Nobu is known as a celebrity hotspot in LA and NYC. The restaurant’s Japanese food is also beloved by influencers, who frequently post it on social media. When I learned about the new New Orleans Nobu location, I wanted to secure a reservation and see what all the hype was about. So, my bestie and I dressed up and went to try some of the most popular Nobu dishes. I’m in my influencer era, so here are all my thoughts on the viral food spot.
Securing The Reservation
I knew it would be a fight to get a reservation. I really wanted to go in the first few weeks of service to get a true first review. The Nola Nobu is only open for dinner, so our options are already limited. We were able to go two weeks after it opened, which I think was a perfect amount of time for things to settle a bit, but we still got to experience the early stages of the new restaurant.
Planning Ahead
My bestie Leila and I really wanted to make it a fun experience, so we decided to get all dressed up and go all out. We weren’t sure when or if we could go to the restaurant again any time soon, so we wanted to try as much as we could our first time. We’re also huge foodies and run a food account (shameless plug), so we knew we wanted to get all the good content.
We looked at Nobu reviews from influencers and others on TikTok. We wanted to know what we should try and what portion sizes looked like. I also looked up quite a bit on Google so I could see pictures and decide what we should share and what we should get as our own dishes. Budgeting was also a big part of this because, of course, Nobu is pricey. We constantly referred to the menu to add up and prepare for how much we would spend.
Dining Experience
We had a reservation on a Wednesday at 5 p.m., right when they opened for an early dinner. The staff greets every party by saying “irasshaimase,” a Japanese greeting welcoming guests to Nobu. Tucked in the back of the Caesars Casino, The Nola Nobu “design is based around the wetlands of Louisana,” giving it a chill vibe. There was music playing, and though the website had a “smart/business casual” dress code listed, not everyone was dressed up.
Since it was our first time at Nobu, our waiter thoroughly explained the menu and told us what to expect during our eating experience. The dishes come out in waves, with cold dishes being served first, then hot dishes, sushi, and finally dessert.
Very few people were there at the beginning of the night, but that quickly changed. Large groups came to the restaurant’s bar section around 6 p.m., where there was standing room to get drinks and order light bites. The atmosphere quickly went from calm to crowded and loud and stayed that way, with the place completely full at 7 p.m. As more tables were filled, the service got slower, with us going from getting our hot dish in around 20 minutes to waiting over an hour for our sushi. This stressed us out a bit due to the multiple reminders (seriously, like at least five texts/emails) of our two-hour table hold before our dinner from the restaurant. Still, the service from all of the staff was very attentive, and though we did go over our two-hour time limit (we decided to order dessert) we still enjoyed our eating experience.
Our Review
To get the full Nobu experience, we ordered nine different things. First, we got drinks. I got the pina martini, which was good but not as strong as I would have liked. Leila got the lychee passion mocktail and thought it was great. We split the rock shrimp tempura with creamy sauce, one of Nobu’s most popular dishes. This was nice and crispy. The sauce wasn’t spicy, in my opinion, but Leila said she tasted the heat.
I got the teriyaki chicken skewers (Kushiyaki), which I thought were pretty average. However, Leila’s wagyu dumplings were incredible. We also split the famous black cod with miso and agreed it was the best fish we ever had. We sadly weren’t as impressed with the sushi. After waiting a while for it to come, we didn’t think it was that great, especially the baked crab and shrimp tempura rolls. We wanted to end the night on a high note, so we ordered chocolate dulce de leche beignet (Satandagi) for dessert. Described to us as a Japanese take on a New Orleans beignet, this was fantastic and definitely redeemed the night. Overall, from what we ordered, we recommend for sure trying the rock shrimp, dumplings and cod fish.
Overall Experience
Eating out with my best friend and trying new food was so much fun. Eating out is our favorite thing to do, and doing it at Nobu made us feel like celeb status divas. There were incredible dishes, and the dinner filled us, which, honestly, we didn’t expect. We even took some leftovers home. With all the hype surrounding the restaurant, it’s easy for it to be deemed overrated, but we were thoroughly impressed with the presentation of our dishes (even the leftovers were packaged beautifully) and the quality of most of the food.
We spent around two hours and 20 minutes there and spent a total of $249.05. We wanted to try as many things as possible, so that’s why we splurged. Plan ahead by looking at reviews and budgeting. It’s definitely possible to go and spend under $100, and if you can, I recommend doing so. Nobu is a must-try for foodies in Nola.