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Nobu Waikiki, a closer look
Aloha!
8/21/09 - Uh-oh... Yeah, yeah... I can hear it now. Nobu's - Ooooooooh! Not the ooooh that rhymes with no, but the ooooh that rhymes with clue. You know, like the sound the crowd at Kaiser stadium made when that legendary mountain of a man, Nick Maafala (condolences to his passing...), drove me into the ground just as I cut inside on a sweep, with the force of a Banzai Pipeline wave on a low-tide reef - that oooooooh!
I mean, Alan Wong, Russell Siu, and Roy Yamaguchi, props to them, as they are all island icons, but Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, this guy's an international superstar, with award-winning locations literally covering every continent on the globe except for Antarctica! You'll find him in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Dubai, Milan, London, Mexico City - even Cape Town, South Africa; Moscow, Russia; and the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas; and that's not even mentioning his many outlets in larger cities across the US, especially New York, where his flagship restaurant sits.
Nobu has been working his magic for quite a while now - since immediately after high school, to be exact, where his first stint was a sushi restaurant in Tokyo that actually came with housing so he could dedicate himself totally and completely to the art. By the age of 24, his international resume began, first in Peru, then Argentina, Alaska, back to Japan, and, finally, to the States, where he eventually opened Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills. The restaurant was a huge and instant success, and it was here that he met Robert DeNiero, who was so impressed he partnered with him to open a similiar place in New York. And the rest, as they say... is history!
With David Rockwell designing the interiors and powerful business partners, all Nobu's restaurants are immaculate in design, with a super-modern aura that's waaay cool, but not always of the same look wherever you go, as in some cookie-cutter chain. Some are highly reflective of the Japanese culture, others, well, not. Some are bright while others are dimly-set. All, however, are imbued with a modern, schnazzy, posh taste in mind, the kind where on any particular night, you could easily be rubbing elbows with A-list actors, sports stars, dignitaries, and VIP's from all over the world. On this very night, we were seated close to the powerful magnate and banker/philanthropist Walter Dods - man, how I wish I could sit at his table and pick his brains! I'd ask about his many experiences in life, and how he tackled the many challenges that must have arisen while becoming one of the most influential people in Hawaii. But I'm only dreamin...
Back at Nobu's, another situation arose, one that I'm becoming all-too familiar to, and one I just gotta learn to live with, I guess. Yep, it's picture-hording-time again! I know, I know, it's company policy. You can't have no amateur like me, especially not in the surf shorts, t-shirt, van's, and camera bag looking like a college boys' backpack I had on, taking brutish pictures of such a well-designed facility. This ain't no blogger-territory, after all. I'd need a 10k camera, a lens costing twice that, and a resume the size of Henry Huihui and Nappy Pulawa's police records to be respected here. But no worries. The manager did her best to accomodate me, and she was cool-and-all, I must say. She just wasn't gonna risk her job for a nobody in surf shorts. And I'm not being sarcastic, by the way. Actually, it must be as unpleasant as carding someone at the grocery store - gosh, I hated doing that! Guys who ended-up being 30, 40 years old being checked by an 18 year old teller - not the funnest thing in the world, lemme tell ya...
In smaller, cheaper restaurants or eateries, I do get upset when owners just have no clue about marketing and advertising, and automatically assume you are the enemy, but at fancy places like Nobu, I understand that it's all about a certain image they wanna keep, with only the best and most flattering professional photography used to portray their pride and glory. Plus, it must be troubling for customers paying the big bucks being bothered by a trigger-happy picture-taker. Like I said, this ain't no blogger's territory here!
