Nobu – The tasty form of self-gifting in Budapest

By now, after a number of visits to Nobu (each one more enchanting than the last), we have learned that to set foot inside downtown sushi restaurants means to instantly leave behind all the noise and worry of the outside world. Unique flavours, first-rate dishes, and a world-class service combine here to present guests with a remarkably pampering experience that exceeds all culinary boundaries.

Funzine: “The last time we had the good fortune to eat at Nobu, we tried their eight-course lunch special, the Nobu Bento Box. Although the taste of their heavenly Alaskan black cod still pops up in our dreams every now and then, this time around we wanted to bite into something else – and we let our waiter choose our dishes for us.”

While waiting for our order, we set our eyes upon the sushi chefs working tirelessly and with a masterful ease behind the counter of the open kitchen: their experienced and rapid movements evoked silent admiration from us. It is hard to believe that these exquisite dishes, presented with so much care, can be prepared so effortlessly. Finally, our waiter appeared with our surprise order: a rich selection of dishes composed mainly of Nobu’s winter specialties.

The first item on our list was the Yellowtail Sashimi, a cold delicacy with a hot aftertaste, courtesy of the accompanying jalapeno slices.

It was followed up by one of the highlights of our lunch: Seabass Sashimi with dried red miso and yuzu-flavoured olive oil. The discreet taste of seabass was amazingly complemented by the miso’s crunchiness and the pleasant citrusy taste of the olive oil.

Besides comprising of three completely different flavours, the platter also gave place to three different colours: The neatly ordered white fish, the red miso, and the yellow olive oil resulted in a composition almost too beautiful to destroy by our hunger. However, once we mustered up the courage to dig into the phenomenally delicious dish, it was impossible for us to stop – it’s not like we wanted to.

We mustn’t forget about Nobu’s Hungarian specialty, the foie gras salmon nigiri which is a great example of how well national cuisines as distant from each other as Hungarian and Japanese can work together to create something truly sublime.