Nobu Sydney — Restaurant in Sydney

2 stars overall but extra star for our waitress iris. food was bland but waitress was kind, friendly, and apologetic for her mistakes. we understand she is human and people make mistakes so we didn’t let this impact our view of the restaurant.

i booked 3 weeks in advance and earliest time on a friday was 9pm. i expected the restaurant to exceed my expectations considering it seems to be extremely popular but it definitely didn’t.

oh my kami: $26. nice, but not worth the price. if you’re unsure of a drink order this. margarita: $24. spicy and strong and was not finished. also not worth the price. white wine $17. vodka & lemonade $12.

vege sesame hand roll: $10. plain and underwhelming. presentation was interesting for a ‘5 star’ restaurant. mushroom soup: $8. basically hot water with mushrooms in it. miso soup: $8. everyone should order this. i don’t usually like miso soup but it was great. was nice to have at the end of our meal.

tacos: min order of 2. tiny! definitely not worth the price. wagyu beef: $8. delicious! wish i ordered more. a wagyu beef taco shouldn’t have been the best thing we ate at a restaurant known for fish… chicken: $12. why were tuna, salmon & wagyu beef cheaper? underwhelming. salmon: $8. not spicy, very plain. tuna: $8. tasteless. underwhelmed.

yellowtail jalapeño: $32. couldn’t taste anything but the jalapeño. bland. even the coriander had no taste! wagyu sliders: $32. they were ‘okay’. not worth $32. $16 a slider? why? nothing special about these. steamed rice: $5.50. good portion for the price.

i received a complimentary dessert for my birthday and i appreciated this greatly. the staff sung happy birthday which was very kind. the ice cream was spicy which was an experience to say the least. interesting.

food was ‘okay’, bland and underwhelming. we were overall very disappointed by the food.

negatives: IDd twice (which we understand in accordance to laws) as waitress thought someone born in 2003 was born in 2005. we were checked again AFTER the alcohol was served. we understand people make mistakes but we did not expect this from a 5 star restaurant. our waitress was nice but did joke around sarcastically saying ‘you’re 18’ when she assumed my friend was actually 16 which we didn’t appreciate. a little bit unprofessional to comment on the ages of customers but i know she didn’t have ill intentions. she did apologise for the situation so we don’t hold this against the restaurant or her, but it was still inconvenient considering we only had an hour to order and eat.

we were missing a wagyu beef taco and assumed we were missing a chicken taco as well (but we weren’t). we were charged for the extra chicken taco but weren’t made aware of this until we saw the bill. waitress should have explained we did receive all of the chicken tacos and were only missing one as we wouldn’t have ordered the extra.

reservation at 9, restaurant closed at 10. we felt rushed and were told closing times before we ordered. with this in mind it took a while for our drinks to come (+ the taco and ID incident) and we weren’t offered any more drinks. unfair that this happened, if you don’t want to serve guests at this time don’t allow bookings at 9pm. we felt like we didn’t have time to appreciate the food we were eating, explore the menu, and have more drinks. we didn’t get to order much.

my friend isn’t keen on japanese food so ordered 2 tacos and white rice. she was the one who was messed around with ID, had food not arrive, and we had to ask for her rice which arrived after everyone had already finished their meals. she was starving and made to wait a long time for underwhelming and overpriced tacos and a bowl of plain rice.

food and drinks took a while to arrive and overall we found the restaurant to be: underwhelming bland slow OVERRATED.

nobu is worth visiting if you’ve always wanted to (just to say you’ve been there), but don’t expect anything great.

underwhelming for a world famous, internationally recognised, michelin star restaurant chain. went and got...

As we leave the Crown foyer, we take the elevator up to Nobu restaurant and are greeted by the front of house staff who take us to our table. Nobu is divided into two sections, the first dining room much brighter, a huge light filled space, modern design and a stunning outlook over the harbour. This room also houses the bar and DJ. We are led into the second section at the back of the restaurant is has more Japanese inspiration to its decor and a very large rock sculpture above the small bar. The boulder, an interesting piece, the surface of this giant rock a canvas for the ever changing light in the room. It also has it's own open sushi and sashimi bar where you can see the chefs preparing your food.

Throughout the experience from start to finish, we can't recall ever seeing so many staff members per diner at restaurant, all very well presented, and applying Covid safety measures. When we arrived, there were 3 staff at the entrance checking your details and showing you to the table. In our dining room which had about 30 diners, I counted 20+ staff at any one time including the sushi chefs, but more to follow about the service, later.