Nevertheless, our kind manager did give me a little bit of an in - kinda. She said if I acted like a person celebrating a birthday or something, and I wanted a shot or two here or there, then it'd be fine, so long as it wasn't of the dining room, where other customers might become offended. A shot or two? Here or there? Sure! Don't tell her, but that was all the license I needed to stretch the offer a weeee bit... With one eye on the manager, one eye on possibly-offended customers, and one hand on my camera, which I had neatly tucked in-between the knees for quick retrieval and concealement, I managed to steal a shot or two allright - a shot or two of every single dish, that is! Only, don't expect the world, as everything was done free-hand, and finished in a quick, hurried, pressurized second or two. Bottom line is, I'm posting these only because you'll at least get a pretty good idea of what was served. Here goes...
This is just one example of how hurried I was, as I didn't have time to set a focal point for each shot, so the camera pretty much focused on whatever it wanted! Here above, it's on the foreground ice and Japanese mountain peach, even though I'd rather have it focused on the monkfish tartar and caviar, which are barely recognizable. Under better circumstances, I could have set the aperture way-small to get everything in focus, but that'd be an impossibility in such dim lighting without a camera stand. And so... set it and forget it was the motto tonight, come what may!
The tartar was the first of our omakase menu, where instead of you ordering, it is the Chef who decides on your meal based on what is freshest and best on any particular evening. And this dish was indeed fresh, coming with minced, fatty monkfish in a light dashi ponzu sauce. A classy course, and great way to start our meal, the already-soft fish made even softer after the thorough chopping!
Our next course was a locally-caught uku, or gray snapper. Like opakapaka (crimson or pink snapper) and onaga (ruby or long-tail snapper), uku is a highly-valued fish, with a delicate, pink flesh with lots of meat and little bone, making them ideal for sashimi as well as many different cooking styles:
Another great round, the delicate slices of fish were just oh, so-slightly cooked on the outsides by the drizzling of hot oil, which combined with soy, sesame seeds, and green garnish for a sleek, balanced set of contrasts and flavors, all in a look that can only be described as new-wave, modern-style Japanese at its very best. There are quite a few of these hot oil-drizzled sashimi sets, as this method can be used for just about any fish, including the salmon I had upon our previous visit here.
Speaking of salmon, our next feature was a salmon salad, with three mounds of super-soft, super-fresh King salmon, a small collection of fancy, island-grown herbs and greens, and a really impressive sauce laced with daikon oroshi. Don't have any clue what's in it, however. It was definitely soy-based, but pleasantly mellowed quite a bit with hints of citrus, sweetness, pepper, and oil, somewhat like a vinaigrette. I sopped-up every bit of this fabulous sauce with both the salmon and veggies!
Our seating arrangements at the sushi bar couldn't have been better, as we sat directly fronting the Head Chef, which we deemed an honor. And this guy was really friendly and open, too, not like the Sushi Nazi kind-of-guy, even apologizing for the dishes coming so slowly, as this night was especially busy for some reason, and you could see the surprise in all the Chefs faces as well as the waitstaff, all of whom were scrambling to accomodate the rush. I told Chef no problem at all - as long as we had our Kirin, we were aaall good wid'it! In fact, it was more enjoyable spread-out as it was, as there's no better meal than one with small dishes over the course of a couple of hours or so, with drinks in-between - why finish so quickly? Enjoy the moment, and savor every little bit of it, especially with the $110 price tag! There was a smaller omakase option, at $70, but at a place like Nobu's, you may as well go all the way!
Next-up was a beautiful scallop dish, featuring two large, plump scallops quickly-seared to a golden-brown on the outsides and cooked to a tender perfection on the insides, its juices absolutely bursting with ocean flavor. They were accompanied by a variety of small, delicate, mixed mushrooms in a light dashi sauce and leaves of also-delicate deep-fried baby spinach. Very nice.
Another hot entree from the kitchen, as opposed to the sushi bar, was definitely my favorite of the evening. Pound for pound, it had to have been the most expensive (outside of the small garnishings of caviar!), as a quality Wagyu beef can fetch premium prices, indeed! Though it didn't look as fatty as a premium Kobe, it was still more than apparant that this was no ordinary cut of beef. Quickly-seared, the insides were bright pinkish-red and running over with fatty juices, each piece enhanced by a light soy jus that matched the hearty beef well.
