Nobu Restaurant Melbourne

One of the highlight of my visit to Melbourne was dining at Nobu Restaurant at Crown Casino. From the name, one would have guessed it’s a Japanese restaurant but they distinguish themselves by serving a fusion of Japanese and South American cuisine. Coupled with friend’s positive reviews on the food, both Kit and I decided to splurge a little and made a reservation.

Reach the restaurant about 15 minutes earlier and here is a snapshot of the Nobu logo.Our table wasn’t ready and we were directed to the bar to have some drinks. This is a double storey restaurant. The bar is on the ground floor near the entrance and dining hall is actually on the lower ground.

While waiting, I order a bottle of Asahi beer (it’s a Japanese restaurant!) and Kit went for some cocktail of Sake and plum wine.

15 minutes later, we were led to our tables and the whole place is full of people. I was hoping for a quiet romantic fine dining, and this is definitely not a quiet place. Ok now let’s start with the food review!

Nobu have a wide selection of appetizers, ranging from the tempuras, skewers and their own specialty. The waiter recommended us this:

Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno (AUS$18)
Its yellowtail sashimi (duh?!) with Jalapeno (the green thing on the sashimi) and a kind of tangy spicy sauce. A strange combination, but I thought it blended well. Something different from your typical wasabi soy sauce dip.

Crispy Oyster with Creamy Wasabi and Caviar (AUS$10 each)
The oyster is wrapped with rice vermicelli (I think) and was deep fried. The greenish topping is actually the creamy wasabi and caviar (yummy yummy). My only complain is that I finished it in one bite….

Sashimi Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing (AUS$26)
Salad with smoked tuna sashimi (if I’m not wrong). Quite nice but the dressing is a bit too salty.

For the hot dishes, again we went for the waiter’s recommendation. First up is the:

Black Cod with Miso (AUD$42)
“This is the most popular dish and a must have in this restaurant” That’s what the waiter told us. No way are we going to miss this. The two pink and white stalks are actually ginger and the white part is supposed to be consumed after we finished the cod. The cod was cooked perfectly, one of the best I have tasted. But again, the side sauce is a bit too salty.

Wagyu Gyoza with Goma Ponzu (AUD$36)
Next was the Gyoza (dumplings) with Wagyu beef. Nothing much too shout about. Maybe because of the high expectation after the cod but its still one of the best gyoza I have tasted. Maybe it’s because of the Wagyu beefs. :P

Eel & Cucumber Sushi Roll (AUD$12)
We ordered this earlier thinking that we might not be full after the hot dishes. Bad idea. Should have stopped and went straight to dessert. Its unagi and cucumber sushi roll with sesame. Simple food, but its quite nice.

By now, we were already super full but there are still desserts! Decide to at least try one.

Chocolate Bento Box with Green Tea Ice Cream (AUD$17)
The chocolate cake was served warm sprinkle with gold flakes. Don’t know why they put gold flakes though. The dessert looks pretty but the green tea ice cream is pretty normal. I have tasted better ice cream.

Overall, thumbs up for this restaurant. Nice ambient, good food but just a bit noisy. Maybe it’s because we were seated near a Chinese pair (mother and son). Both of them were arguing and it kinda spoilt the night. At least we get to see/hear some live TVB dramas though. AHAHAHAHAHA!!!



For those interested, here are the details of the restaurant.

Nobu Restaurant
Riverside at Crown Melbourne Australia
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank, VIC 3006
Tel: +613 92927879
website: http://www.noburestaurants.com/melbourne/index.html