Nobu

Generaly the food (starters) was good. This time I was not lucky with the "Tender Pepper Steak", which was not tender at all. The restaurant also seem getting more and more noisy.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

My friend and i headed for dinner at Nobu London Last Night, We were seated at a lovely table running along the wall, with exceptional views of Hyde Park.

From the very beginning our waiter was attentive, we were offered first drinks and something to snack on whilst looking over the menu, after we had toasted our special occassion our young energetic waiter was back offering to help us with the menu, he went through all the different options including the set menu, and we decided to let him design the menu specifically for us.

Yellowtail with Jalapeno, followed by the amazing beef tataki, then a sashimi salad with half salmon, as we mentioned to him it was a favourite of ours, then we had the king crab tempura, the original black cod, dover sole with red chilli and the tea smoked lamb to finish.

The food was amazing, the portions were not huge, but because we were having several dishes we knew to appreciate the quality rather than the quantity. Our waiter was constantly checking on us, asking if we had any questions, making us laugh, filling us in with little facts about certain dishes, and overall making the night fun, memorable and relaxed.

I will definatly be back there again soon!!
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Kate Harrington
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, December 29, 2007

I took my boyfriend to Nobu last night for his birthday. Overall experience was ok, but nothing to shout about. I agree the decor is quite bland & too many tables crammed so very impersonal. The bar downstairs has a lot more character & atmosphere! The bill came to £140 but we did leave feeling very stuffed.

The staff were quite friendly, but I didn't really understand the waitress who served us & who tried to explain the dishes. We ordered the sushi set dinner which is quite a large portion. We had lobster wasabi which I really don't recommend at £30. I ended up eying my neighbours lobster salad! We also had tenderloin beef of skewers, salmon & avocado hand cut rolls, shrimp & scallop tempura which was nice. For desert we had the Nobu chocolate tart & white chocolate cake which were divine & topped it off nicely!

I would come back here again & be more adventurous trying the other dishes.
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Amy
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Saturday, December 22, 2007

Went with some friends on Tuesday night and were disappointed, My boyfriend and I have only just returned from a holiday in Japan so were hoping to experience some memories of our holiday.

The restaurant seems very inpersonal, it was loud, lacked decoration or anything that reminded me of my wonderful trip around Japan.

We were sat at the table for 2 minutes before the waitress started hassling us to choose our food - we hadn't even opened the menu at that point. We were hassled twice more in the next 5 mins and in the end decided to go for the 'surprise menu'. This was after a lot of deliberation on my behalf as although I eat some sushi, I don't love it. The waitress said that they would be able to change the menu to suit me while leaving the other 3 in the party with the standard menu. So I said that I would prefer not too much raw fish and only salmon / prawn sushi. She said that this would be fine.

My meal was identical to the rest of the party - 3 courses of raw fish, + another course of sushi (very mixed, not just salmon). The only thing they did do, was omit the wasabi for me.

At times during the meal, the waiting staff were hovering to remove our plates as soon as we lifted the last morsel off our plates and before we'd even eaten it.

If the 2 hour window wasn't long enough for the (expensive) surprise menu, then the staff shouldn't be pushing people to choose it.

Although, the rest of the party loved the majority of the dishes, we all felt it was over priced at £70 each.

I don't think we will be going back!!
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Vanessa Ranson
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Friday, November 02, 2007

Very disappointed in Nobu when considering it's ratings as one of the best restaurants in London. The sushi was uninspiring and portions small. I have certainly been to several better Japanese restaurants in London. Although service was attentive, it slightly cold and impersonal and none of the dishes were explained, which didn't sit well when automatically charged 15% on top of our bill. Sitting is literally for 2 hrs, after which we were told we had to leave. Decor is bland and unimaginative. Space is large with as many tables crammed in as possible, which created high levels of noise and an lacked any intimacy.

Overall, Nobu is overpriced for what you get. I wouldn't recommend.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Saturday, October 27, 2007

I was taken to Nobu London last night for my birthday as I've always wanted to try it. I was not disappointed. The food was fantastic, particular highlights were the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno, rock shrimp tempura and the black cod with miso.

The service was attentive and friendly without being invasive. Our waiter was perfectly happy to answer any questions about the dishes we ordered and it's clear that all staff have a thorough understanding of the menu and its ingredients.

The food is expensive and was very much a 'treat' for myself and my boyfriend, but I certainly felt the experience and the food merited the cost. If only I could afford to go every week!
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Katie
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, October 19, 2007

Food was pretty good. The Chawan Mushi wasn't that impressive though, having had so many dishes containing shark's fin in the past, I did not think shark's fin chawan mushi is the best combination Nobu could come up with. Scallops Trio was delicious. The combination of king crab, garlic and caviar was excellent. Price was a little too high for what we were getting, especially for this one plain clear soup containing shark. Roughly one soup would be over 10 quid. The service was quite slow, perhaps because there were so many people. Waiting for the food to come was a very boring experience, my Mum was falling asleep towards the end of it. The ambience very much reminds me of a marketplace or a pub; extremely noisy, crowded and uncomfortable. The ladies sitting beside us were very drunk and aggressive, they were shouting and laughing on top of their lungs that they gave out the impressions that they had to save up a year's pay check just to dine in Nobu. Overall, I would come back again, but perhaps during lunch when people are much less inclined to get drunk during a meal.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 4
Sunday, September 30, 2007

A long dinner here left a really good impression - though the modern twists on traditional Japanese food aren't as innovative as they once were - the black cod, snow crab and lobster with shrimp and lemon were highlights and the Peruvian style tea-smoked lamb was an interesting cultural fusion. The maître d' remembered me and made us feel very welcome - and the waiting staff were quite attentive: there is a markedly more relaxed atmosphere in the evenings. Remember to order the Honjozo Kinpaku-Iri sake if you are celebrating.
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Yvonne Salmon
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, September 29, 2007

I had great experience at Nobu, i took my boyfriend knowing that it has a bit peruvian influence, I am peruvian and I loved it!!!!

we will back for sure.
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Ana Rodriguez
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, September 21, 2007

Having had a good experienced at Nobu New York, I took my wife to Nobu London for lunch in order to start her birthday celebration.