You may have heard me say that it can be a waste to order exquisite Kobe or finer Wagyu in anything but thin, yakiniku-style slices that are cooked in seconds, because the delicate, high-density, unsaturated fats characterizing these meats melt too quickly and cannot stand for long on any fire. Well, I still hold to these views, but I'm not sure if this particular cut was quite fatty enough to make such a big difference. Even so, not everyone likes 'em as fatty as I do, and it was still pretty darn excellent and delicious any way you look at it, no doubt having much to do with the skills back in the kitchen just as much as the quality of the beef.
Roughly mid-way through our meal, and no doubt given to wash-down the fatty goodness of the beef, arrived a beautiful bowl of clear, hot soup. Sure was a pretty dish, but taste-wise, it was almost as if the ingredients - mixed mushrooms, shiso leaf, and single piece of shrimp - were lightly cooked in regular water, with no salt, no dashi, no nothing else! I know the Japanese enjoy their dishes lightly-flavored and minimalist, and I'm sure they must've put at least some dashi or salt, but this one light to the point of disturbingly bland. Knowing it was hot, however, I finished it just to wash the fatty beef down.
From here on-out, except for dessert, it was all about sushi! Just so you all know, prices on each variety come one per when ordering separate, not two!
The first piece was a gorgeous chu toro, a step below the super-fatty o-toro, which is traditionally the most desirable sushi available. No worries, as this one was still plenty rich and fatty, and was so soft it melted in your mouth almost as easily as a negi-toro!
The next three pieces were, from left to right, a Big Island halibut (no, there are no halibut on the Big Island except for the aquaculture farms!), a kohada, and an ika topped with salmon egg. All were ok, except the ika wasn't the freshest, coming with an uncomfortable degree of sliminess. Kohada is a type of Japanese shad, which actually, upon doing some further research, looks like the shad we caught in droves out of the Columbia River in Oregon. There, they are considered a kind of rubbish fish, where only the Asian immigrants use them at the dinner table. No worries, as oily fish do have a history of being shunned in the west, but it's precisely this fatty oil that makes fish like aji, saba, and kohada so tasty! Hey, more for us, is all I can say!
The last piece of sushi came from a house-cooked anago, or saltwater eel. Outside of the chu toro, this was the only other piece of sushi that really impressed me, as it was easily the freshest, most tender piece of anago I've ever had. The flesh was ivory-white and clean, with a soft, delicate texture that wasn't fishy at all, and came with only the lightest glaze of sauce. Of course, when wifey and I leave for Japan in a couple of months, I'm sure we'll have lots of unagi and anago that we can only dream having in the islands! Don't worry - I'll be sure to take plenty of pics!
And finally, it was time for a sweet-cap to end our meal. There were a mix of different items included here, starting with a base of semi-sweet, lightly-cooked banana, sticks of chocolate nougatine, dark crust crumbles, and a topping of Kona coffee ice cream. If there were ever such a thing as coffee coffee ice cream, as in vanilla vanilla or double chocolate, this'd be it - the taste of coffee was strong and concentrated, making me wonder if I'd be able to sleep ok afterwards. I never drink coffee late at night, nor even Coke, for that matter, or bad things happen later, like staring blankly at the ceiling for two hours in bed.
I took my chances, anyway, and had no problems at all. It's a good thing, too, because it was so creamy and nice, I may not have been able to stop myself, even besides!
After sampling the omakase, which should be the very best the Chef has to offer, my verdict on Nobu's is... If you're expecting top-flight sushi or sashimi, don't do it (there are plenty of other places where you can get better stuff at better prices, and with better portions, too - check out the sushi section of the main pages); if you want fusion Japanese cuisine, with a wide variety of eye-catching, new-wave creations, and are willing to pay the price, then yeah, this place makes for a fun and interesting evening. The variety of fresh fish stocking the sushi bar is actually not the greatest, with a concentration on more common varieties of fish like salmon, hamachi, ahi, and whitefish, all of which you can find in any good sushi house. But I don't think that's what most people come here for, anyway. Here at Nobu's, it's all about the added touches of his South American and international experiences, upon which he utilizes dressings, drizzlings, accompaniments, and smart presentations to provide the flashy, creative, fusion influences he has become known for.
