Nobu Tokyo

It's been a while since my last post... have been busy with many things so I haven't had time to sit down and write.  For today, I will just cover Nobu Tokyo, which is one of my more recent culinary adventures.

Nobu Tokyo (http://www.nobutokyo.com/)

I'd first heard about Nobu about maybe 7 or 8 years ago, when I was working part time as a 'sushi-chef'.  The quotes are there because, well, while I certainly made nigiri-sushi and an assortment of sushi-rolls, I felt (and still do) that I didn't have enough skills to be deserving of that name.  Anyhow, one of the first culinary books I'd ever picked up and read seriously was
his book "Nobu The Cookbook" (http://www.amazon.com/Nobu-The-Cookbook-Nobuyuki-Matsuhisa/dp/156836489X), which in addition to including recipes from his restaurant menu, details the journey and hardships he underwent in the struggle to become a successful restaurateur. At that time, I never even imagined that I would have a chance to try his food and much less meet the man himself.

Yes, Nobu himself happened to be in town and at his restaurant on the date which I had made my dinner reservation- as a result, the staff were all in top form (well almost all of the staff, more on that later).

There was a special 'Nobu is here' fixed price tasting course menu (About 15000 yen a head) but there were a few famous items on the menu that I wanted to try , so we decided to forgo that option in favour of ordering a la carte. Prices can be found on the dinner menu pdf here (http://www.nobutokyo.com/e_menu/)

The interior decor was very nice, dark paneled wood with mellow, yellow lights. The lighting was actually quite dim, but each table had a light which shone directly on to it, placing the emphasis on the food rather than any fancy vases or other items.

Let me take you through the dishes one at a time.
   

Nobu Tokyo's Sushi Bar

The first dish we had was the Toro Rossa, a succulent piece of tuna belly lightly broiled which topped with a (not so) spicy (but a little bit sweet) miso sauce and crispy flour chips(maybe large panko sticks?), all wrapped up in a piece of lettuce. This turned out to be one of my favourite dishes due to its refined taste and execution.  Every ingredient played its part, the fattiness of the toro and slight charred taste from the torch, the texture of the flour chips to the freshness of the salad. I believe that I could finish 20 of these wraps and still not get bored (just poor). The wraps were a great start to the meal and definitely left a big impression, also whetting our appetites for what was to come.

Toro Rossa- Broiled Toro Lettuce Wrap with Spicy Miso

Next in line was the warm mushroom salad which was also a good choice. Butter and mushrooms is always a good combination and this dish was no different.  A slight yuzu taste was a nice highlight. The selection of mushrooms included enoki, eringi, shimeji and shiitake. I liked this dish and it fit well in our meal, but looking back on it, I probably wouldn't order it again- simply because it is not difficult to duplicate this dish at home.

Warm Mushroom Salad with Yuzu Butter Dressing

Moving on, the next dish was one that I had wanted to try, Nobu's famous new style sashimi. It is called new style sashimi and perhaps it is conceptually quite similar to a carpaccio or ceviche.  However, instead of using citrus or vinegar to marinate or cook the seafood, this dish uses a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil and sake (and possibly several other ingredients).  The end result is a sashimi dish in which the fresh and clean taste of the seafood shine alongside the savoury but light sauce. This dish disappeared quickly and I would definitely order it again.

New Style Sashimi- Scallop

The next dish was a mixed vegetable plate which came from the oven.  In retrospect, ordering this was perhaps a mistake as it was somewhat similar to our mushroom salad dish. As you can see in the picture, there were enoki and shitake mushrooms, this time coming with asparagus, zucchini, a long bean or two, some carrot and maybe some eggplant. Like with the mushroom salad, the execution of this dish was very good- the vegetables were all cooked just right- but again, it was something that I could have made myself.

Mixed Vegetable Plate

This next dish, Snow Crab with Creamy Spicy Sauce, was probably one of my favourite dishes.  The amount of snow crab included was much more than imagined, and with the spicy sauce baked on almost like a gratin, this item really hit the spot. The rich and creamy sauce mixed very well with the stringy, sweet flesh of the crab, like with the other dishes, each enhancing the taste of the other rather than overpowering it.  I believe the sauce was a mix of mayonnaise and cheese (or cream) and I wish I could take it home and try it on all of my vegetable and meat dishes.

