little fish this could certainly change me. In addition the salsa with the broccoli was immense, I could have it with every dish I ever eat!
To finish we thought we had better have some sushi so went for some shrimp tempura inside out cut roll. A good way to end without being fantastic and I regularly have better.
We then settled on something sweet, and went for lollipops. I ordered mango with white chocolate, well I did before I was told it was actually raspberry and pistachio covered with white chocolate. It wasn't as didn't have any pistachio at all! Slightly disappointing that such a basic item on the menu was so confusing and I ended up with something I didn't really want, and fell apart before I had even taken a bite. Eating ice cream off a plate with a spoon, so very classy of me.
Overall rating 7/10
Would I ever go back, probably unlikely. Despite some standout dishes it certainly wasn't worrh £235. I think half this amount and I might feel some value. I also don't like the fussyness, the first drinks took 15 minutes but then the waitress topped up our water about every 90 seconds, which is far too much attention for my liking. I can see why Nobu has always been popular and will remain so for those in certain circles who want to be seen somwhere but the value is poor and I have had better meals for a lot less.