Actually, what's most appealing to me are the hot items, including the Wagyu steak and large scallops we polished-off earlier, along with other delish-sounding dishes like King crab tempura with Amazu ponzu sauce, oysters filo with caviar, baby abalone with light garlic sauce, duck breast with wasabi salsa, and brick-oven-roasted ribeye steak - sounds wonderful, ey?
And let's not forget about the seen-and-be-seen ambience here, either, which makes it a great hotspot for people-watching, with its fine decor and upscale nightclub-type of experience, almost. Too bad I wasn't allowed a few shots of this glitzy interior, though, as it'd probably be a selling-point in itself! Instead of back-lit sake bottles, hanging crystal chandelier, neon blue's, effervescent red's, and modern art, however, you'll just have to settle with rushed, free-hand shots like this next one, another sushi shot:
But such a massive, world-wide, first-rate operation like this doesn't need any extra advertising, especially not by a little guy like me. Even in this period of economic doldrums, the huge dining room was cram-packed, including the roomy, equally-hip bar preceeding the restaurant. I guess that's the advantage of having guys like Robert DeNiero on your side, as well as fine locations in every corner of the planet, yes?
At any rate, hey, I do appreciate you stopping by!
Please take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
COMMENTS:
Jeff H. (8/21/09) - Thanks again Aku for going through what seemed like a lot of trouble to take pictures for the rest of us to see. They came out really well for what you said were rushed pics. If it were me, I'd probably had been too chicken to take them haha. Question: Was the sushi part of your omakase or you paid seperately? You mentioned the sushi was priced at 1 per order rather than 2 so maybe it's seperate?
Aku (8/21/09) - Yeah, in the beginning, I'd always be kinda intimidated, but nowadays, I don't think much about it, and I get more and more confident with each snap! Besides, I mean well for the restaurants, everyone reading, and myself, so it's a win-win any way you look at it, me thinks! Oh, and they were all part of the $110 omakase, even the sushi. I could have gone on with more pieces, but I was eating so much of wifey's orders, I had had enough, and I didn't know if he would charge me more or not! The Chef even asked if I had any preferences, allergies, dislikes, etc., so I'm sure they can tailor-make one suited for your tastes. Like I said, I like the hot items here best. If I were going with an omakase that's mostly sushi, I'd go to Sasabune, Mitch's, or some of my other top choices in the sushi section - they're better (as far as sushi), give more, and are cheaper!
Jeff H. (8/24/09) - Cool, thanks for your tips. My really good friend is visiting in December so I was thinking it would be a good excuse to go try all these different restaurants I never go. She's a big fan of sushi so Sasabune is definitely on our list (I've never been there yet) of places to go. I have read through your sushi section (as well as various other sections of course :)) and browsed Yelp to compile a list of places to go.
