As I mentioned yesterday, I was given a pass to a tasting event at Nobu in Malibu for me and three friends. The event was sponsored by a website called Eater and Canon Cameras. How I received said pass is another story for another time, the point is, I got it and I was not going to squander it. So I grabbed three friends and drove up the PCH to one of the city’s most popular restaurants for a night of free food and general weirdness.
It’s hard to call a restaurant that’s been open since 1999 “trendy,” but Nobu’s Malibu location is the epitome of an LA food destination. The parking lot is filled with cars worth more than my life. The nightly clientele consistently includes stars of stage and screen. The new beachfront location includes a dining patio that literally overhangs the Pacific Ocean. It’s no wonder Nobu appears on numerous lists of local spots whose titles include words like “hot” or “chic.” I think Defamer just ranked it on their list of the top 40 paparazzi hangouts in town. And yet, NONE of this matters when it comes to deciding whether or not a restaurants…you know…is any good. One could argue the ambiance matters in creating a memorable dining experience, but does it matter more than the food? Nah.
We were seated on the outdoor patio overlooking the ocean. There were roughly ten tables of eight-to-ten seats each cordoned off for the event. A middling (terrible) indie band was flown in JUST FOR THIS EVENT from the East Coast. There were new Canon cameras on every table, which guests were urged to use to help make lasting memories. Of course, in order to get the photos off the cameras were instructed to download an app to our cell phones, sync the camera to the app, THEN download the photos. I barely had phone service and it all seemed way too tedious for me to take it seriously. Most of the meal was spent socializing with the couple seated to my left. And most of the conversation revolved around our mutual hatred of truffle oil, the difference between the east side and the west side of town, dating, and how terrible the band was.
The eight-course menu included some variations on Nobu’s signature dishes along with newer items that have been introduced by executive chef Gregorio Stephenson. There were two optional drink supplements available last night. For $45 diners could consume an unlimited amount of beer (Saporo and Asahi) and unlimited glasses of two specific wine varieties. For $75, you had your choice of all the aforementioned beers/wines plus unlimited top shelf spirits and house-made cocktails. You could also order drinks a la carte (which we did, as it was the cheapest option). And since I provided the passes for my friends they each bought me a beer. An eight course meal at Nobu plus three drinks cost me nothing last night. Pretty cool, right?
Yeah, but WHAT ABOUT THE FOOD you’re probably asking. Well, here’s what we dined on:
This is edamame. It was, you know, edamame-y. I was busy at the bar trying to squeeze another beer in before dinner service started, so I only got a few of these little guys. It seems a little preposterous to describe this as a “course” when you’re sharing it between ten people, but whatever, I didn’t create the menu.
Yellowtail Jalapeno is one of chef Nobu’s signature dishes. And it’s very good. Yellowtail isn’t really my favorite fish, and I don’t think this iteration tasted any better than what’s served at Kanpai over in Westchester, but I really like the little bit of spicy pepper to contrast the mildness of the fish.
Spicy tuna with crispy rice patty, avocado, jalapeño, and butter lettuce. I thought that this was one of the better plates we received because the flavors were very nicely balanced. The fattiness of the tuna and avocado was elevated by the hit of heat from the pepper, and the crispy rice patty added a pleasant textural touch. I thought the butter lettuce wrap delivery system was a great idea, until later in the meal when it was reused elsewhere, when it came across as lazy.
Baby artichoke was served with inaniwa noodles was completely ruined for me by the overuse of truffle oil. It could have been a standout dish maybe if they’d substituted the oil for something more acidic, but what happened here was decidedly “meh” if not unpleasant. Your enjoyment of this will depend entirely on your ability to distinguish anything other than the overpowering aromatic/flavor of the oil. I can’t get past it. Maybe you can.
The blackened cod with miso is one of my favorite signature Nobu dishes that appears on the menu at both Nobu and Matsuhisa. I liked this iteration with the butter lettuce wrapper, but part of what makes the dish so great when you order it normally is the big slab of skin-on cod that arrives at your table is incredibly sweet, delicate, smooth and delicious. A tiny dollop of the fish in a lettuce wrap? Not the same. Still really good, and I think everyone at the table agreed it was one of the best courses of the meal. I ate two.
The ribeye was cooked PERFECTLY, but the damned truffle butter completely overpowered everything else. I was really happy that I found a second little sliver of meat that was milder, and it was really good, but those damned truffles. Ugh. Why is that shit so prevalent these days!?
The last savory course of the evening was a selection of sushi and sushi rolls which were pretty standard fare: avocado/salmon roll, shrimp tempura with asparagus (I think?), and two kinds of tuna (I think?). For a closer peek, here’s what wound up on my plate. It was fine. Whatever. A lot of places around town taste better, but you don’t really go to Nobu for the sushi in my opinion.
I’m not really into sweets so dessert was lost on me. I will say, there was a really good mochi (I think it was coconut flavored?), a really good crepe with caramelized banana in it, some kind of deep fried pastry with either white or dark chocolate filling and three dipping sauces, and an apple crumble with vanilla…gelato? Again, I’m not a dessert guy so some of this was lost on me. The carelessness with which I composed this photograph is evidence of that.
Overall I’d say I was happy with the meal, but I think the menu should have relied more on signature dishes. That might sound idiotic considering the meal was free so who the fuck gives a shit what they feed you, but if you’re inviting people who probably haven’t dined at the establishment before into your restaurant for the first time, you should want to show off the dishes that make the place famous. Right? Doesn’t that make sense? I mean, a lot of this wasn’t new to me so it might have been lost on me, but in preparing my friends for the event I think I gave them an idea of Nobu’s food that wasn’t well represented on our table. For example, if I was bringing new people to Nobu for the first time, I would insist on ordering the rock shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce, the black cod with miso (which we got, so A+ for that!), the wagyu gyoza, the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño (which we got, so A+ for that!), the Nobu-style tacos, and maybe the sashimi salad with Matsuhisa dressing. Give your guests the impression that they’re dining on the best you have to offer (even if the preparations are altered slightly like the cod serving sizes were), and give the most well-rounded example of Nobu’s unique flavor profiles the vision that launched his culinary empire. That’s how to create a memorable tasting event. This one was close to feeling like a genuine Nobu/Matsuhisa dining experience, but a few subtle changes could’ve elevated this to a truly memorable night for everyone in attendance.
Also that guy who’s on the American version of The Office was there. I can tell you firsthand there’s nothing more embarrassing than valeting your piece of shit car next to his, then walking side-by-side into the restaurant as you hold the door open for your worthless friends and he holds open the door for some leggy blonde. Well played, rich TV actor guy. Well played.
Vangelis – Tales Of The Future [MP3]
