rev:text
| - This felt like a super-trendy L.A. restaurant with microscopic portions that was transplanted to Phoenix. While the ingredients, preparation and flavors are top notch, the super tiny portions at the high price point make this a "won't come back" for me. If an orange slice and a shot of diet soda is a big meal for you, this is the perfect place for you.
The restaurant is clear when you make a reservation that it is not your typical sushi restaurant. This is very high end, very deliberately "lots of flavor in a tiny package" Japanese cuisine. If that is what you are looking for, you are in for a treat, as Nobou does that very well. If you are looking for a filling meal with generous portions at reasonable prices, this is not the place for you.
We had a party of 6 for dinner. Service was okay but unenthusiastic and bordering on snobby (hence my reference to feeling like being at an L.A. restaurant). The salmon appetizer was 6 tiny, postage-stamp sized pieces of salmon with 2 roasted nuts on top drizzled with basil oil. Delicious but ridiculously small. Same with the vegetable plate - six teeny tiny piles of different vegetable preparations. Again delicious but the portion size seems ridiculous. Soft shell crab plate was more generous in portion size. Duck plate was a decent amount of duck for one person but sat on top of a few tablespoons worth of noodles - how expensive are noodles, could you be more generous with them?
Our table half-joked about going for drive through after leaving the restaurant. We shared a few appetizers and a few main dishes, plus one drink each and it came to $50/person. Not okay when you leave feeling hungry.
So if you are from L.A. or New York and want a "scene" dining experience with exotic preparation and tiny portions, this is the place for you. If not, look elsewhere.
|