A birthday celebration was the reason to gather and it was great. We ordered a range of dishes some to share but mostly for individual consumption and the team served it brilliantly. The flavours were exceptional especially the salmon sashimi with caviar. We were also delighted with the candle for the dessert.

Nobu is in a class above The food here is always incredibly delicious Yes it’s expensive but you will not be disappointed with the taste and quality of the dishes Our extreme favourite is the rib eye with truffle butter crumb and a side of mushrooms. Honestly it’s hard to imagine that anything could taste better. The oysters with various sauces are incredibly fresh and taste just like they have come straight from the ocean to your mouth Nobu is a restaurant we will always want to squeeze into the budget !

I have been to Nobu 7 times previously and the group of 9 ladies I was with on Saturday have been to Nobu the past 2 years in a row for our Christmas function and LOVED it each time.

This time however we found that the only bento box option on the menu was Premium, there used to be a cheaper less seafood option as well as a vegetarian option. The 2 ladies that do not like seafood were not allowed to switch out any of the bento box dishes in the premium box, whereas as they have been allowed in the past.

I am vegetarian and asked if they still have a bento box available and what's in it. I was told it was not on the menu, they couldn't tell me how much it was or show me a list, but could tell me what it contained. The past 6 times I visited Nobu I was allowed to switch the vegetarian sushi for the cauliflower/jalapeno dish in my bento box, this year they said no. I asked if the chef can make something else, like a rice dish or sushi without the seaweed as I dislike the flavour. I told the waiter I do not eat tomato, seafood or meat, anything else as a substitute dish for the sushi would be fine. He said he'd talk to the chef and get back to me. He did not get back to me. When I got my bento box it contained a very small bowl of chopped cherry tomatoes in a dressing instead of sushi. A)I had told the waiter I do not eat tomato, B) I do not think that a tomato salad is a financial or fast or chef's effort equivalent to sushi - especially in a "world renowned" Japanese restaurant such as Nobu. I called a wait over and was told I had to wait for my waiter to come, I waited and he didn't come, so I eventually called another waiter and they took the tomato away and replaced it with a tiny bowl of chopped cucumber! Again not a great tasty substitute for sushi in a "world renowned" Japanese restaurant. Even some teriyaki veggies would have been better. Chopped cucumber!!!!!!! No-one apologised at any point in the day.

Also we had to ask twice for more water as our glasses were empty.

Also my friend ordered tempura veggies entree and a beef dish as a main. We were all served our miso soup as entree whilst she got her tempura veggies, then we all got bento boxes and her main dish did not come. She asked 2 waiters to check on her dish. Eventually the waiters came and cleared all our bento boxes and started to tidy the table for dessert and my friend still did not have her meal. It eventually came and she felt stressed and like she had to rush as we were all waiting for her.

We all left Nobu feeling sad that the excellent service we had experienced in the past was indeed a thing of the past, the inflexibility of the staff/chefs to offer a switch out on the bento boxes to suit customer tastes was a disappointment, empty water glasses, my friend waiting an extremely long Tims for her meal (the waiter offered her a free dessert) and my cucumber substitute all left a bad taste in our mouths.

We were all very disappointed and will definitely not be back next year for our Christmas function.

For a "world renowned" restaurant - I think Nobu has a long way to go.

11/20 rating.

The venue is lovely and service good.
But the food is very over rated and expensive. The serving sizes are so small it was like eating an entree.

Had dinner there on 26 Sep 22. Ordered the Chef Choice Omakase. Lovely 8;course dinner. Managed to get a book signed by NObu also. Will definitely visit again, going to try NObu Melbourne on Christmas Eve.