Nobu Restaurant Toronto — Restaurant in Toronto

What we ordered

Cold

Edamame - average. There isn’t much you can do with this dish and it’s hard to screw this up or make it stand out. A good place to start.

Shishito Peppers with Dry Miso - very good starter with just a hint is heat. Perfectly grilled and something you don’t typically find on most menus.

Yellow Tail Jalapeño - this dish was spectacular. One needs to exercise considerable restraint when eating this. It’s tempting to just place the dish in front of you, issue a quiet time to your fellow dinner guests and then go to town. It’s that good. Delicate fish with an incredible citrus flavor bordering on ceviche. Orde this dish!

White Fish with Dry Miso - this dish is memorable. An explosion of flavors, mild heat, and citrus. Like the place I tried in Vancouver a few weeks ago, this is culinary excellence and creativity at its best. Order this dish. It’s memorable and unique. Warm Mushroom Salad - light and a perfect complement to the cold dishes outlined above.

Hot

Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Spicy Jalapeño and Ponzu - one of the best things on the menu. After your first you will probably belt out an inappropriately loud, ‘holy cow that’s good.’ Can I get another order in say a 50lbs bag? This is stupid good. Order a Japanese beer or say six…a few pounds of this stuff and the white fish and you will be in culinary heaven.

Black Miso Cod - Nobu’s signature dish. Delicate fish with a sweet glaze. Absolutely spectacular and rich. Prime Beef Tenderloin - nice but not anything special. You could get something similar at a Japanese steakhouse or a Benihana. There are better choices on the menu.

Vegetables

Roasted Cauliflower Jalapeño - this is spectacular and a beautiful side dish for many main. Order this. It’s fantastic. Even if you hate cauliflower. Try it. Sushi The House Sushi Plater - good but not a standout. If you have your heart set on exceptional sushi, go to either Miku or Akira Back.

Desert

Miso Caramel Ice Cream Bon Bon & Buttermilk Donuts - excellent deserts and a nice end to the meal. Overall, the meal was excellent. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful, exuding a minimalistic and organic like Zen palace. This is a place where all the cool people want to see and be seen. On this evening there were a few NBA guys in the house along with an NFL player.

Mixed into this crowd are the out-of-town hotel guests and their kids. It’s crazy to see hipsters, influencers, and large families with small kids all in one dining room. This place does not hand out coloring books and the prices on the menu are enough to bankrupt even the most successful brokers or FIFA executives, so it made for an interesting people dynamic.

The service is very attentive but not refined. They haven’t quite figured out when to clear, and how to time deserts with coffee. That said, everyone was very pleasant and tried extremely hard to please. When you enter the dining room, the entire staff welcome you with a Japanese greeting. It’s pretty cool.

Toronto now joins the list of world class cities or global hot spots like Ibiza, New York, Budapest, London, Milan, Miami, and many other great cities. We are lucky to have one. This is a place for a special occasion. If you’re planning a special visit, check into the hotel for the weekend and try the restaurant. You won’t be disappointed.

If you decide to try this place, it can be expensive. So my recommendation is to order a Japanese beer or sake, Rock shrimp and the white fish with dry miso and the mushroom salad. That will give you the best of all worlds without breaking the bank. Then just sit back and people watch. And for those of you coming in from out of town. Order tap water even if you are not given a choice. Toronto water is quite good and I'm not a big fan of paying for bottled water or having that forced on...

From the moment we stepped into Nobu Toronto, it felt like a night made for the books. The buzzy mid-week energy, the sleek space, the elegant buzz of diners doing the same — it all said: worth every moment. And yes, despite recession whispers outside, the dining room was packed on a Wednesday night, which only added to the thrill.

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The Flow

Our six-course tasting menu hit its stride: a well-paced rhythm of roughly every 20 minutes a new plate arrived. There’s something unspeakably satisfying about a meal that keeps rolling smoothly, the anticipation building rather than fading. Add in a little serendipity — we were accidentally treated to an extra course (thank you, mix-up!) — and the night felt like an above-and-beyond experience.