Snow Crab with Creamy Spicy Sauce

Snow Crab with Creamy Spicy Sauce

Now, on to the main dishes. About 5 years ago, I went to Morimoto in Philadelphia and tried their Chilean Sea Bass.  It was so well prepared, the flavour of the sauce, the tenderness and oiliness of the fish, I wanted to see how Nobu's version compared (Morimoto used to be a chef at Nobu). I was not disappointed with this dish... the fish was perfectly cooked and the sauce was also just right, not too salty and not too strong.  However, my 5-year-food memory tells me that the piece of sea bass that I had in Morimoto was a touch better.  It could have been the fish itself and not the preparation, but I remember Morimoto's version as bringing out the taste of the fish and other just a bit more and being just a hair more succulent.

Grilled Chilean Sea Bass with Yuzu Butter Soy

This dish is one of the most famous of Nobu's dishes, known as "DeNiro's Favourite".  Along with the Toro Rossa and Spicy Creamy Crab, this was one of the better dishes. The piece of fish was huge and grilled to perfection.  The skin was crispy, the edges were slightly charred and caramelized and the interior was juicy, meaty and oily. The miso was sweet rather than salty and complemented the taste and texture of the fish very well.  The ginger sprout and fresh apricot were very nice touches as well.  I can definitely understand why this is "DeNiro's Favourite"- it is a must try item on the menu.

Black Cod with Miso - DeNiro's Favorite

I didn't want to leave without trying the sushi and ended up ordering a California roll and a House Special role. The California cone was decent, but nothing to write home about. The House special role contained a few different pieces of fish (salmon, tuna, sea bream) as well as some flying fish roe and one or two other ingredients. What made it special (for me) was that it was the first time I'd tried a roll which was properly wrapped in thinly sliced daikon; I'd seen it done in the cookbook those long years ago but never had the opportunity to try it (except for in my own experimental cooking).

Top: California Cone Roll, Bottom: House Special Roll

Finally, we had dessert which was a parfait of fresh fruit and cream, accompanied by coffee.  I would choose another dessert next time, it was good but nothing special.  As for the coffee, the regular blend was much better than the cappuccino.

Omakase Parfait

Coffee

That brings me to the conclusion of the meal.  Overall, the food was amazing. There were no dishes that I could complain about in terms of taste, temperature, presentation, execution- the chefs did their jobs well. If there is anything which I could say put a damper on the night was that our server was a bit inattentive, not particularly deft or dexterous, and (perhaps not intentionally, but he just didn't notice things) and sometimes took plates before we were finished with them (I took the last piece of cod onto my plate and he removed the dish before I could get any sauce so I had to ask for more sauce). Other than that, we had a great experience and great food.  The total came out to about 35,000 yen which included a 10% service charge as well as 2-3 drinks per person (drinks and dessert made up 1/3 of the cost). For those looking to save some money, I would recommend eating the food and leaving the drinks as they were not different from what you could pick up at any decent dining establishment. The Nobu brand sake was good but better sakes can definitely be had.

A picture with the man himself!

We asked for a picture with Nobu and he was very gracious to take one with us.  I told him how I had read his cookbook and used to work at a Japanese restaurant and we had a short but good-natured chat. While we were there, he was very busy, giving orders to the chefs and interacting with various customers. He talked with almost everyone in the restaurant and it was apparent that many customers were his friends or regulars who he knew well. It was good to see how he moved and I could see that he ran a tight ship with a sharp word here and there when things were not done up to his standards.

So, was it a good experience?  Definitely.  Was it expensive?  Yes.  Was it worth it?  I usually prefer reasonably priced and delicious food and I don't really think that great food has to be expensive. However, if celebrating a special day, I would say that on this occasion, it was. Would I go again?  Yes.  In fact, I did, but that is a story for another post.

Nobu Tokyo is right across from the Hotel Okura, a short distance from several metro stations.