As we were also going to Gordon Ramsay's for dinner we were dressed accordingly - possibly a good thing as we were spending the day in London and, albeit unfortunately, probably 'improves' the service one receives at 'fine' establishments.

We ordered the seasonal and regular degustation menus at Nobu and found it ... uninspiring to say the least. Everything was beautifully laid out but the dishes were fair. They were far from poor but having eaten at 'renowned' restaurants and knowing that regular restaurants are improving on the quality of their cuisine, we really expected considerably more.

So here's a rough breakdown of what I thought of some of the dishes.

Toro Tartare

Alarm bells ring already! I love Salmon tartare and Toro but Toro, esp. Otoro, is such an expensive dish on its own it's almost sacrilegious to 'mince' it. I go to a restaurant in Shanghai that specialises in Toro and they only serve the Otoro tartare with rice as part of a much larger set meal. The reason they do this is because not the entire cut of Otoro is ideal for slices and as a result there will always be off-cuts, These off-cuts, although still of high quality can't be sold as sashimi or sushi due to their irregular and small sizes. This therefore makes them ideal for tartare which is then served as a complimentary and a sweetener to the main meal of proper Toro. In conclusion, I felt Nobu was using off-cuts for its chef menu which I felt was appalling. Needless to say, the dish was ok if not overly complex for what is already an already expensive and exquisite natural cut of the fish.

Miso Black Cod

In all honesty, this is an old dish and a relatively common and normal dish in fine dining Asian restaurants. Although a classic, I was thus still expecting a slight twist to be added to this concoction. Sad to say, not only was it as-is, but the Cod here couldn't compare to those I had eaten in those restaurants and it was cut too thin that you lost the delicate texture of the fish as it was overpowered by the Miso marinade and the overly cooked nature. It actually reminded me of the regular English cod and chips! My experience with this dish is that the cut should be adequately thick to allow the Miso marinade to be initially tasted along with the crisp outside and subsequently balanced with the just-cooked inside flesh to appreciate the fresh, fragrant, and oily nature of the fish.

Beef Tenderloin

Nobu is a world-renowned high-end Japanese restaurant and I expected something more than just regular beef tenderloin e.g. Omi, Matsuzaka, Mishima, or Tajima Kobe beef (Wagyu would be ok too, even if not authentically Japanese, as it still has its links to Japan as opposed to a conventional beef tenderloin); much like I would have expected to be served Kurobuta pork if they were to serve pork or Champagne as opposed to sparkling wine in France. In any case, the quality of beef was still good but the portions it came in were minute (3 bite sized all differently prepared). It's getting very fashionable to serve one dish several ways but I do wish they serve decent portions in order to saviour each preparation properly. At least one was too salty and two were cooked beyond medium rare - which I thought was a shame. My wife and I both love beef and we eat our steaks rare if not blue (which we mentioned to the service staff). We therefore only frequent restaurants we trust to serve good quality beef as we wouldn't eat any meat this rare otherwise. I'm not insinuating that Nobu serves poor quality beef - I'm sure they don't and I've already stated that the quality of beef was good - but I do think only high quality beef can be served rare and I find it a shame to serve otherwise.

Sashimi, Sushi, and Maki

Not terribly good

Service

Unfortunately this was the part that ruined what would have been an ok, albeit expensive, lunch. Despite being well dressed, my wife, who is a model but without the attitude, and I are quite young which, I believe, were factors that resulted in the non English-speaking service staff to look down on having to serve us. I have no problems with overseas staff even if their English is not great but some looked more like models with the demeanour and attitude to match and who, also, spoke with some arrogance. I would have much preferred the smile from any non-English speaking Japanese staff and it made me think that these people were hired on the basis of their looks as opposed to their service capability. In any case, we were not the only ones to think poorly of the service; the table next to us (what looked to be a rich looking Russian mother & daughter) had difficulties with the same service staff and ultimately chose not to pay the service charge whereupon the staff left to get the manager without so much as a word. As the manager apologised for their experience after hearing what they had to say I took the opportunity to inform her that we experienced a similar level of service. She was kind enough to waive the service charge but as I had already paid I said it was ok. She then said that she could reverse the charges and was perfectly willing to do it which I then accepted. If not for the Manager I would probably have thought how Nobu has gone down the drain. Interestingly enough, Nobu charge a 15% service charge as opposed to Gordon Ramsay’s 12.5% which had a far, far, more superior service staff (from the friendliness of the Maitre'D who, amazingly, recognised me from a long time back to the discreet and yet attentive, mostly French, staff).

Décor

Like the food, I felt the décor was uninspiring and almost temporary – a little like a high end IKEA! It’s definitely not a look I’d like to see re-created and as a designer, I would say that it was a missed opportunity especially with a brand like Nobu and its shared Japanese links to Zen and its fantastic location overlooking Hyde Park.

Although our dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s was over double the amount we paid at Nobu I still ended up more satisfied and hugely impressed at the latter eponymous’ restaurant. In short, I would probably eschew Nobu London, but not necessarily the entire chain.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, September 21, 2007