Nobu

There are few restaurant chains that span the globe, but Nobu has managed to do so at 5-star caliber. I had been to the Dallas location several years ago, but recently patronized the newest location on La Cienega. The interior space is pretty ultra-modern with red accents behind a wall of tiny wooden circles. The lighting looked like little peanuts hanging overhead. The waiter offered that we try all the dishes in omakase style, where chef Nobu, who was presiding over the kitchen in the flesh that night, would determine what the table would be eating for dinner. First up, the yellowtail sashimi with jalepeno in a yuzu soy sauce. This happens to be the only dish I remember ordering at Nobu Dallas, and it was as fresh, sweet, and spicy as I remembered. Our second course was a spread of three varieties of fish, all with a miso spice rub. Of the 3, I only tried the trout and the snapper (there wasn't enough for everyone at the table to try one of each). Both maintained the level of freshness set by the yellowtail. One of my co-workers thought the miso rub was a little overwhelming for the fish as it was piled on pretty high, but I found it to be pretty delectable. Now the order of the remaining dishes gets a little fuzzy, but I do recall having the toro tartare with caviar. It comes in an inner bowl surrounded by crushed ice in an outer bowl. I'm not sure that I'd ever had caviar before, and this was definitely the way to start. The toro was rich yet still subtle enough to finish the entire portion of about 2 oz. Hot rocks were served in traditional style with superb Wagyu beef. The dish that stuff with me the most was a serving of brussel sprouts cooked in truffle butter with tempura eel and shaved black truffle on top. Talk about rich, but I would never have a problem finishing my brussel sprouts if they were served like that. We wrapped up the sushi portion of the meal with a small spread of nigiri and an asparagus tuna roll. The roll was pretty underwhelming and I was glad chef Nobu had sent all of the other dishes out first. A couple of bottles of sake later, we pretty much forced ourselves to eat dessert, and peanut butter, chocolate, and jelly were in no short order. Beignets filled with what tasted like nutella and peanut butter were accompanied by peanut butter ice cream with plum jelly on top. Further down the dish were little dark and white chocolate eggrolls with a chocolate dipping sauce. Overall, the dinner was completely satisfying, and apparently the celebrities think so too. I don't see stars that often, but Ryan Seacrest and Brody Jenner sat around our table, not that really is any testament to the quality of the food, just an interesting tidbit.

http://www.noburestaurants.com/losangeles/index.html#501-625-943