What can I say about Nobu at Crown Perth? A very short, sharp, succinct review would be – fabulous food, exemplary service and great atmosphere. But I’m sure that won’t be enough!
Started by chef Nobu Matsuhisa, film producer Meir Tepir and actor Robert De Niro, there are more than forty Nobu restaurants worldwide with three in Australia. Nobu opened its Perth doors in 2011 and has retained its premier restaurant status combining great food and great service.
We booked Nobu for an anniversary meal more than three months in advance and we still only managed to get a lunch booking – yes it is that popular. We were seated in the main dining area – a nice window table overlooking Crown’s swimming pools. There are two other seating areas, one at the sushi bar where customers can watch the non-stop hard work by the chefs and another outside the main area behind the bar. All were full. The dining areas are classically Japanese with dark colours lightened by a myriad of orange lights.
Nobu has a very good value lunch special which many people were enjoying while we were there. For $55 customers get a Bento box, featuring an ocean trout tataki salad plus the chef’s selection of sushi, tempura prawn, roast chicken, steamed rice and miso soup plus a glass of sparkling wine.
We decided to go a-la-carte and working from recommendations we firstly ordered a Nobu signature cold dish of Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno ($29). Six succulent sashimi slices duly arrived and were delicious. I had been wary of ordering sashimi outside of Japan, it is raw fish after all, but this offering changed my mind!
Next up was one of Nobu’s famous tacos – a fusion of Mexican and Japanese but coming down heavily on the Japanese flavours. We opted for the Wagyu beef tacos ($12 per piece) and were not disappointed – these succulent morsels were really good. Other taco options include lobster, tuna, salmon and scallop. The third dish was the Soft Shell Crab Watermelon ($38). It sounded a weird combination but I had been assured that I would love it and I did! Eight pieces of tempura soft shell crab arrived nestled on top of marinated watermelon – what a treat.
Our final savoury dish was the Black Cod Miso ($49)– Nobu’s ultimate signature dish. This is why chef Nobu Matsuhisa is called The Codfather. Melt in your mouth delicious – if you only have one dish at Nobu – make sure it is this one.
Now the big question was could we manage a dessert? Of course, the answer was that we could manage to squeeze in one to share. We settled on the Miso Cappuccino – served in a cup – it was a heavenly mixture of miso and milk chocolate crème, coffee chocolate crumble, vanilla ice cream and coffee foam ($19).
The staff was attentive without being pushy or intrusive, very knowledgeable about menu ingredients and friendly while still maintaining professionalism. Each dish was beautifully presented – looking almost too good to eat – almost!
Right, I should probably stop raving now and start looking forward to my next Nobu meal – already booked for a friend’s birthday – for next April.
Address: Crown Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood.
Phone: 08 9362 7551
Reservations: Essential
Opening hours: Seating times. Lunch: Monday to Sunday 12-2pm. Dinner: Sunday to Thursday 5:30pm-9:30pm. Friday and Saturday – 5:30pm -8pm. 8:30pm to late
Gluten-free options: Yes
Vegetarian options: Yes
Restrooms: Clean and accessible
Parking: Lots of free parking at the Crown complex. Valet parking $55.
Website: www.crownperth.com.au/restaurants/premium/nobu/info-booking
