Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

I'll challenge him to an Iron Chef Episode held in Aala Park!

Auntie Pupule vs Nobu!

I WILL fly to O`ahu just to be in your cheering section, Lynn - garans!

[Kalei99]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

Somehow I would have had a red light go on when she said it was $27.00 and then wanted to know how many ounces, this in itself makes no sense and would require clarification if I was asked this.

In addition to all the iPods and other items imagine, you could buy 36 "Check Out Hunger" at the grocery and feed that many people!

I must concur with others, I will never darken Nobu's door, it doesn't even sound fun!

Reading back, I didn't make that clear. I know Kobe Beef (especially Wagyu) is very expensive. I've had it before in Japan (I wasn't paying in Japan) and San Diego - just not this expensive. When she suggested the Kobe Beef Special to us, she recommended 3 ounces - so that we could all have a taste. That's when we asked the price and she said that there are two kinds of kobe steak that they were offering - $20 and $27. All three of us understood it to be $27 for the 3 ounces. She never mentioned "per ounce" in her speech. So we asked her how much she would order if it were her - was 3 ounces enough? She replied that she would order as much as possible if someone else were paying - but that we should have at least 6 ounces to enjoy the "Nobu Experience" (no doubt it was her saying of the evening). My husband is 6'6", 280lbs so we didn't think 6 ounces was enough. Still thinking that it was $27/3 ounces we went with 10 ounces figuring it would be about $100 steak. We were going to go with 12 ounces but she said that might be too much for us and said 10 would be fine. I just figured it would be $9.00/ounce at that point. Our bad for assuming. Although, I did hear her giving the table next to us the same schpeal - recommending that they not miss out on this "special" and that even the kids would enjoy it. Can't blame her - she was probably pushing the stuff like they are supposed to.

I eat out a lot and usually know what to expect in regards to fine dining pricing. I was just way off on this one - didn't see it coming at all. Oh, well - I just chalk it up to lesson learned - ask more questions!

For $675 I could probably get Scrivener to give me the answer to today's Trivia questions!

[Kungpao]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

You've eaten there? I'm sooooo jealous! Do you have photos?

Lots... i'll photobucket them when get to my home PC for ya.

[scrivener]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

Maybe the high prices were partly the reason he opened his own restaurant in philly. Expensive as well but not nearly as expensive and quite good if you're into adventure food.

You've eaten there? I'm sooooo jealous! Do you have photos?

[scrivener]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

it depends scriv on where they are buying, if they are buying direct then yes its a possibility, and they (still?) may be buying through any of the places i've mentioned above.

The guy at Mitch's says he has the good stuff flown in.

[Kungpao]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

heheheh

Nothing personal Dear.

I just can't stand rich arrogant Restaurant Owners who know they're ripping the public "off" of money!

Yes, he "was" polite to you because you spent plenny money. No argument there. Like night and day.

I'll challenge him to an Iron Chef Episode held in Aala Park!

Auntie Pupule vs Nobu!

That's funny you mentioned Iron Chef! Chef Nobu Matsuhisu recruited Masaharu Morimoto to open New York City's Nobu restaurant. source

Maybe the high prices were partly the reason he opened his own restaurant in philly. Expensive as well but not nearly as expensive and quite good if you're into adventure food.

[Zovo]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

I just can't stand rich arrogant Restaurant Owners who know they're ripping the public "off" of money!

Exactly. It's just food. Ultimately it all ends up the same.

When I go out to eat, I tend to ratioanlize prices with the idea that "I'm paying for the experience." In other words, I don't mind paying high prices is I'm hanging out with old friends and having a good time; or having a romantic meal with my wife; but I'm not paying for the food, I'm paying for the atmosphere and the mood.

I have a hard time dropping huge chunks of cash on food because it's so temporary. It's not like something I can take home and enjoy over and over; when I'm done eating, it's gone and I'm out a bunch of money. No thanks.

On another note, though, a couple months ago, my wife and I volunteered to work at the "Chefs Du Jour" fund raiser at Aloha Tower, and there were a whole bunch of expensive chefs and whatnot there (I believe Nobu's resturant made an appearance). Anyhow, lots of people with tons of money paid like $1500 a plate to basically go from booth to booth eating little appetizers for as long as they wanted while I emptied thier trash for 7 hours. Lotta noses in the air there, surprised more people didn't run into me. The part I liked was when the rain rolled in and the suits started going home, the chefs just started handing out leftovers to the volunteer staff, for free! I ate well that evening.

[1stwahine]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

OUCH, Auntie! I didn't say he sweet talked us. He was polite. I was responding to Cranberee saying he was arrogant. He wasn't to us.

heheheh

Nothing personal Dear.

I just can't stand rich arrogant Restaurant Owners who know they're ripping the public "off" of money!

Yes, he "was" polite to you because you spent plenny money. No argument there. Like night and day.

I'll challenge him to an Iron Chef Episode held in Aala Park!

Auntie Pupule vs Nobu!

[ExtraScoop]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

There's a huge difference when you're spending KALA at a person's business vs doing business with them when they become the purchaser. Of course, spending ukapila $$$ at his place will get you a picture as well as sweet talk from the SOB!

Auntie Lynn

OUCH, Auntie! I didn't say he sweet talked us. He was polite. I was responding to Cranberee saying he was arrogant. He wasn't to us.

[leashlaws]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

There are things in life that irritate us, drive us crazy, make us mad. Some are considered pet peeves, annoyances, or simply ridiculous. And then there are the things that are BEYOND Ridiculous! I know we have a pet peeve thread and a complaint thread, but I'd like to start this BEYOND Ridiculous thread for things that just make you shake your head for days in disbelief. These things are just beyond ridiculous.....

I'll start with my Nobu Restaurant story.

For those of you who don't know of this particular restaurant, it is considered a very posh and trendy Japanese restaurant. It started in New York (I think) and was often touted on the Howard Stern show as the BEST Japanese food restaurant. They opened in Las Vegas and recently in Hawaii at the Waikiki Parc Hotel.

My friend suggested we try it the other night and I eargerly agreed as Japanese food is my favorite. Upon arrival, my husband requested that he get the bill at the end of the night. It was just the three of us.

We looked over the menu and noticed that the prices were particularly high -- but we had expected it from this restaurant. There were also quite a few items that said "market price." The server intorduced herself and began explaining to us that the restaurant is "family" style and that we should order a bunch of different items for everyone to taste. She also had a list of "specials" that were not on the menu - which she highly recommended.

We started th some sushi. Nigiri sushi is sold by the piece at this palce. She recommened that we taste the different grades of toro so we can get the whole "Nobu" experience. The highest grade of toro was $12.00 per piece. We ordered 4 pieces (yes, that's $48.00 for 4 pieces of sushi). We also ordered some other nigiri sushi ranging from $6.00 - $8.00 per piece. BEYOND Ridiculous!

Next she suggested we try the chef's special Kobe Beef gyoza. We each got 2 pieces. Since it wasn't on the menu we had no idea of this appetizer cost. As it turns out, the appetizer was $30.00 (yes, that's $5.00 per gyoza). And I couldn't even taste any beef! BEYOND Ridiculous!

Next she suggested we try the "special" Kobe Beef steak. Something that they don't offer all the time. We asked her the price and she said that they had two grades - the $20.00 steak and the $27.00 steak. She recommended that we try the $27.00 because it was awesome. She asked us how many ounces we wanted and we ordered a 10 ounce steak for us all to try. When it arrived, the steak was searing on some rocks with some wild mushroom on the side. We requested some rice and tsukemono (pickled vegetables). iceas $2.00 per scoop and the tsukemono was $12.00.

After dinner we ordered some dessert. One order of Banana flavored Andagi and one order of Strawberries and Cream. They were priced at $10 and $12 and was only enough to feed a two year old. BEYOND Ridiculous!

Along with dinner, my husband drank water, I drank water and one very tiny margarita, and my friend drank three glasses of shochu sake.

The bill arrived. My husband gasped and said rather loudly "Oh Sh*t!." We looked at him as kept asking him to share with us what he saw. The bill was $590.00 before tip. With tip it came to $675.00! BEYOND Ridiculous!

You see, the steak was $27.00 an ounce! $270.00 for a 10-ounce steak that the three of us shared! I don't know about you, but NO steak is worth $270.00! BEYOND Ridiculous!

So.....there you have it! At least we got a good laugh out of it. It was so ridiculous it was funny. We have a new saying in our house. When something is beyond ridiculous we refer to it as being "so Nobu!"

Buyer beware.......

Somehow I would have had a red light go on when she said it was $27.00 and then wanted to know how many ounces, this in itself makes no sense and would require clarification if I was asked this.

In addition to all the iPods and other items imagine, you could buy 36 "Check Out Hunger" at the grocery and feed that many people!

I must concur with others, I will never darken Nobu's door, it doesn't even sound fun!

[CranBeree]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

There's a huge difference when you're spending KALA at a person's business vs doing business with them when they become the purchaser. Of course, spending ukapila $$$ at his place will get you a picture as well as sweet talk from the SOB!

Auntie Lynn

AMEN TO THAT!

[CranBeree]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

That's not where they get that super-duper high-grade toro. For the really good stuff that claims those kinds of prices, you're usually talking (I think) about Spain.

There's a place in the airport district called Mitch's Sushi. One of its options is a $75 per-person eat-what-we-bring-you meal and my friends say it is worth it, especially if Mitch has in the restaurant the Spanish toro. My sushi-loving friends say it is the best sushi they've ever had in their LIVES.

My understanding is that the high-end sushi places use that super-duper-quick-frozen sushi that thaws months later to fresh-quality. In a Food Network special about Masaharu Morimoto's opening a new restaurant in Philadelphia, Morimoto talked about how almost all the good restaurants in Japan serve fish that has been deep-deep frozen that way, and that only in America is there this hang-up about only eating fresh-never-frozen fish.

it depends scriv on where they are buying, if they are buying direct then yes its a possibility, and they (still?) may be buying through any of the places i've mentioned above. did you know its considered fresh (fish) up to 10 days old depending on how it is handled? places as i've mentioned do bring in imports through tahiti, ecuador, costa rica, marshall islands etc. i forget where else. but you know when a sale for 9.95 salmon is being sold to Buzz's and then sold for 29.95 at restaurant prices, you can imagine i get very cynic at those prices. i'm not aware of where Nobu does his business does these days, but i do know when he opened the restaurant, he bought fish from certain areas. btw, a place you sometimes frequent for a late lunch/dinner is true to their word. always fresh, never frozen.

[1stwahine]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

I've met him twice at his Beveryly Hills restaurant, Matsuhisa, and he was very nice to us both times. He chatted with us and posed for pictures with the inlaws. He seemed very humble if anything.

I love the food. To me it has a deep flavor. Soulful. Miso Black cod is my favorite. It's VERY expensive, but we knew that going in.

There's a huge difference when you're spending KALA at a person's business vs doing business with them when they become the purchaser. Of course, spending ukapila $$$ at his place will get you a picture as well as sweet talk from the SOB!

Auntie Lynn

[ExtraScoop]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

Nobu is ridiculous, very arrogant as if the world revolved at his command.
well that was my impression of him when i met him anyway.

I've met him twice at his Beveryly Hills restaurant, Matsuhisa, and he was very nice to us both times. He chatted with us and posed for pictures with the inlaws. He seemed very humble if anything.

I love the food. To me it has a deep flavor. Soulful. Miso Black cod is my favorite. It's VERY expensive, but we knew that going in.

[SusieMisajon]

Re: Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

I am SO that I no longer go out to eat. I LOVE my home-made chicken soup.