Ubon

Tempted by the London Eating 5 course meal 6 of us decided to give it a whirl!

All of us being Nobu devotees, and after reading some of the reviews below, as the ring leader I was nervous!

I needn't have worried, the astosphere was great, lively, but without that continual table changing feel that Nobu has, the Staff were spot on, attentive and helpful. In our party of 6 we had one who didnt eat anything raw, one allergic to shellfish , and one lacto intolerant, and four non meat eaters!!! (A RESTUARANTS WORST NIGHTMARE) and all of us enjoyed our amazing varied food, the Black Cod was amazing as was the Sashimi, and my daughters grilled lobster was the best she had ever had.

We washed it all down with a lovely New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and the complementary Strawberry Sake in crushed ice was a hit!

All of the above for £69 a head inc service, fantastic value for money, and we all had wonderful evening:)
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moya king - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, August 17, 2006

Reading the reviews I was naturally aprehensive but dining was not only flavourful - the black cod, wow! - it was matched with an equally timely service. A little pricey yes, but certainly worth every penny!
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Farrukh
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 15, 2006

My husband took me here for my birthday as a special occasion. Being a major sushi afficionado from Vancouver (where sushi is fresh, cheap, fun and ubiquitous), I was really worried about the big splurge to UBON given the mixed reviews below. I have never made it to NOBU so cannot compare. It may have the backwards name to its older sister, but no backwards food here -- this place did not disappoint! The fish is extremely fresh and the wonderful dressings and presentation is what set this restaurant apart from other Japanese restaurants in London . The view is great from the Docklands (I’ll refrain from further superlatives -- it’s just the skyline of London after all which is pretty darn flat and unexciting); the interior design is not exactly warm nor cutting edge. The service was friendly enough but not as professional as what one should expect for a meal at these prices. I suppose this is a minor complaint as after seven years living in the UK, I’m just happy to get a smile out of anyone serving me which we did receive in abundance by the staff. So overall must disagree with the reviewer below – the service does not overshadow the food, on the contrary, the food overshadows all the other shortcomings of the restaurant. Come here for the food and the food only … I even forgive them for using those stupid disposable wooden chopsticks! If you don’t have a special occasion, create one – finding a good sushi restaurant in London is an occasion in itself. By the way, you could easily visit and order only the ‘normal’ sushi (rather than all the specialty dishes) and not spend too much more than what you would spend at any other sushi restaurant. But do try to save up and try that melt in your mouth Black Cod with miso sauce …
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Jessica - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Food with a view, without a doubt. The sushi and sushimi were outstanding, and the wine selection is good.

However, all of this was over-shawdowed by the pretentious attitude displayed by our waitress and her peers. Not once, twice, but three times did one of them run into my chair - not at all positioned in an awkward place - and walked on as though nothing happened.

It was as though it were our privilege to have been waited on by them. And the 'discretionary' tip was not even discretionary. I will not be back.
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Lee
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Saturday, July 01, 2006

Was very dissappionting considering that it was considered the sibling of NOBU.

The price did not reflect the quailty of the food, not the dinner atmosphere in the restruant. Getting to the restruant through the garden was probally the best bit of the experience.

The legendary nobu black cod was good, but almost everything else we ordered was dissappionting.

For the same price, this is a far cry from the original NOBU.

A half empty restruant on the firday evening in which we visited says it all.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Sunday, June 04, 2006

I have eaten at Ubon (and Nobu) numerous times. Being a bit of a Japanese food afficionado I find this place to be better than it's highly rated sibling due to the fact that there are fewer tables, very often it's not full, and you actually get a view (a lot better now that they've moved the bar to the side of the room). There's always something new to try and if you speak to some of the more knowledgeable waiting staff the chefs will be happy to cook up things not on the menu - which I always find to be a good thing. However, if you don't know anything about Japanese fusion it can be slightly daunting and granted, not all of the staff know their yellowfin from their whitebait ;-).
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Casper
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Monday, May 22, 2006

an alright place, wouldn't really recommend it as highly nice. alright would be an appropriate description. this view based upon two factors: price i think doesnt reflect the quality, the atmosphere can be down, and the interior is also not exciting. but it is more appropriate for business lunches i think, not special occasion dinners.
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Anar Bakhshaliyev
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Thursday, April 27, 2006

Had heard so much that when I was invited along to a team lunch, I didnt think twice. We had a few different options. My colleagues were raving the blackened cod. Yes, fairly good flavour but very fatty pieces of fish, served on lettuce leaves. Extremely expensive, and not really worth the money considering the small size of the portion. I had a 'salmon skin salad'. Having tried the salmon skin at the moshi moshi counter in waitrose, my hopes were high. Pretty bad. The skin was chewy and with no taste, I barely managed one piece. The salmon meat was a total of 6 small pieces, the rest of the salad being full of vinegar and soya sauce, and some plasticky looking bonito flakes. I also tried a piece of rock shrimp tempura: greasy, and the shrimp felt suspiciously chewy too. A slice of yellow fin tuna sashimi was better, definitely fresh. The teriaki chicken and beef looked much better but I didnt taste them. At this sort of price, never again. Glad the company paid for this!
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Fried Egg Fred
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Monday, April 10, 2006

My son and his fiancee treated my wife and I to a meal here on a Saturday evening. We got a window seat and enjoyed the lovely view. The food was exquisite, and the service couldn't have been better - helpful and friendly, with our glasses never allowed to get too low. The black cod was the best fish I have ever tasted. I have to say my son didn't let me see the bill, I guess he didn't want to bring on a heart attack, bless him. Oh and the wine (Sancerre) was outstanding also!
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Paul Daws
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Monday, March 20, 2006

Visited Ubon on a Saturday night. Restaurant is far too bright and felt like you were eating in a canteen environment. Staff were very arrogant and unhelpful and a couple of things from our order didn't surface until we reminded them. Had to keep asking for wine glass to be filled up - not sure if we actually ended up with somebody else's bottle as they had about half a dozen in one cooler which seemed to cause great confusion. Food was good but not worth the money. No atmosphere.

Have been to other Sushi restaurants in London for less money and had a much better time.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, March 14, 2006