Nobu Malibu — Restaurant in Malibu

"Expectation is the root of all heartache" is a quote I've learned the hard way when it comes to trying restaurants like Nobu Malibu.... and in other areas of life but I'm not tryna trauma dump on here.

The Carbones and the Peter Lugers of the world let me down far more often than not, as I'm expecting to be BLOWN away by them. I think it's a mix of my expectations being near impossible to meet, and these businesses know that people will come just off of the hype alone, so it's hard to stay locked in.

For context, my girlfriend was coming to LA for the first time and her one and only request was to go to Nobu Malibu, even quoting the Drake line "Eatin crab out in Malibu at Nobuuuuuu" smh.

After calling and trying to make a res 24 days in advance, we were put on the waitlist. By the time our trip came around, I was hinting to pookie that God may just not want us to go…. but she said we could go right when it opens and could probably get a seat at the bar.

I understood the low probability of this, but thought a spiritual drive up to Malibu would be worth it anyways. Plus, you try telling pookie no. Pookie gets what pookie wants.

After the beautiful 58 minute drive from Manhattan Beach filled with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and BlueBucksClan spilling out my Toyota Rav4 speakers, we arrived at the promised land.

The valet parks my 2017 Rav4 between a matte G-Wagon and a big body Range, and we walk through the beautiful little courtyard lounge area with the Pacific Ocean maybe 20 feet from us to get to the entrance.

We get in at 11:59am (it opens at noon), and it is already PACKED. I was like baby no way we gettin a seat ahahaha...I was ready to just grab an early drink and enjoy the elite ambiance and head up to Point Dume for a meal.

We got to the host stand and I put on my best puppy dog eyes, and the host says a table may open up, but we can sit at the bar as there is a full menu. She points over my right shoulder to the bar, and it is completely empty lol. Pookie was right.

Before we could even order a drink, the hostess comes up to us and says a table opened up as someone canceled a res. WE UP!

I don't even really need to say this, but this ambiance is everything it is cracked up to be. Whatever you're thinking in your head, it's even better. Waves crashing, sun shining. An absolute spiritual experience.

We were buzzin that we got in, so we ordered a FEAST: Edamame & Shishito Peppers to start (do both I promise), Spicy Yellowtail Jalapeño, Crispy Rice w Spicy Tuna, Wagyu Tacos, Rock Shrimp Tempura, Black Miso Cod, Spicy Tuna Roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll, Baked Crab Roll.

The quality of food at Nobu is just on a whole different level. It really is artistry what they are doing in here. Every bite we would look at each other like DAMN THIS IS HITTIN. Our favorites were the Yellowtail Jalapeño, Crispy Rice, and Black Cod. Those 3 dishes are like the Heatles. Yellowtail Jalapeño is LeBron though.

I need to shout out my man Brett, our server. He was delivering the type of service you would expect here. Engaging, funny, and knows the menu like the back of his hand. Just one of those dudes who is happy to be alive and those kinds of people are infectious.

Yeah, it's expensive. A special occasion only type beat. Being well north of $400 after a couple drinks each, my pockets were on featherweight. However, it was an experience we will talk about for years to come...and that's exactly what I was paying for. The experience. It is something we will always have together.

To me, life is all about stacking these types of experiences with the people that you love and the people that love you. You can't take it with you. So yeah, it was easily worth it.

In closing, I can't help but equate Nobu Malibu to LeBron James. The weight of the world on his shoulders, dubbed "The next Michael Jordan" and "The Chosen One" at age 16 comes with a level of expectation that could only set him up to fail. Yet, he still blew them out of the water. LeNobu.

IG...

TLDR: MOST AMAZING EXPERIENCE. A definite MUST TRY. Best dishes: King Crab Tempura Amazu (THE ABSOLUTE BEST), Yellowtail Jalapeno, New Style Salmon Sashimi

Wow I’m still feeling the post Nobu Malibu high after my first experience today for lunch. This is one of the most well-known restaurant locations in LA and it is definitely well deserved. The experience is truly incredible from the view, to the service, to the drinks, and ultimately the food.

I came here for lunch with a friend to celebrate us both getting new jobs. This was the perfect place for a celebration because we truly felt so pampered throughout the entire experience. Since we booked the reservation a week prior (randomly a spot opened up), we were not sat at the tables right near the water. Although we were a little bummed at first, the outdoor space is still so lovely no matter where you are seated. If you want to book the tables closest to the water, call 1 month ahead to the date that you want to come. No joke they book out a full month in advance.

