Nobu - Southbank - review

Name: Nobu

Address: 6 Whiteman St
Southbank VIC 3006
(03) 9292 7879

Food: Japanese

Average price: $7.50-$30, desserts $8.50-$15.

Complimentary: Nothing.

We ordered:

Edamame - $6.50

Nice, some beans were a little soft and wrinkled but otherwise a decent standard dish.

Yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno - $9

R loved this and had didn't want to share it.

Beef fillet tataki, with onion ponzu and garlic chips -$23

Fresh, clean flavours - R liked it


Miso

I thought it tasted a little hammy, I asked and it was made with fish broth.

Bento Box - $45

 
Good serving size. In it there was.

Sashimi salad with matsuhisa dressing

Baby tiger prawn tempura with ponzu
R exlamimed upon first bite, 'oh man, these are awesome'.

Black cod with miso

R said it didn't taste fishy at all, just really awesome and packed full of flavour.

oshitashi
vegegtable spicy garlic with rice
assorted sushi
miso soup

Seasonal vegetables with spicy garlic sauce - $15

Surprisingly not very spicy or garlicy - it lacked flavour and some veggies were undercooked and the rice was gluggy.


Zucchini tempura - $2

Nice but pretty standard.


Caramel parfait with candied peanuts, chocolate sponge and miso mousse - $17

Nice salty caramel taste, with a green tea shortbread? The chocolate sponge was a little too spongy (almost like those foam squares in gymnast pits) but it had good cocoa flavour.
I didn't like the acidic fruity sorbet on the top, for it it just didn't match up with the creamy, salty and sweet flavours. Overall I thought it was nice but could be improved.

Tofu cheesecake with green tea crumble, berry compote and tuile - $17

warm chocolate satandagi filled with pistachio and chocolate ganache in a Japanese bun and served with caramelised pistachios, berry coulis and almond ice cream - $18.50

This was OK. The chocolate centre was sweet with a nice pistachio tone but the buns were a little too bready and bland. The coulis was nice. Wouldn't order this again though.

Cost: $260 for four people for lunch.

Service: OK.

Atmosphere: Close quarters and some hustle and bustle. The restaurant is located within the glitzy Crown complex. Once inside the restaurant you are given a tradition Japanese welcome (Irasshaimase!) before being shown to your table. The restaurant was fairly empty when we went for lunch, so we asked to be moved to another table away from the windows where the sun was shining rather harshly on us. We were moved to a table that was around a pillar with a padded bench that went along all four sides which was nice when there were no other people beside you. Later on though I found the lack of space and proximity to the other patrons rather intrusive, at one stage the lady on my left went to grab her bag and accidentally grabbed mine. This also made the noise factor quite loud once it begins to fill up.
Decor wise the restaurant is a mix of dark browns with gold and deep red accents.

Parking: Ample - there's underground paid parking in the Crown complex, street parking or other paid parking lots.

Website: http://www.noburestaurants.com/melbourne/experience/introduction/

Hours: Mon-Fri noon-3pm, Mon-Sat 6pm-10.30pm

Would I return: Maybe.