Nobu Los Angeles — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Today I was very excited to go to Nobu. My father was very excited as he has always talked so highly of the food and how amazing the service was, so naturally I got excited as well. The food was great, the service was average to great, but that’s not what this review is about. I only have two stars for the food and service. The three stars taken off are for the items that were stolen while I was eating with my family. When we got to Valet I remember having a bad feeling when I left my bag with all my valuables in the backseat, but brushed it off because what could go wrong at an almost five star restaurant, right? Obviously they’d put our car in a safe, secure spot right? Obviously they’d make sure no one would be able to easily break in right? Wrong. When my family was done eating, we received our car with a shattered window. If that wasn’t worse enough, my bag was missing as well. We had been robbed. When we realized this had happened we expected to receive help from the valet, but they only told us to “go home” and that they “wouldn’t call the police”. I had my wallet with my ID, debit and credit cards, and money, my iPad, my clothes, my portable charger, and my artwork in that backpack. That backpack was also a gift from someone I care about and they just wanted me to “go home” after what had happened and act like this incident never occurred. Act like there wasn’t broken glass spread around the car as glass continues to blow around as we drive from the wind blowing in through the hole in our car. We had to talk to staff inside of Nobu before the valet called them, and even after that they acted like they had been already calling them for us even though they had previously refused. Now, I wouldn’t have completely blamed the valet for this incident if I hadn’t known where they parked the car. We were one of the first people that arrived at Nobu, so when we learned that our car was parked on the top floor, in a dark, shady corner, with no security cameras, I was desperately confused. Why were we given such a bad spot? Were there no available spots on the first floor? Upon searching, my father said there were plenty. It almost seems like this was done on purpose, but l didn’t write this article to accuse anyone. I just want people to be wary of who they leave their cars in the hands of and prevent anyone else from having their valuables stolen because of inadequate staff. Such a shame that such a happy evening had to be...

Nobu is sooooo expensive and portions so small, but the sushi there was some of the best I've ever had in my life. My friends and I dressed up and drove past Beverly Hills to go to this fancy place, only to be confused at where the entrance was and embarrassingly asking the security around the area how to get into the restaurant.

We were greeted like bourgeoisie folks even though we were college students and were seated shortly after arriving. The environment is cool, they played really good music, and we sat near the sushi bar where lots of delicious looking food was being made for a reception/party in the other room.

My friends and I ordered the DineLA five course meal, expecting to be full and satisfied, but unfortunately 5 courses for 3 people was not enough to make us happy. First dish was white fish sashimi with dried miso and garlic in lemon olive oil, best thing I've eaten, possibly ever. The mix of flavors was like a party in my mouth. Tuna tataki in cilantro sauce was next, and I love tataki, but this sauce was disgusting in my opinion. King crab tempura with ponzu sauce was probably the best tempura I've ever had in my life. The meat was so tender and the tempura was just the right texture. The black miso cod was our entree, and it was really good, just way too tiny. Last was dessert, we all ordered something different but I loved the chocolate bento, the cake was slightly bitter but it melted on my tongue and tasted amazing.

Though the food was very good, my stomach was left half empty and I was unsatisfied with the meal. Our service was nothing great either. I don't think I would've eaten here if it weren't for DineLA, and the ridiculously high prices are definitely not worth the amount of food you get. I won't be coming back to Nobu until $100 becomes pocket change to me, but it was a good experience and I wish the portions were bigger.

(We stopped by Pink's to get full, for a fraction of the price we got...

Why did I even come here? My sister wanted to try Nobu for her birthday. Big mistake. The careless waitstaff brought her SOMEONE ELSE'S birthday dessert. The dish had written in chocolate on it "Happy 30th Birthday Olivia". My sister is Annie and she was turning 26, so you know this is a major screw up. The waiter apologized but didn't offer to comp anything. In fact, he left the offending plate under the dessert. Faux pas? REMOVE THE WRONG PLATE, DUMBASS. They left the dessert and my sister stared at some other woman's name and the wrong birthday age through dessert.

So if you care to know how bad the dishes were, let me give you a run down. The highlight of the night was the shishito peppers and bottled Voss sparkling water. Serious.

The oysters were over-sauced, the toro tartar was the size of a dead fat goldfish (and looked like it) and mediocre -- and $32. The spiny lobster came in three formations: tempura, and two sashimi variations. Artful, but over-saturated with sauce so you could hardly taste the lobster. Yellowtail japaneno was a yawn. The octopus carpaccio was mediocre, cut way too thick, and fell apart with chopsticks (uh.. I've never seen fresh octopus do this). The dessert was a botched birthday debaucle, and I basically spent $359 to be embarrassed for Nobu's failures. If they had any class, they'd bend over backward to remedy the birthday debaucle. But no, I received the bill in full. No free champagne for the birthday girl, just pithy apologies from the ignorant wait staff.

Next time I'm in Los Angeles I'm checking the Michelin guide! Nobu is too much money for not much quality. I get better fish at authentic Japanese hole-in-the-wall restaursnts in...