Nobu Las Vegas at Virgin Hotel — Restaurant in Paradise

What Happened To Nobu???

Nobu's arrival on the restaurant scene in Las Vegas 1999 was highly anticipated and I enjoyed dining there. The service was impeccable and the food was fresh, original, and top drawer. Nobu Virgin cannot claim the same with regard to service. As any discerning diner knows, subpar service can ruin even a meal of perfection. However, atrocious service, when exasperated by an unyielding and unresponsive manager, renders a stance of avoidance of ever darkening the doors of an establishment again while providing fodder when social discourse turns to, "I ate at __ and you would not believe the service" All ears tune in to that.

I am fair. I always offer a road back. I am a diner who seeks to enjoy rather than find fault. I also believe in communicating what the issues are so that they can be made right.

We had a seven-person reservation for my friend's birthday party. Upon arrival, we were told that no such reservation existed, and the hostess denied a reservation even as we showed her a screenshot of our confirmation. Luckily, it wasn't busy so we were able to get a table right away. At this point, I had let both the hostess and our server know that it was our friend's birthday, and they both replied, "Yes, something will be brought out that says Happy Birthday with a candle."

When the server came over, she introduced the menu in great detail and reminded us multiple times to "order a lot of food". This seemed obvious since there is one piece of sushi per order; it wasn't necessary to remind us of this fact eight times. Upon the third round of drinks, the birthday girl apologized and kindly let the server know she didn't like her cocktail. The waitress rudely responded "Why? I need a reason." Upon letting her know that she simply didn't like it and would like to purchase a different drink, the waitress said "I need to know exactly what you didn't like about it." The awkward exchange lasted about 90 seconds before she took the drink and rushed away.

Once dinner was over, we anticipated the birthday dessert to be brought out so that our friend could be surprised. Instead, the waitress dropped off dessert menus. We said quietly, "Can you please just bring a birthday dessert so she can blow out a candle? We will order more desserts after?" The waitress said "No we don't do that. You need to order a dessert." Again, the entire exchange was very awkward. The celebratory mood of the evening had declined even further due to the service. Our friend no longer even wanted a celebratory candle. We simply selected, due to the pressure of the server, a dessert: mochi ice cream. Simple. After 15 minutes, the desert had still not arrived and our birthday girl's mood was down. I decided to inform the manager of the the entire situation.

Everyone in our party either currently work in the service industry, or did so at one point in our life. When we are dropping $500 on a meal, we expect better service. The manger made no moves to "make it right." He didn't even comp the dessert we were forced to purchase and wait for, in spite of an empty.

We informed the server at the beginning of the meal that separate checks were required. She brought us one. We asked her to separate it. Twenty minutes later, no exaggeration, she brought back completely incorrectly separated checks. This was by far the most disappointing dining experience we have had at a high-end restaurant. We agreed that this collectively ruined our friend's birthday, and will not be returning to Nobu in the future. Hopefully others considering this restaurant will...

01/02/2022: 4.95 out of 5 - I came into Las Vegas from Portland, Oregon. to celebrate the new year. I was excited to see that Nobu was at the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas where I, my wife and her family was staying. It was opportunity that I needed and wanted to try Nobu considering the history and stories behind the famous chef, Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa.

Unfortunately, at first, Nobu was all booked. We had a party of 7, and no tables were available. So, the manager did ask to check back at 6:00 PM when they open to see if there were any cancellations that they can possibly accommodate us.

6:00 PM rolled around, the call was made and we were in! Party of 7 was to be seated at 8:00 PM. Late dinner for some but, nonetheless, we were able to get a table.

We get there at 8:00 PM, the staff was ready for us. Which was good, after all, there are "power eaters" in my group. However, one must remember, this is Nobu where the average check is $135 a person!

The establishment was fine Japanese dining. Impressively clean and laid out quite well. It wasn't as noisy as I thought it would have been, which was excellent as I prefer to have a great conversation without having to yell across the table, or worse, conversation through text (we've all been there).

The staff were friendly and very professional. Clean, attentive, quick and responsive without the intrusion. Our drinking glasses were always full!

Now the food and drinks. What can I say? Despite of some things not on the menu due to logistical issues that was out of their hands, everything was delicious and presented artfully. Sake was served chill, which went well with the foods that we ordered. The variety of meat texture was just silky smooth, all the vegetables was a melody that complimented the all dishes. It was very tasty from start to finish. And, speaking of finish, we did have the desserts. It didn't seem a lot at first, but it packed in a lot to enjoy.

All in all, at the end of any meal I will ask, "Would you come back?" My answer if given the opportunity? Absolutely! This may be the highest rating I have given any restaurant, but it's well-deserving of it. Nobu Las Vegas at Virgin Hotel met all of my expectations from atmosphere to staff to drinks and food.

If you get a chance, try it once and decide for...

Was told we would be asked about our preferences etc. everything prepared and brought to table figuring this is the appetizer and the meal would be based upon what we liked or didn't. Initial dishes were yellow tall, and salmon. both had same light vinegar sauce nothing special, 4 of us dining and about 2 or3 pieces thinly slices per person. Next round included deep fried crab which was tasty and cod which was extremely mushy... another waiter or server asked how everything was which for the most part none of us complained. I stepped outside for a moment and asked the host if the entire meal would be sushi or sashimi style and was told no, so I'm still thinking a preference would be asked by our primary waiter.. nope didn't happen.. several other dishes were brought all considered ok but nothing fabulous when our initial waiter wanted to know if we would like dessert.. our comment was noooooo we would still actually like dinner...we were brought what was considered and presented as the SOS dish of teriyaki beef and grilled octypus which was good but again a bite or so each . there were 2 hot sake and one cold sake as well as one regular cocktail and the bill was 400 dollars each couple including tip. I mentioned something about an interesting way of selecting individualized dishes as none were, to the waiter whom replied we could have had a menu at anytime. if we had been with anyone other than the particular couple we were with I would have spoken with management and not paid. Ridiculously expensive for a meal that we were still hungry after and rather blah food. perhaps i am jaded as I get to travel quite a bit and have had some of the best dishes in the world but none of us thought this was a fabulous experience especially for the money. Ambiance nice service prompt but why not say roughly what the"experience" includes and roughly what the price was. Would not recommend and...