It’s no longer a match for its Berkeley Street sibling in the glamour stakes, but London’s original Nobu (re-energised after a light refit) is generally appreciated for a more approachable vibe; it’s also easier to secure a table. The food remains as thrilling as ever: ‘fresh, zingy & a joy to eat’, with some excellent ingredients & entirely original combinations. Japan brings freshness, South America spice, & there’s a hefty dollop of old-school European luxury: graze on yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño or Wagyu & foie-gras gyoza, ahead of beef tenderloin with tataki onion ponzu or the emblematic black cod with miso; there’s ‘great-quality sushi’, too. Top-end produce & high levels of consistency help to justify steep prices, likewise informal, slick & speedy service – although the rigorous two-hour table turns can leave diners feeling they’re on a ‘conveyor belt’.
As group executive chef of Nobu's London restaurants, Mark Edwards is the culinary right-hand man to celebrated Japanese maestro Nobuyuki Matsuhisa. Edwards started out working in a seafood restaurant in Kent at the age of 13, then worked his way through London's Café Royal & the legendary George V hotel in Paris before finding he had an affinity for Asian cuisine while cooking in Manhattan during the late 1980s. After a stint at the Mandarin Orchard Hotel in Singapore & the Peninsula in Hong Kong, he returned to London as sous chef at the former Vong restaurant at the Berkeley hotel, then worked at Nobu in California before launching their London outpost in 1997. He opened Ubon in 2000 & Nobu Berkeley St five years later. Travel to Nobu London at the Metropolitan Hotel in style with London's leading minicab firm Addison Lee.
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