Nubo Japanese Tapas (Douglas & Blanshard Location) — Restaurant in Victoria

----2023

Update post covid...large group dine in...$900ish including "mandatory" 18% tip for those who are wondering about large groups (Apologize for the long read)

Food: I remember when they first opened their restaurant, food and presentation was 5/5.

Now...portion size has been reduced with increased price. Specialty rolls used to be big enough to fill the sushi serving plate, but now all the rolls look like grocery chain sushi with extra topping on top and (depending on type) torched.

Two specialty rolls are so small and thin that they are able to fit both on one serving plate.

The only saving grace is that they food is just as tasty but was it my hunger that is making this opinion? Or was it genuinely tasty?

Service: not too sure about their reservation system but we were able to make one. some says they take it, others no, maybe it's one of those celestial stars that needs to be align to make reservations

The kicker was that they split us into two group initially, one group sitting close to the front door and the other way at the back, close to the bathroom. (We even told them this was a birthday party when we called). When we were about to walk out, it was then all of a sudden tables were available.

Consistently having to flag them down for drinks and water. (They were not that busy because there were a few empty tables throughout the night.)

Kept dropping off dishes without explaining what we were getting and if we ask them, they talk a thousand mile, the softest voice while looking annoyed. One even rolled her eyes when we ask her to slow down.

Timing of the dishes being serve was all over the place. Appy didn't reach us till mid meal, remaining 4 dishes did not come out till we were about to pay for our food, soup didn't come to us till after our main course.

Food for thought: A good example of a restaurant that is riding on its pre pandemic popularity but is faltering on consistency on both quality, quantity of food and service post pendamic.

I didn't bother taking photos because it wasn't worth it....especially looking at my old photos.

As a local, it was a disappointment for me because I support local businesses. I will come back but Yua Bistro @ government and Nori up in Nanaimo will be my first choice when I think of sushi on van isle.

-----2021

Update due to Covid and using skip: is as good but definately require presentation to fully experience meal. Defines "you eat with your eyes".

Meal for three: $110.

Pros: menu is diverse and will not disappoint. Best to go with a group of friends to share the meal. Decor is nice, service fast and polite. Lunch menu is better priced.

Cons: on the expensive side, prepare to spend up to $16 on tapas. Interior is small. Gets really busy fast.

Please reprint the menus...mine was stained, crumpled, and hard to read

Location easy to find. Parking is downtown, can be hard to find at peak hours and prepare to pay for parking.

Food for thought: refreshing choice of food/dishes. You will need to make reservation early. Prepare to wait 30 min or more without reservation. Ask for the...

Not sure how to say this nicely so I am going to be very blunt. This is not a place I will return too nor will I ever recommend. We went here only because our favourite sushi place dwtn is closed Mondays and Tuesdays and we were craving Japanese food. Disappointment is an understatement. First off they had rap music playing quite loudly over the ceiling speakers @1230pm, not something you want to listen to at a sushi restaurant… And the service, well that was the worst part for me. The service was cruddy (young lady with the very long hair was my server) No greeting No smile No hello no nothing I had ask her to place my order and I was frowned at when I did this. Ordered Gomae Salad, and I wish I hadn't....the dressing was unbearably sweet and tasted like it was Kraft peanut butter mixed with extra sugar added into it, very sticky and unsavoury sweetness ruined this dish. Dynamite roll was tasteless except the salt added into the roll somehow, the Motoyaki was also tasteless - the scallops were mushy and the shrimp was so overly battered with breading it was unappetizing and we didn't finish these...we left a whole Motoyaki on the plate it was that dismal.

The only decent food was the 2 pieces of Inari - that's it.

At the end I was never ONCE had the server ask how the food was, never approached the table at all, I actually had to find the manager to get my bill so I could pay and get out of that establishment. There was 3 other tables beside ours and it wasn’t a busy late lunch service so I guess the waitress just didn’t like us.

I always try to engage in eye contact and smile and be courteous as I appreciate all service workers navigating through the post pandemic world but this was a new level of cruddy service.

We have zero intentions to be back.

With the plethora of sushi restaurants in the dwtn Victoria core, I highly recommend going elsewhere....

Of the places we dined at on our day trip to Victoria, Nubo was hands down my favourite — an opinion shared by the 3 others in my group. Nubo serves amazingly fresh sushi, sashimi and several delicious tapas sized dishes. There was a 45 minute wait for a table. The restaurant itself is not very big, so it did quickly fill up over the lunch rush. The staff were cheerful and attentive.

We ordered the Over the Rainbow Roll (tuna, wild salmon, ebi, avocado, sliced mango, imitation crab meat), Lucky Strike roll (smoked salmon, seared tuna, spicy tuna, prawn tempura, avocado, fish eggs), and the Yoga Flame roll (Unagi, imitation crab meat, avocado, on fire plate). The Yoga Flame offers some IG worthiness as it was torched and served slightly flaming. We also ordered the chicken karaage, toro sashimi, and several orders of saba nigiri. The toro and saba were fresher than many places in Toronto. I had not previously appreciated saba as I found it somewhat fishy and sour from the vinegar used to cure the mackerel. But the freshness of the saba at Nubo allowed me to finally enjoy the richness of the saba, especially when it was served aburi style.

An unforgettable food and dining experience at Nubo, which left me looking forward to another trip to Victoria to hopefully...