Restaurant Reviews: Nobu

After eating at Sen of Japan, where the Chef trained under Chef Nobu, I was excited to try the original Chef's recipes.

It was Mothers' Day, so I had reservations well in advance. I recommend reservations for any day of the week.

Of course they had a wine list, but I went for beer as I am known to. They have a Nobu Ale, which the waiter told me was actually made in Japan. It was a nice, almost amber ale type beer, slightly malty, not too hoppy. I could tell that it would go with anything we ordered.

I think I ordered for everyone! I had to get the hamachi nigiri, because that's basically my indicator of the quality and freshness of the fish, and it's my favorite at sushi places. The actual sushi comes last at Nobu. First we had tempura: avocado, sweet potato, Japanese eggplant, and lotus root. They were all great; I had never had lotus root tempura before, and the only place I'd had avocado tempura was at Sen.

We ordered the two dishes from Nobu that I made in my Contemporary Cuisine class: the hamachi sashimi and the glazed cod. Both were fantastic. My hamachi in school was probably as good as the one at Nobu, but of course they cooked the glazed cod much better. The hamachi is marinated in yuzu juice and served with a little garlic and jalapeno, just perfect. The cod is glazed with a sweet soy and grilled to just barely done.

For my entree, I ordered the scallops in the spicy garlic sauce. They were wonderful, but I'm sure I'm biased, since I turn into a puddle of happiness when it comes to scallops. They were diver scallops and there were probably ten on the plate! Nobu does not skimp on portions.

The sushi, which came last, was on par with the quality I expected from such a place. Hamachi was delicious.

Overall, Nobu was nice. We ended up at around $70 a person (estimate- I didn't see the check), with three of us drinking, two desserts, and a lot of food.

Parking is easy normally, but a concert at The Joint could make parking difficult, so check the schedule before you reserve. Dress is anywhere from t-shirts and jeans to black tie.

The wait staff is a bit overbearing, removing plates to give new ones after every dish is served, and there seemed to be far too many of them to attend to a table of four people.

Overall, it was good. I doubt I'll go there again for a while, though.

Next up: Firefly and 777.