STL restaurant review: Nobu’s
Nobu’s
Location: 6253 Delmar Blvd, University City, MO
Website: https://www.nobustl.com/
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤❤ 5/5
$$$
The dining experience at Nobu's is an upscale gourmet sushi restaurant without pretension. Not to mention, Nobu’s is absolutely the BEST and the most authentic sushi/omakase place in St. Louis. Yes, you can ask questions about what you are eating, and no one will judge you for doing this at Nobu’s.
Once seated, you might notice and become mesmerized by the beauty of their soy sauce dispenser with botanical drawings in cobalt blue, a gemstone chopstick holder, and a small glass soy sauce dipping plate with Mount Fuji image etched on. Most tableware used at Nobu’s seems to be directly imported from Japan or specially ordered by local artists who crafted them to accentuate beautiful, simple lines to add to your overall dining experience.
Run by Nobu-san and his family (his wife + son, George), Nobu’s omakase (just means Chef’s Choice in Japanese) menu changes a bit to reflect seasonal changes and incorporate star ingredients (this includes fish as well as vegetables) of that time of the year. The last time we visited (around September 13th), matsutake mushrooms were highlighted as the star seasonal ingredient in two of our courses.
I have dined at Nobu’s about eight times now, and there was never a bad meal. Almost always, your omakase course will most likely start with miso-marinated sashimi chunks, which is one of my favorite courses here.
<photo above> The dish contains three thick, juicy chunks of sashimi that are lightly marinated in miso marinade. The deep flavor of miso and the lightness added by vinegar perfectly complement the fatty, juicy cuts of sashimi. The peppercorns on top are not only visually striking but are delicious surprises that truly refresh your taste buds, making you reach for another bite immediately.
The second to last time I went to go dine at Nobu’s, one of the ingredients was a red sea urchin that shone brightly in a hard-to-miss mandarin orange color. Of course, I had to gobble it up immediately like a hungry animal, and everything disintegrated so quickly that it felt like a sweet dream.
George, Nobu-san’s son, is always a lot of fun to talk to, especially since he often shares his honest opinion about food and cooking. As someone, who wants to always learn more about Japanese food, I really appreciate that. The other day, he shared with us that he personally believes a proper sushi restaurant should make its own plum sauce—since plum sauce is quite easy to make from scratch. The last time we visited, George was sharing different ways to “customize” your own soy sauce to your liking. Instead of using soy sauce straight out of the bottle, home cooks can add an extra dose of umami by adding konbu for a minute over the stovetop. If the soy sauce tastes too salty, home cooks can always add some sake and then cook over the stove to evaporate out the alcohol. Some sweetness could be also added through mirin.
Right now, Nobu’s menu is focused on using ingredients from local farmers too. Japanese ginger was sourced from Lucky Dog Farm out in Wentzville, and shiso leaves were sourced from a local grower who grows them right here in Maplewood.
key takeaways:
* This place is definitely the BEST sushi restaurant in St. Louis (not to mention, this place is actually a very few Japanese restaurants run by a real Japanese family).