Our waiter was extremely attentive and gave us so much help in making decisions. We considered the Omakase menu but ended up getting some drinks, 3 cold dishes, 2 hot dishes, 1 snack, and a dessert. This was way more than enough food for us. We could barely finish our last hot dish and the snack. All of this food ended up being cheaper between the two of us than an Omakase Menu and we got exactly what we wanted.

What we ordered: Drinks. Lychee & Elderflower Martini & the Mango & Passion Martini The Lychee was amazing!! Not too sweet and had a delicious Lychee at the bottom. The Mango & Passion was the absolute best drink I’ve ever had! So beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. It tasted like pure heaven. I wanted to chug it but also never wanted the drink to end. Cold dishes. Yellowtail Jalapeno, New Style Salmon Sashimi, Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna Yellowtail Jalapeno and New Style Salmon Sashimi are a MUST in my opinion. The Yellowtail comes beautifully placed with six pieces on the plate. This is one of the most famous dishes here deservingly so. New Style Salmon Sashimi comes similarly placed with 9 pieces!! The new style is a different way of preparing the dish where the oils/sauces the fish is placed in are hot, so they slightly cook the fish and help bring out the different flavors and fattiness of the salmon. Incredible! Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna is one of my favorite dishes to order at a sushi restaurant. It truly never disappoints. This dish brought different textures to our meal and was very delicious. Hot dishes. King Crab Tempura Amazu & Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Spicy Sauce 100% MUST ORDER THE KING CRAB!! Holy wow! I’m still shocked at how insanely amazing this was. It was very highly rated, but truly wow. No wonder why Drake raps about this dish. Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Spicy Sauce is the only dish that I was slightly disappointed with. We added this on halfway through our meal because our waiter really recommended it and we definitely could’ve gone without. It’s a massive portion size so if you want something heavier and filling this is definitely the dish for you. Personally, I found the sauce and breading to be too rich which made it difficult to enjoy more than a few bites. Snack. Spicy Garlic Edamame, how could you go wrong. This was nice finger food to eat throughout the meal. Definitely very messy! Dessert. Hazelnut Cookie with Vanilla and Carmel Ice Cream. These were the cutest little ice cream sandwiches that came cut into 6 pieces. Perfect balance of creamy and sweet. An amazing flavor to end our meal on!

If this extremely long review doesn’t convey how amazing my experience was, I’m not sure what will. I absolutely cannot wait until I can experience this amazing restaurant...

The location was well put together and the food was on par with other Nobu locations, however the service was horrible. My boyfriend and I dined here for my birthday this Monday, and we received the worst, perhaps discriminatory, service we have ever received. The service from nearly everyone, from the hostess to food runners, was mediocre at best—not on par with what you’d expect at a fine dining establishment. The waiter was cold toward us from the start, something we simply put off to his personality or him having a bad day. However, watching the service staff and, most importantly, our waiter interact with the table next to us, who was seated about 45 minutes after we arrived, was shocking. The table next to us received incredibly amazing, almost over-the-top service from everyone, most of whom had been cold toward us the entire time. We were dressed appropriately, being polite, and had spent over $300 in food and drinks with plans to order more at this point, so there was no apparent reason for the way we were being treated as less than. Halfway through our meal, our waiter even told us that if we did not order more food, we would need to leave the table—which is understandable as reservations come with time limits, but we were not quite nearing ours, and the way in which he told us was flat-out rude, not to mention that we had already expressed our intentions to continue ordering. At this point, we decided we wanted to leave, and we asked a food runner (to avoid making the waiter feel uncomfortable) if he could grab us a manager when he had a moment. The manager was never called for us, and we noticed the food runner continuing to stare at us from a distance. When the waiter came back with the bill, we paid in full, with a 20% tip, and asked for the manager. Speaking with the manager was worse than the overall service experience—she was dismissive and condescending, suggesting we were only upset because we wanted to go over our reservation time limit, and instead of productively addressing our concerns, she lectured me about how reservations work as well as how Nobu “values diversity” and our server could “never be discriminatory” as she “knows him personally.” We were polite, nice, and understanding the entire time, because we didn’t know how to react to the situation, and, honestly, also to avoid further perpetuating the stereotyping that may be ingrained in the people we interacted with, but we are still deeply upset and disappointed by this experience, which is one we were really looking forward to, and will most likely not be returning to any Nobu restaurants again. Looking at other reviews regarding the service, I’m shocked to see that they are overwhelmingly positive, thus I’m not making any definitive claims nor accusing every person working in the establishment of being discriminatory, but rather sharing our experience and with poor service and management for others to keep in mind if looking to dine here on a...