Nobu

Restaurant Type: Upscale Casual . Cuisine: . Price: . Rating: 4.4 stars


Overall Rating


Rating Details


90%
Ambience
95%
Service
85%
Food
95%
Creativity

St Regis Mexico City

Samsung

In a Nutshell



Nobu in Polanco is beautifully designed and decorated. Outstanding service. This is Japanese cuisine elevated to gourmet status by famed chef Nobu Matsuhisa. The Sea Bass in Dry Miso was outstanding. Sashima was less impressive.

Read the full review

Those golden wings that lifted Nobu to the lofty heights of the London and New York restaurant scene may be a showing a bit of tarnish in recent years, but this hasn’t stayed the restaurant chain from continuing to expand internationally. And that’s good news for the residents of and travelers to Mexico City.

Nobu is beautifully designed and decorated. I’ll let the photos in the slider speak for themselves. What the photos won’t show is the top-notch service and high-energy exhibited by the entire staff from the time you enter the front door until you walk back out that door.

I wanted to sample a variety of items, so I ordered the tuna and salmon sashimi and the avocado and enoki mushroom tempura.

The sashimi looked marvelous. Expertly cut and plated. But both the tuna and salmon were almost tasteless.

The crispy little enoki mushrooms were excellent but in retrospect the avocado tempura was a bad choice. The frying rendered the avocado mushy.

The star of the show was on stage next. Of course, the obvious choice would be to order Nobu’s signature dish, the Black Cod with Miso. But you know me. I’m a renegade. And I almost always defer to the recommendations of the waiters, so I ordered the sea bass with dry miso instead.

The sea bass was fluffy and flaky and truly delicious. It was cooked perfectly. Simply garnished with bits of crispy tempura and shavings of green onions on top, and lying in a broth of dry miso. The miso added just the right touch of acidity and flavor to the understated sea bass. A great preparation, well executed.

Bear in mind that the shortcomings on the appetizers during my visit weren’t the result of execution errors. It was just that the ingredients didn’t live up to the talents of the cooks in the kitchen. But of course, our rating for execution includes the quality of the ingredients. Otherwise, that score would have been considerably higher.

I would highly recommend Nobu. I’d steer clear of the sushi and sashimi based on the bland pieces of fish I received on my visit. I’d also leave that tempura avocado off your order list. If you’d like to try the tempura, I’d opt for the Enoki, the Shitake, and perhaps a tempura shrimp. I’m guessing any of the seafood dishes would be a success.

You can make reservations either from the restaurant’s website or through the online reservation system, OpenTable.com. Unfortunately, the website does not post a menu and the online reservation system website does not show prices on the posted menu. Accordingly, despite stellar marks for ambience, service and food, Nobu earned low ratings for both Value and Logistics.

A gorgeous décor, perfect service, unique creations, and a very high-energy vibe make Nobu one the best choices for a restaurant in Mexico City. But be prepared to pay more at Nobu than you would at most restaurants for a stellar meal.

Rating Details


90%
Ambience
95%
Service
85%
Food
95%
Creativity

Modelo Negra

Copa Airlines

Modelo Negra

Copa Airlines

St Regis Mexico City

Samsung

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