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The Highlights • We upgraded to the Wagyu for the beef course. Oh wow. Totally worth it. That tender, lush beef arrived at just the right moment — big flavour, clean execution, and a moment to pause and savour. • We couldn’t resist adding the iconic “sticky rice with tuna tartare” dish (or as some have styled it, crispy rice topped with spicy tuna) — a beloved classic of Nobu’s around the world. Reviewers say the version in Toronto stays true to the signature, with crisp-puffy rice cubes and melt-into-the-mouth tuna.  • We also caught glimpses of other fan favourites (heard about them from other reviews) — the legendary Black Cod Miso, the Yellowtail & Jalapeño sashimi that often leads the must-eat lists. 

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Service & Vibe

Service was on point. The pacing, the attention, the easy sense of being in good hands — never rushed, never draggy. Our server guided us through the menu with clarity and warmth. The dining room held that special-occasion buzz: lively without being loud, confident without being flashy.

The fact that the restaurant was full even in what could be considered uncertain economic times (hello, recession talk) gave the place good vibes — people still want to celebrate, still want exceptional dining experiences. That energy rubbed off.

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A Few Extra Notes • The décor and ambiance deliver the luxury-dining moment: stylish, purposeful, with enough of a “we’re here for something special” feel to make the evening matter.  • Yes, this is not casual cheap eats — but for the occasion, for the tasting-menu rhythm, the upgrade, the surprise extra course — this night felt fully justified. • If you’re reading enough reviews: some say certain dishes feel more brand than breakthrough.  But our experience leaned heavily toward the memorable side of the ledger.

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Final Verdict

If you’re looking for a dinner that feels like a full-on treat — not just a meal — Nobu Toronto delivers. From the pacing to the cuisine to the service ambience, it hit every note for us. The Wagyu upgrade was worth every penny, the surprise extra course was the cherry on top, and the addition of their signature crispy-rice tuna dish sealed the deal.

Would we recommend it? Absolutely — and would we go back? Already talking about it.

If you’re in Toronto and in the mood to splurge on something spectacular, book a table. This one gets our...

Nobu Toronto is an excellent addition to the Nobu franchise. Get ready for a 5 star experience from the moment you arrive. The staff are exceptionally well trained from Valet to Kitchen.

I arrived early for a dinner reservation on Tuesday. The hostess confirmed the reservation and offered a seat at the bar where I could wait. I ordered a Matsuhisa Martini. It's a well-rounded, alcohol forward martini with a hint of smoke. Order this if you love a fat washed vodka martini.

The bartender was very friendly and engaged in conversation with myself and the other person sitting at the bar.

You can drink from the full alcohol menu and eat from a limited food menu at the bar. The food menu does include the famous Crispy Rice and Spicy Tuna dish, so you don't need to wait for a dinner reservation to try it.

To get to the main dining area, you walk up a grand staircase overlooking the bar. There is an elevator alternative for those who prefer not to walk the stairs.

There's a clear contrast in decor going from the bar to the dining area. It feels like stepping out of a cave and into the light. The decor appears to intentionally represent Canada when I compare it to the Vegas and Miami locations.

The best part about Nobu is that the food is CONSISTENTLY delicious. Some crowd favourites are the Yellowtail Jalapeño cold dish, the Black Cod Miso, and the dish mentioned above. I'd also recommend the Spinash salad, and the sushi is a must. You're guaranteed a well executed salmon maki roll every time.

As for dessert, I'm biased to the Miso Caramel Ice Cream Bon Bon. If you have a craving for chocolate that's not too sweet, try out the Chocolate Bento Box. It comes with matcha ice cream.

To pair with our food, we ordered wine from the glass. Nobu Toronto offers a good selection of old and new wine by the glass and by the bottle. I was surprised at how many local Ontario wine options were available from less commercialized wineries (e.g. what's at the Wine Shop).

Our server was very attentive, asking about food allergies and checking in with us throughout the meal. She offered to curate a meal based on our likes/dislikes, which is a signature feature of Nobu. We opted to select our own dishes this time.

The bathrooms are a touch hard to find however, the staff were ready to guide you in the right direction. The bathrooms are cleaned frequently.

Overall, Nobu Toronto is THE CHOICE for your next high-end meal experience.

Big thank you to the director of Nobu Toronto, who made dinner extra special. Looking forward to...