My actual Birthday weekend was spent exploring Hatta pools (may do separate post on that), however we returned on the Saturday evening and Johan surprised me with a Birthday dinner at Nobu.
I have to apologise for a few things. Firstly, there aren't many pictures of the food because it was my Birthday and I was carried away with enjoying myself rather than cataloging the cuisine!
Secondly, compared to many food blogs I'm not sure I'm much of a food writer either. I'm not great at articulating the complex flavours of things, in the fancy pants way food writers do.
My default description when asked what I can taste in any red wine is always the same
"rubbery-mushrooms".
Due to this, I've aimed to give you a fair account of the general dining experience instead.
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| Master Nobu himself |
I have visited Nobu Berkley St and Park Lane in London and some years ago was gifted the Nobu cook book, from which I've made a few of the simpler sauces at home, no mean feat.
I've not been brave enough to attemp Nobu classics such as Black cod yet, as sourcing the ingredients alone would take some planning and a visit to a really good fish market. As they unfortunately don't sell Black cod or Sea Urchins in Waitrose.
The Nobu cook book is really interesting as it also contains a biography of Nobu Matsuhisa himself. Detailing his journey from childhood, overcoming his humble beginnings and going on to found Nobu, arguably one of the most famous and successful restaurants brands in the world.
An insight you glean from his story is how Nobu's never compromised his true passion for letting quality ingredients and minimalist simplicity be the stars in his cooking.
Nobu Dubai is located in the giant pink curiosity that is the Atlantis Hotel, on The palm, Jeremiah.
I can't decide whether I think Atlantis is architecturally amazing or a gaudy monstrosity.
As you walk down the sprawling corridors of Atlantis towards Nobu you are met by a fairy tale sweeping stair case and a vast Aquarium of sharks, rays and reef fish.
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| Help me! |
It's pretty impressive, but also a little sad.
I feel the same about aquariums as Zoo's, I love seeing the amazing creatures but feel bad for them, being in captivity and having they're existence trivialised into being pre-dinner entertainment for humans. Pft!
Johan had booked a supper for us at 10pm, we arrived at 9:45 thinking we'd have a drink at the bar however we were seated straight away.
The interior of Nobu is impressive, a little bolder and more dramatic in design than the London venues.
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| Sad face :-( |
That said, when it was full of people it didn't have the intimate ambience of the London venues, it felt more canteen than restaurant.
I think one factor for is the flat open plan layout and the lighting. There's something going on in the hospitality industry in Dubai, they love cranking the up the wattage and this doesn't help the ambience of a place at all. It was the same when we visited Armani Peck, amazing food but so brightly lit it totally killed any chance of atmosphere.
At Nobu our table was packed pretty tightly to the next, this is not unique to Nobu Duabi they pack you in tightly in the London venues as well. Luckily, this wasn't such an issue as we had a semi-detached table, so no neighbours to the right.
Staff were very friendly, though to nit pick it was slightly edging towards the insincere side of friendly.
The wine list had a decent if not huge selection, we ordered a bottle of Domaine Droin, Petit Chablis, Burgundy 2008 (365dhs), to complement the seafood and fish.
The wine was of course pricey because;
1) it's Dubai
2) it's Nobu
3) it's My Birthday.
However, it didn't make Johan turn that funny shade of green that the wines priced over £100 per bottle do. There's a £20,000 bottle of wine on the list at Seafire....which just the very thought of makes Johan feel physically sick.
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| They must have dimmed the lights for this photo |
Here's what we ate, all prices in dhs;
- Edamame 25
- Kelp salad 45
- Eel and cucumber roll 60
- Wagu beef tacos with ponzu sauce 75
- Creamy Spicy shrimp 185
- Black cod yuze miso 185
- Rock Shrimp tempura 120
- Savory cabbage spicy lemon dressing 90
- Nobu Cheese cake 55 and another gratis one off Nobu for my Birthday.
Waiting for the rest of our food to arrive in fits and starts makes for ample people watching opportunities.
Of particular interest was a table full of old men and much younger women, who looked like they may get reimbursed at the end of the evening for their company. Lots of glamorous ladies with similar shaped noses and a table of about 10 bad mannered, over privileged teenagers.
Literally, they were all about 14 on their own and dining at Nobu at midnight...at 14!!!
I question if any teenager really needs a £40 piece of raw fish?!!!
The thing that struck me the most was that they weren't even particularly impressed to be there either, it seemed to them to be a massive bore equivalent to hanging out in MacDonald's. Little darlings, I'm sure they'll make delightful and well adjusted adults.
Anyway our food arrived, not a massive amount but enough to not to be utterly stuffed to bursting, which is a considerable change for us.
Of particular note, were the faithful Black Cod and the debuting Wagyu beef taco's which were a revelation. But minuscule, like teeny-tiny food for Tinkabelle and her fairy friends.
Johan adored the Creamy Spicy Shrimp, I found them just OK and could only mange two shrimp as the sauce was so rich. The discord between the spice and creaminess didn't work for me, I felt they were fighting one another and not in a good way, as such the flavour repeated on me all night.
The kelp salad was exactly what you'd expect from a plate of seaweed really, with a mild hue of soy.
I order sea kelp because;
a) it's very good for you
b) it's rarely on menu's so I don't have it often
c) it's a nostalgic reminder of childhood holidays to Wales. (Years of torture - being force fed seaweed on the beach by my older brother, must have made me acquire the taste for it!)
A slight déjà vu happened - as the twice I've ordered the Sea Kelp at Nobu, at Berkley St and at Dubai both times the waiter has tried to talk me out of it.
Querying;
'Are you sure madam? It's tastes very strongly of the sea'.........Both times exactly the same question?!.....
This must be because lots of dinners have complained about the Sea kelp's taste, post ordering it.
Makes me ponder the general aptitude levels of visitors, who don't expect a menu item called
'Sea Kelp' to taste remotely like a weed that lives in the sea, the name is a dead give away surely?!
The tempura and the cabbage were very good, but unfortunately the bad news came in the form of the Eel & Cucumber roll.
I order Eel because I love it's pungent, smoky flavour paired next to the clean crisp cucumber.
However, it didn't taste of either ingredient or anything else really, in addition it's structure was also a bit sloppy.
I've had it before and it was perfectly firm, well rolled and fresh. This time it felt second rate, bit like supermarket sushi that had been sitting on the kitchen counter far too long and was nearing expiry.
The good news was a complete surprise.
Nobu's not famous for their desert, however they should be as the pièce de résistance of the evening was the complimentary birthday dessert. The Nobu Cheesecake, some kind of brûlée, passion fruity, vanilla lusciousness, so good we ordered another.
We used our faithful Entertainer voucher which took a slight sting off the bill and all in all we had a wonderful time.
However, if I had to give Nobu Dubai an overall rating it would be a 6.5 out of 10, sorry Master Nobu.
Nobu Dubai just felt like a cash cow for the chain - trading on mass, off it's famous name rather than being true to it's founders original food philosophy.
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