Daniel James

Lunch at Nobu Melbourne – A Review

Describing itself as Japanese with a South American influence, this can be translated as Japanese freshness with a bit of kick arse. Is this the work of someone with more money than taste or the work of genius? Maybe both. You can imagine Robert DeNiro sitting down to some traditional Japanese cuisine and saying “yeah this is good but what it needs is some salsa.”

Its a relaxed atmosphere – I felt completely comfortable dining there alone and it has the least amount of pretence a Southbank restaurant can muster. The staff were relaxed and helpful with no snobbery.

Yes the food tasted good but I think the subtleness of Japanese cuisine which usually prides itself of the freshness of it’s produce was somewhat lost when the kick of the South American influence is added.

I started with Sashumi tacos of crab, salmon, lobster and yellow tail. Trying it with and without the salsa I must say that without it would have suffered compared to good Japanese fair but I cant deny that with the salsa it was a satifsfying and interesting gastronomic experience. The same can be said for the soft shell crab I had for main course. Although when comparing it to Chinese style soft shell crab it did not match up as the version I tried enhanced the flavour of the crab rather than overpowering it.

I like the idea of matching food and wine especially when the food and the wine cost this much! I want to get the most out of my palette! In my opinion all restaurants of this quality should offer this for all courses – after all they are supposed to be the experts. If Ive trusted them to put together the ingredients in the food then I think the the wine is just one more component of the recipe.

Nobu didnt offer this and I chose Chandon Pinot Noir 2008 which was a bit young and then went on to a glass of Etude Pinot Noir which is an American wine and at $24 a glass is as you would expect good quality. It has a smokey flavour that Ive never tasted in Australian pinot which was interesting.

The chocolate fondant with green tea ice cream served with a matching dessert wine (Lusta Pdero) was very nice but lets face it I will eat pretty much anything covered in ice cream and I must say that Daniel’s fondant is better. The matching dessert wine was OK but I felt it bordered on the port side of the taste buds and I dont like port.

Over all I would say this place has Robert DeNiro written all over it. Its got the quality and authenticity that I want but at the same time its like a commoner who’s come into some money and hasnt quite worked out the best way to use it.

If you are into traditional Japanese food for its quality and devotion to fresh ingredients and that being the main story you might find Nobu a bit crass. If like me you are open to fusion foods then give it a go because as you can see it certainly evokes a response and isnt that what life’s all about?

Karenheit 5/5/2010