Some places I'm considering for sushi (possibly omakase or just sushi deluxe platters), and all I've sadly never been:
Gaku
Imanas Tei
Kin Chan
Yohei
Akasaka
Yanagi (my friend opposed. he also opposed Mitch's, which is why it's tentatively not on my list)
Gaku
Imanas Tei
Kin Chan
Yohei
Akasaka
Yanagi (my friend opposed. he also opposed Mitch's, which is why it's tentatively not on my list)
I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a baller or anything, but I figured I'd splurge in December. Would you happen to have a ranking of the best tasting/value omakase in your opinion? Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated! Thanks, Jeff
Aku (8/24/09) - Brah, lemme tell you - I'm like, having fun just talking about all these sushi places! I'll try to keep it short, but I make no gaurantee's! All the spots above are great, although I'd question the big neg on Mitch's, just because a lot of the best sushi restaurants in town all get their fish straight from Mitch's, as he was originally a wholesaler exclusively, and still is one. Maybe he didn't like the fish smell and kind-of beat-up atmosphere there? Prepping for a Really good friend, did ya say? Maybe somewhere else would work better in that sense, unless she's the adventurous, outdoor-grungy type. If you want hip, stylish fun in a modern Japanese-ish sort of way, go to Gaku or Imanas Tei. Yohei's - really old-school, family-type setting, with lots of older folks as well as young, maybe not the best for a date, depending on what kind of mood you wanna set. Akasaka - kinda edgy, kinda gruff, but usually good sushi. Yanagi - cool place to hang and drink, good energy, mixed crowds - locals, Japanese, haole, any-kine - kinda similiar to Tokkuri tei, which is (maybe even a level or three higher) in energy, and Sushi Chef James at Tokkuri tei is a cool Kauai bruddah that knows his sushi very well, having been one of the few to have been trained over at Sasabune, as well as a few other spots. Kinchan - kind-of a quiet place, and get reservations, cuz there's only like 15 seats. Sasabune - what a trip - can't say much more than I did in the Closer look of Sasabune - negi toro there rocks! And watch out for Tsukiji's - not the buffet, but the sushi bar - kinda pricey, but good stuff in another cool environment - could be a sleeper for ya, they use warm rice like at Sasabune.
Of course, atmosphere preferences might be even bigger a thing to consider than the sushi itself, as all of these places pretty much have the best sushi the island has to offer. Aside from that, me thinks what actually matters most is what is freshest on any particular night, at any particular place. Order one type of fish, and it may not be as tip-top fresh as it mostly is, even in a restaurant you consider being the best! Could be a set-up for a dissapointment at any of these spots. Yes, it happens. But here's the thing - if you're not gonna do a full-on omakase - always, always, ask if there is anything particularly fresh on any particular evening, and also ask if there is anything coming straight from Japan - both of these requests will make your Chef take notice that you, yourself care about the little things that send sushi over the top! Of course, your friend loves sushi so she must know how to go about things. Sit right up-front, too, and check out the sushi case for yourself. Hey, why not do a prep night at Zenshu? Talk to Chef Ryuji-san and do a little sample-run, maybe - he's a local boy, been doing sushi at some of the best spots on the island for many years, and is super-cool - he'll take care of you real good and answer questions better than I ever could, and it's aaaalll casual there talking to him, so no worries at all. Hope that helps. Or maybe I just left you more confused!
K.I: (9/15/09) - I have to agree with your assessment of Nobu's. I was not impressed by the quality of the sushi. Nothing on the menu seemed to jump out at me either, but that may be because of the plethora of Japanese restaurants here in Hawaii. Most of the dishes you can find at other restaurants and at a cheaper price. That being said, there were still 2 dishes that impressed me when I went to Nobu's. One was their version of pork kakuni which they said is so popular that it stays on their daily specials list, and the other was the raw octopus served ceviche style. Also, regarding your list of sushi places, I think that your descriptions and suggestions are spot on. Regarding Mitch's, I am guessing that it is the fact that it is next to their warehouse that can influence peoples opinions. Sometimes there can be a slight fish smell because of their wholesale seafood business which might turn people off. My family and our friends all loved the sushi at Mitch's, but my coworker hated it there.
Aku: (9/15/09) - The kakuni and tako sound pretty unreal, and I bet they do both of 'em good, too! Brah, you gotta try 4 King's - talk to Chef Brent V. and Hiro-san - they got some interesting fusion stuff going on, it's pretty darn cheap, and there's a new menu that's supposed to be up by now. Had a friend who tried it and loved it but they didn't have the two things he wanted most - the drizzled hamachi and moi sashimi (on my last Closer Look on 4 King's)!
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