Restaurant Name: Nobu
Location: Metropolitan Hotel, Park Lane, London, UK
Visited: May 2011, Lunch
Nobu is the famed, uber cool, Japanese restaurant group with locations worldwide. There are two in London, the 'original' site on Berkeley Square, and the one I visited at the Metropolitan Hotel just off Park Lane. It has a Michelin star and had been on my radar for a visit for sometime, I love Eastern cooking and my last meal could well be a Thai meal, on the right day anyway.
We booked well in advance for lunch, for my first visit, and to really make an impact, it was the day after we had dined at Le Gavroche (see here for review). Our expectations were most certainly high.
It didn't disappoint, not in anyway, neither in service, food, delivery or ambience. Nobu really is worth all the hype, and more. The menu is extensive and the choice was like being a sweet shop. I wanted it all. After some deliberation we (possibly I ... !) had chosen a couple of courses to indulge ourselves in over some cocktails. Lobster Tempura with Creamy Wasabi Sauce, Anticucho Peruvian Style Tea Smoked Lamb, Field Greens, Snow Crab in Spicy Creamy Sauce, and we also ordered some sushi rolls (crab/avocado, tuna, soft shell crab) to finish.
Lobster Tempura? Are you kidding me? I couldn't quite beleive it. I love lobster, I love lobster grilled, steamed, thermidor, but lobster in a light tempura batter really does take some beating and is seriously something I never thought I would find on a menu. I have no doubt one day I would have tackled this at home - thankfully for all those I concerned in my culinary endeavours I no longer have to. The lobster meat was sweet and beautiful, the tempura batter was light and crispy, and the accompanying creamy wasabi sauce was heavenly. I write this with a grin on my face, it really was that good. The delicate chunks of lobster were sitting on some well seasoned and dressed greenery. You can see where this is going - the greenery was nearly as good as the lobster, enough said.
After this first course we were slightly stunned, and still revelling in what we had just been served and eaten, we were duly delivered our next course of snow crab. Again this achieved the desired effect - whilst you were eating you could not help yourself from discussing quite how the chef has got these dishes to deliver in the way they were. They looked beautiful, they tasted liked nothing I had eaten before, and every mouthful was pure gold. Snow crab meat was sweet, the creamy spicy sauce was finished under a salamander to create a wonderful creamy crust on top.
The lamb that followed was equally divine. Tea smoked lamb cutlet, french trimmed, very strong and complex flavours - for met it tasted what I thought a Peruvian meat skewered food would taste like, with an Eastern influence. Admittedly I havent visited Peru. It was excellent, some might say slightly undercooked (as did my dining partner), although for me it was perfect and a great dish - a real master-class of cooking.
Raspberry based cocktails were the order of the day (in fact, of the indulgent weekend) and they were just right. So often you can order a cocktail and unfortunately the bar person simply has no real understanding of or passion for cocktails; they are just on the menu because they should be. These though were artfully created, and for the typically trendy and demanding clientele they are being served to, the cocktails were of a high standard.
This review wouldn't be complete without a mention for the ambience or the delivery. The service delivery was exceptional; knowledgeable staff, efficient, friendly, and as successful hospitality operators acknowledge, achieve this and you win half the battle. The restaurant was busy and I should imagine it always is, every day. There was a real buzz too. Customers in the know knew what awaited them and first time visitors were caught up in the excitement and the perfect delivery.
This really is one of the best restaurants I have been to. I will gladly return very soon and with all those delectable choices (such as King Crab with Ponzu Butter Sauce) I will not be leaving it too long before I do.
This is foodie heaven, take my word for it.
We booked well in advance for lunch, for my first visit, and to really make an impact, it was the day after we had dined at Le Gavroche (see here for review). Our expectations were most certainly high.
It didn't disappoint, not in anyway, neither in service, food, delivery or ambience. Nobu really is worth all the hype, and more. The menu is extensive and the choice was like being a sweet shop. I wanted it all. After some deliberation we (possibly I ... !) had chosen a couple of courses to indulge ourselves in over some cocktails. Lobster Tempura with Creamy Wasabi Sauce, Anticucho Peruvian Style Tea Smoked Lamb, Field Greens, Snow Crab in Spicy Creamy Sauce, and we also ordered some sushi rolls (crab/avocado, tuna, soft shell crab) to finish.
Lobster Tempura? Are you kidding me? I couldn't quite beleive it. I love lobster, I love lobster grilled, steamed, thermidor, but lobster in a light tempura batter really does take some beating and is seriously something I never thought I would find on a menu. I have no doubt one day I would have tackled this at home - thankfully for all those I concerned in my culinary endeavours I no longer have to. The lobster meat was sweet and beautiful, the tempura batter was light and crispy, and the accompanying creamy wasabi sauce was heavenly. I write this with a grin on my face, it really was that good. The delicate chunks of lobster were sitting on some well seasoned and dressed greenery. You can see where this is going - the greenery was nearly as good as the lobster, enough said.
After this first course we were slightly stunned, and still revelling in what we had just been served and eaten, we were duly delivered our next course of snow crab. Again this achieved the desired effect - whilst you were eating you could not help yourself from discussing quite how the chef has got these dishes to deliver in the way they were. They looked beautiful, they tasted liked nothing I had eaten before, and every mouthful was pure gold. Snow crab meat was sweet, the creamy spicy sauce was finished under a salamander to create a wonderful creamy crust on top.
The lamb that followed was equally divine. Tea smoked lamb cutlet, french trimmed, very strong and complex flavours - for met it tasted what I thought a Peruvian meat skewered food would taste like, with an Eastern influence. Admittedly I havent visited Peru. It was excellent, some might say slightly undercooked (as did my dining partner), although for me it was perfect and a great dish - a real master-class of cooking.
Raspberry based cocktails were the order of the day (in fact, of the indulgent weekend) and they were just right. So often you can order a cocktail and unfortunately the bar person simply has no real understanding of or passion for cocktails; they are just on the menu because they should be. These though were artfully created, and for the typically trendy and demanding clientele they are being served to, the cocktails were of a high standard.
This review wouldn't be complete without a mention for the ambience or the delivery. The service delivery was exceptional; knowledgeable staff, efficient, friendly, and as successful hospitality operators acknowledge, achieve this and you win half the battle. The restaurant was busy and I should imagine it always is, every day. There was a real buzz too. Customers in the know knew what awaited them and first time visitors were caught up in the excitement and the perfect delivery.
This really is one of the best restaurants I have been to. I will gladly return very soon and with all those delectable choices (such as King Crab with Ponzu Butter Sauce) I will not be leaving it too long before I do.
This is foodie heaven, take my word for it.
