Nobu Matsuhisa’s first restaurant in the USA was located in Alaska and went up in flames after just weeks of trading. It’s fair to say that things have only improved since then. Nine years after his ‘Bombe Alaska’ (yep, I went there!), Nobu opened a Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant in Beverly Hills and soon became one of the world’s first celebrity chefs. There are now 22 Nobu restaurants around the world, including one in Melbourne which opened in 2007 at Crown Casino.
Nobu
We begin with sashimi tacos, filled with salmon, yellowtail, snow crab and lobster. I try the salmon which is light and fresh, with an incredibly crunchy mini taco shell.
Sashimi Tacos with Yellowtail, Salmon, Lobster and Snow Crab
The crispy cubes of rice on skewers, combined with the spicy tuna and a touch of soy sauce, is wonderfully flavoured, and while the rice was rather chewy, I still enjoyed it.
Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna
The Nobu new style sashimi arrives looking almost like slices of salmon pizza. The yuzu soy sauce is delicious, with the unusual citrus taste of the yuzu working well with the savoury soy and garlic marinade and the oiliness of the sashimi.
Salmon Sashimi New Style
I was intrigued with the menu item of Jurassic quail, and I must admit, the quail pieces were indeed quite large. Biting into one, the skin was extremely crispy and the meat tender, however it was a little salty for my liking.
Crispy Jurassic Quail with Anti Cucho Salts and Agave Yuzu Kosho Ponzu
Black cod is one of my favourite fishes, so after hearing that black cod miso was one of Nobu’s specialties, I was looking forward to trying it out. It was very simply presented, with a generous fillet of cod in the centre of the square plate with a dot of miso in each corner. The taste was fantastic, with the silky, buttery texture of the black cod and the richness of the miso creating a delectable dish.
Black Cod Miso
TL;DR:
- Every dish was bursting with flavour and I’d definitely go back to try more of the menu!
- Service was rather slow during a busy Sunday lunch, with dishes taking a fair time to come out of the kitchen and we had to repeatedly follow up our drink orders
Nobu
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank VIC 3006
T: (03) 9292 5777
W: Nobu Melbourne
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