The restaurant has only been opened for a week and with both being new and so many staff the service was not quite organised and it felt like it wasn’t clear to them whose role was whose. We also weren’t sure who was following up on our questions (when food was delayed) or who was the key waiter to order the drink or ask for the bill. As most do, we like to start with a drink and they have an extensive drinks menu with a number of cocktails and a variety of wine and spirits. There is a range of beer, although pretty generic. We were looking to order a cocktail to start and there were a few that excited us. Unfortunately half of the cocktails were unavailable (with no mention of why). When trying to order a whisky with dessert we were then advised some of those weren’t available, so we asked why. Due to the opening being so close to Christmas and the New Year, as well as issues with imports due to Covid, they hadn’t got their order yet.Being a whisky enthusiast, the Nobu Japanese Sidecar was my choice, however this was unavailable and I asked the to produce something similar and they did so obligingly. The side-car they delivered to the table was pretty good, I feel they could have just adapted and served the unavailable cocktails on the menu with some alterations, instead of just saying they were unavailable. We were of course visiting for the food and decided We begun with a seafood ceviche which was quite tarte. Having sampled lots in our travels, it could have been improved with some added sweetness. We also ordered some nigri, Ama ebi which was a beautiful fresh prawn and a tomago (egg) nigiri, also very nice. We also ordered a hand roll each, the Jalapeño and yellowtail was excellent, the flavour of the Jalapeño worked well and they managed to remove much of the heat. We had heard good things about the miso cod and this did not disappoint (which, at $60, it wouldnt want to). The cod is marinated for 72 hours, the flesh so soft and flaky, you needed the serving spoon to serve separate portions, trying to serve portions with chopsticks was futile, as it the fish would fall apart. The flavour is incredible. Though we feel the less talked about umami Chilean sea bass was just as good, if not better. The fish has the same texture, but served with a unique umami sauce, onion and shards of saffron. At $48, this is better value than the cod. We should comment that the staff must have initially forgot about this one, since we had to query where it was three times when it hadn’t arrived 40 minutes + after all the food. Lucky it was worth it. Despite our criticisms here, the food is incredible and we would certainly return, for the opening teething issues with organisation are expected to...

This should be the best sushi 🍣 restaurant in Sydney/Australia but was just on par and even below other competitors. The place seems to confuse who their target market is and how to structure the menu and the restaurant experience. The corporate feel means there is too much oversight (bad ideas from top down) rather than having autonomy in the right hands to craft the experience. The manager and staff were amazing. However, the entire experience felt confused when compared to a typical high end experienced sushi chef in a private venue. It has too much of a corporate feel.

My main impression is that the menu is overly cost conscious rather than wowing people as it struggles to stand out as unique. The fish quality is excellent if not amazing 👌 but I would expect a better and more diverse fish selection and would even pay double or triple the prices to achieve this (~$500 per head). My partner and I had a huge meal with sake ordering nearly everything and the overall cost was only $500 for us both (in other words we would rather pay $1000 to be wowed with something special and unforgettable). I believe this is what the place is going for originally. Excellence seems substituted for presence: you take away the crown location and it is just not an impressive and cohesive restaurant.

Possibilities: They could hire the Japanese sushi chef Equivalent of Gordon Ramsay and overhaul the menu and dining room experience to provide something that is no where else in Sydney. Double/triple the prices and create an unforgettable experience. I would consider splitting the venue in two to have the bar section as a separate bar/venue and turn the sushi bar into a small personal speak easy experience with a famous Japanese chef. Focus on less tables and a more unique experience before and after you go in. I would also make the tables more personal and private/intimate.

Worste menu item we tried was the crispy rice. The rice cubes were barely edible and greasy: super chewy and not seasoned just tasted like oil. No Japanese chef I know would serve this noting I have followed two chefs over the years. The pairing of this dish didn't really make sense with the blended tuna either and lack of seasoning. The sticks holding the rice were the nicest part of the dish.

Spicy edamame: recipe needs reworking as this is the first time we didn't finish this dish.

Best menu item was the sashimi/nigiri and especially liked the Toro and eel. The sashimi took 1.5 hours to come to the table which was extremely long: the pacing of the meal was way too drawn out. When I asked why it was taking so long they said because it was hand made. 😂 All sushi is hand made.

The unfiltered Sake 🍶 was excellent and I tried some higher end sake as well. I did not like the small square serving glass whatsoever and felt I could not smell the sake nor taste it properly. The best glass of sake I have had to date was in Sydney CBD and it was served in a crystal white wine glass with ample space to collect the aromas.

Lastly, the organization and table positioning throughout the seemed to flaunt they have too much space to know what to do with. This is a lovable feature as a patron but it also has an impersonal feel and is concerning when it seems to be affecting food quality and in light of causing cost reductions in the kitchen.

Staff and management: 5 stars Food: 2-5 stars so 2 stars (5 stars for sushi) Atmosphere: 3-4 stars depending on where you sit. The folded cranes are a 5 star ⭐ Pacing/timing: 3 stars Compared to competition: not much difference except for a few...