NOBU
Nobu restaurant at the Burswood Entertainment Complex (Now Crown Perth) is a world-famous modern Japanese fusion restaurant with 27 restaurants throughout the world.I have been dying to dine at Nobu Perth since it was newly opened at the Crown Perth in September 2012.
Spoilt to the max, I was surprised with a dinner here just recently.
Our dinner reservation was at 6.00pm but as we arrived early, we were seated in the bar to wait until the restaurant opened. The bar is styled similarly to Nobu restaurant in tones of gold, olive and brown, where bright gold globes of light circle the centre of the room making an architecturally divine lantern chandelier. This chandelier is also featured as a centrepiece in the main dining room.
Promptly seated after 6.00pm, we take our seats and are pleasantly offered drinks to start. We are asked if we have been to Nobu before, and upon our reply, “no,” we are told the menu is designed for sharing. I glance down at the pages of the menu and my eyes excitedly dash from page to page, buzzing with anticipation of the food to come. Our waiter suggested we choose two to three cold dishes, followed by two to three hot dishes. The extensive menu has the usual Japanese suspects – Sashimi, sushi, tempura, teppanyaki and teriyaki – but each with a touch of elegance and a unique Nobu twist.
We decide on:
Cold Dishes
· Nobu Style Ceviche: - Mix Seafood $22
· Scallop Tiradito $20
Signature hot dishes
· Nasu Miso $9 (eggplant)
· Scallops with Wasabi Pepper or Spicy Garlic Sauce $24
· Chicken Yakimono with Balsamic Teriyaki $32
(Choice of Sauces: Wasabi Pepper, Anticucho, Teriyaki, or Balsamic Teriyaki)
Wood oven
· Octopus and mushroom with garlic butter yuzu
Much to our dismay, but to the delight of our bank account, we restrained from ordering the Black Cod Miso (AU$46), which is Nobu’s much talked about signature dish. I just couldn’t possibly justify $46 on a piece of fish when there were so many other delicious sounding dishes to try! Slightly regret not splurging on this masterpiece but it just means I now have a reason to come back!
Nobu Style Ceviche: - Mix Seafood $22
The Scallop Tiradito came plated as a circle of cucumber and pearl white raw scallops, each decorated with a touch of chilli sauce. Dusted with a Japanese chilli pepper and garnished with coriander, this was another winner. I fondled with my chopsticks trying to combine all the ingredients into one mouthful so that I could crunch lightly into the crisp cucumber as the scallops melted in my mouth delicately. The chilli heat was subtle but plenty to not overpower the dish. There is something magical about the sweetness of a raw scallop as it slips down your throat with a faint chilli kick.
The Nasu (eggplant) miso was one of my favourite dishes of the night! Coming in at the cheapest and being a huge eggplant fanatic, I was ever-so eager to try this eggplant dish.
The baby eggplants came plated with a caramel soy dressing and crisp lemon wedge. The crisp, hard skins of the eggplant provided a rough surface for the molten eggplant flesh inside. The miso dressing was salty and with the addition of the lemon and caramel soy, a delightful sour and sweet element was added. The caramel soy was a sticky sweet caramelised indulgence in which I did not hesitate in scraping my plate squeaky clean. I found it a difficult dish to manoeuvre elegantly, as the eggplant was a size that needed halving upon one mouthful but with only chopsticks and a hard skin, this was impossible! All-in was the result! Upon breaking through the rough, sturdy skin, the eggplant flesh melted on my palate and I tasted the sweet and salty miso, combined with the sour lemon – a gastronomic delight!
I could have eaten eight more of these plates, but I am very bias with my love for eggplant!
The balsamic teriyaki sauce intrigued me and so the Chicken Balsamic Teriyaki Yakimono was next! This dish was larger in size than expected, but in a good way! Glistening balsamic teriyaki sauce was drizzled over the chicken, providing a sweet element of moisture to the meat which lay in its sticky goodness. The chicken was garnished with a few al dente sprigs of asparagus, steamed carrots and mushrooms. The chicken skin was barbequed to the point where large crispy scales topped the breast of the chicken and provided a distinct char-grilled flavour. The chicken itself was cooked well, however if I were to be fussy, it definitely needed the juice of the balsamic teriyaki sauce to moisten the meat as without the sauce I could almost deem the chicken to be on the dry-side (eekk – dare I say it!).
The sweet, yet tart sharpness of the teriyaki sauce was deliciously addictive and I was scraping the plate clean to get as much of this on the chicken as possible!
With a generous serve of the chicken, Jack nearly subbed out of dinner as he announced he was very full at this point of the meal. I was only getting started and my excitement grew for our last two dishes!
The Scallops with Spicy Garlic Sauce came out unexpectedly resembling a simple vegetable stir fry. The bright, crunchy asparagus, capsicums and beautifully spongy mushrooms were plentiful and nutritious. The scallops were tender, plump and cooked wonderfully. The distinct sweetness of the scallops were celebrated with the tasty garlic sauce. I enjoyed this dish thoroughly but felt a little underwhelmed as I expected a little more from the dish. The sauce was not particularly spicy and the dish as a whole was similar to many of the stir fries I have sampled in…dare I say it… the average Asian restaurants in Perth. I guess the difference here was the perfect crunch from the vegetables – not overcooked or soggy and the wonderfully fresh and juicy scallops which singed sweetness.
Our last dish of the night was the Octopus and mushroom with garlic butter yuzu. Served in a clay pot, the tentacles of the octopus popped from the rich buttery sauce, beneath the abundance of various plump, juicy mushrooms. Swiss brown, button and enoki mushrooms dominated this dish as the octopus was cooked to a lovely springy texture. The garlic butter yuzu was a very strong, distinct flavour in the dish. The powerful taste of preserved lemons (the yuzu I presume) overtook much of any other flavour in the sauce and although I quite enjoyed the buttery sensation on my palate with the sour tang from the preserved lemons, this dish became quite sickly sweet after the first few mouthfuls and even more so when I accidentally took a bite of the preserved lemons in the sauce. I found myself dodging the slices of preserved lemons in the sauce and picking out the deliciously juicy assortment of mushrooms and tentacles of octopus.
Overall the service at Nobu was outstanding. To a level I have not experienced before. Upon placing my chopsticks down on my plate, like a magpie, the waiter swooped in to steal my plate. As this attentiveness was at first impressive, I found myself trying to defend my plate at a couple of occasions when I was still cleaning up the last of the deliciously addictive caramel soy or scraping up that balsamic teriyaki with the last of the chicken left on the plate. As pleasant and friendly as the staff were, this overly keen attention to clear our plates became a little off-putting. Especially because I was making clear visual cues that I was still finishing my meal at many occasions - note - chopsticks in hand!
However I must note that our overall experience at Nobu was wonderful, the food was very impressive.
I love the shout of “welcome” in Japanese the staff sing each time new guests enter the restaurant.
I love the décor, golden globes and elegantly decorated tables.
I will be back to try the Black Miso Cod specialty!
the food looks awesome and delicious. I would love to have some. Please post the recipes!
ReplyDeleteHi Dorothy,
DeleteThis blog post was from a dining experience at Nobu Restaurant at Crowne Perth, therefore I do not have recipes for these meals...
The food was absolutely impeccable, so I encourage you to try!
:-) - Lettuce Muncher