DC Anonymous

Paper rock shrimp?

7 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

micastio Anonymous

Food: 4/5  Vibe: 4/5  Service: 3/5  Value: 2/5  Overall: 4/5

Best to come here when its not on your credit card and not worry about how much each little bite is costing. The waiters like to order for you so that you get the "complete Nobu experience" which works for us since the menu is pretty extensive, just make sure they know what your limit is.

Rock shrimp rock, great creamy sauce. The wagyu beef grilled at the table is great, but oh so expensive for the little bits of meat. Sushi has always been great, fresh, love the salmon and eel. For dessert get the mochi and love it. For drinks my wife loves the lychee martini.

7 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

DC Anonymous

Food: 3/5  Vibe: 2/5  Service: 2/5  Value: 2/5  Overall: 3/5

Why, oh why did you have to do this to me?

We realized it had been a few months since our last visit to Nobu, and with the man himself there for some book signing, what the hell. The Chinese girl wants the front seat relegating the Philipino and Japanese girls to the back. A few minutes later, the Crescent!

We drop with the valet and are promptly seated by our friendly hostess. For 8 on a Friday, it really doesn't seem too busy.

In any case, our server drops in and tells us about a special sh!sh!to (again with the stupid Pegasus News 'watch your mouth...' thing) pepper starter they're offering tonight. Naturally, it is on the menu for $8 anyway. He also speaks absolultely no Japanese. Hey, it was worth a try. We let him struggle around to try and find an accent.

We take a minute to consider our sake selections while he brings the dish. I all ready know it's going to be followed rock shrimp tempura and omakase. No point in worrying over the menu, let them do it for you, here, I think.

The peppers are an unexceptional dish, smallish peppers in a sweet, sticky sauce. Think peppercornicis without any bite. I could go either way with it.

The rock shrimp tempura is usually one of my favorite snacks - crunchy yet saucy and spicy. However, tonight, there seems to be a problem. The crunch got lost somewhere and instead of a balance of garlic, chile and citrus, it's just kind of sour...

Whatever, whatever, so let's move on.

Mixed seafood ceviche comes served in a martini glass - ask yourself cool or lazy? It's a fine ceviche, I suppose. The variety of fishes do not seem to have been steeped in citrus for too long (unlike the rock shrimp) and maintain some meatiness to them. More sake!

There are a few more patrons in the place by now. Once again, I confirm that one would never fall asleep and wake up here thinking you're in Miami. The table directly behind us looks like a family of these guys:

http://images.southparkstudios.com/me...

Next we enjoy a delightful salad dish. It's salad because it is cold, there are vegetables and sauce. I know this because of my extensive eating experience, not because the servers had time to tell us anything about it.

Now a sushi plate! Our server leaves us each with an oblong plate of nicely prepared sushi and sashimi and walks off. I mean, how about a little flourish, here? No walk through? We have to flag someone else down for soy plates. We're also running low on sake.

The sushi was great, undoubtedly, but I am still looking for the crazy. We're also kind of wondering where that sake is.

The next dish up is a white truffle miso. Now we're getting somewhere! It's a real insult to the dish to serve it with a spoon considering the size of the bowl and the fantastic fragrance of the soup. Really, this is a winner.

I think we're just getting started here, so I ask our server what's next, maybe some whole shrimp flash frozen with liquid nitrogen served over an autoclaved silver dollar, or maybe some sun dried hawaiian opa chips with some high altitude copper free yak steak medallions??

By this time, the table of the Hardly Boys has been joined by an aquaintence of the step or father of the boys. This is a rather obese, intoxicated, spilly type. I'm not saying we haven't had some sake by now, but come on.

So, for the next course --- dessert! What?!

I'm told that was the end of our omakase. I'm so disappointed that I barely remember whatever some oreo cookie thing was that I had for dessert. One of them drops the check at the table.

Regardless, we have some tea and are having a friendly chat. The drunk and slobbery behind us are getting worse. The Chinese girl in the green dress on my left dodges half a martini. The staff couldn't care less. I tell this individual to move over myself. I also offer some helpful suggestions regarding personal hygeine.

The staff come about once every thirty seconds to see if we've paid the bill yet. I think at this point, they pretty much can get the hell lost. If they were so worried about their tips, maybe we could have had some of that kind of attention while we were actually eating?!

The night is still fairly early, so we're going to catch up with a few more people and add to the party.

Damages? For myself and three small asain girls before drinks ~ $450, after ~ $600 - $700.

To top it off, the valet wants $4 to get the car.

Conclusions:

The food: flashes of brilliance, albeit brief.

The service: a notch below Furr's.

The crowd: money doesn't make you pretty, but it can get you really drunk.

The search for a new overall favorite begins....

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

DC Anonymous

Food: 5/5  Vibe: 3/5  Service: 3/5  Value: 2/5  Overall: 4/5

Yes, it's expensive. If this is a problem, it really isn't worth going to eat. I suppose if for some reason you just wanted to suck back some $18 martinis, that could be something you want to do.

In any case, Nobu Dallas looks little like Miami or Las Vegas in that is has a larger space, particularly the high ceilings. The driftwood-come-art is ok. Overall the space is clean.

Omakase is really the best way to go. Although, the scallop with jalapeno (supposedly alive, although suspiciously sliced up) is an interesting contrast of taste and texture. The toro tartar is fun, if perhaps the size doesn't lend itself better to snorting. The black cod and miso - sure, it's smooth, but as long as it isn't overcooked, you really can't go wrong with that fish, and it isn't like it's 2001 any more. The rock lobster tempura is actually rather dare I say it - fun - spicy, saucy, yet still with a crunch. Mochi is an economists dream - 5 cent desserts at a 3000% mark up - absolutely fantastic.

I guess drinking sake out of a bamboo stick is more fun?

The other patrons are Dallas-liver-spotted-beautiful and their respective others. Expect plenty of handbag talk.

You can easily push the bill to the $1k and up mark. If a night at Nobu is better than a flight to the Bahamas, well, here's your place.

1 year, 7 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )