Nobu - BEYOND Ridiculous!

[Pomai]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

This brings to mind Creative-1's "What $4 Billion Dollars Can Buy" thread (regarding the rail transit issue).

In light of Kalei's experience, we may have to start one titled "What $675 dollars Can Buy"....

$675 can buy a dinner for 3 at Nobu in Waikiki ...OR...

• 8 Prix Fixe dinners for 2 at Roy's Waikiki (16 total covers)
• 25 All-You-Can-Eat Sunday Breakfast Brunch covers at The Willows
• 105 Zippy's Zip Pacs
• 122 "Lunch Box" Sushi Bento Packs from Kozo (or Aloha or Sushi Man) .. and probably taste just as good, if not better than the above

[joshuatree]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

Funny you ask. We actually discussed the meal.....

Thanks for the detailed review. Good to know, this is why I always get turned off by "market price" listings.

[Kalei99]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

$675.00 is a Luau!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I still have your Gandule Salsa in my freezer. I make you a new batch when you come in March.

Auntie Lynn

Serious! It's a RT ticket back to Hawaii!! hahahaha Mahalo! and sorry I missed you...

[1stwahine]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

I need Whack Whacks for not listening to you! Your Gandule Rice is probably Waaaaaay bettah den dis place!

$675.00 is a Luau!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I still have your Gandule Salsa in my freezer. I make you a new batch when you come in March.

Auntie Lynn

[Kalei99]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

OMG!
I told you foa call me up and I would cook ANYTHING foa YOU!

But you neba like listen!

Auntie Lynn

I need Whack Whacks for not listening to you! Your Gandule Rice is probably Waaaaaay bettah den dis place!

[Kalei99]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

Just curious, if the bill was removed from the equation, how would you actually rate the food?

Funny you ask. We actually discussed the meal before the bill came. My friend's brother works at the Halekulani across the street and mentioned hthat he overheard others going to McDonalds after the meal because they were still hungry.

That being said, we all agreed that the portions were very small. The sushi fish, although extremely fresh and tasty, was sliced very thin -- therefore we tasted more rice than fish on the $12.00 toro. The rest of the sushi was average for a fine restaurant.

I ordered a House Special margarita before dinner. The glass it came in was about 3" high, filled with ice (on the rocks) and it only took a few sips to finish. It was $12.00.

The appetizer tasted like regular gyoza. It was slightly bigger (and I mean slightly) than the store-bought kind. It was kobe beef filled but had so much vegetables, the beef was almost non-existent. Still, very tasty though.

The Kobe Beef steak was extremely tender - as we expected it to be. I've had Kobe Beef before and it was very similar to my previous experience. It came with a bourbon sauce that was very nice. But siince we shared the 10 ounces, my husband was still hungry after. The tsukemono sucked.

The desserts were not so hot. As small as they were, we didn't even finish them.

We estimated that the meal was to be about $300-$350, including drinks. We thought the food was tasty but nothing special. We all agreed that for $300 we could find something much better and probably wouldn't return.

As you can imagine we were totally blown away by the bill and thought it was outrageous and definitely wouldn't be back! Maybe if we ordered from the menu instead of going on the server's recommendations, we would have been happier. I hear they make a mean Misoyaki Butterfish for $50.00 ala carte.

[1stwahine]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

OMG! Wea is dis place? Waikiki FUXK?

Nobu Rifreakendiculous!!!

Da nerve!

I told you foa call me up and I would cook ANYTHING foa YOU!

But you neba like listen!

However, my hunny did get into an accident. I wasn't able to do much of anything anyways. Still, dat place needs Whacks Whacks! Wat got on their meat? Sumting sprayed from Mars?heheheh

Auntie Lynn

[joshuatree]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

Just curious, if the bill was removed from the equation, how would you actually rate the food?

[Zovo]

Re: BEYOND Ridiculous!

Wow. . I don't even have words for that. Seriously, how pretentious do you have to be to charge by-the-ounce for meat? They may as well charge you by-the-grain for rice.

I fully agree; BEYOND Ridiculous!

[Kalei99]

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.......