No bullshit @ Nobu, Crown Casino

Sushi plate at Nobu 

Some love to loathe Crown Casino, whilst others swear by it.  I lean towards the loathe side.  I love the restaurants (Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons, Rockpool, et al) but pretty much hate the rest. Why?

• I hate ending up back where I started when trying to take a short-cut through the gaming room;
• I hate Club 23 for its tacky decor and tackier clientele;
• I hate walking the death gauntlet on the Southbank promenade late at night;
• I hate waiting in the endless line at the cab rank on Spencer Street;
• I hate the tempting grease in mid-casino food-court; 
• I hate not being certain whether the security guards are attacking or defending; and
• I hate the fireballs mainly because I'm a red head and I think James Packer is mocking me in some way. 

Crispy Rice with Tuna at Nobu

I previously wrote that I loved Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons because when you are there you actually don't feel like you're in the casino. Similarly in the Melbourne branch office of worldwide chain Nobu you can escape the hoi polloi and live in another world, you can almost imagine yourself on the Paris end of Collins Street!  Although, can you really?  We went on a Saturday night on grand prix weekend and the place was busy.  So busy that I was sitting back-to-back with an unknown acquaintance on the table behind me. But that doesn't faze me.  The crowd is a little different though, not quite the same crowd you would get at a Flinders Lane hole in the wall or a Gertrude Street eatery.  The crowd is not Melbourne, it more often than not, imported.  But I'm no xenophobe, so I won't complain about that.  

Miso Cod at Nobu

Beef Tataki at Nobu

Let's talk about the main thing here and that is the food.  Thanks to some very deft choices by our gracious hosts, we were able to sample an incredible selection of food from the Nobu menu without opening its cover.  
The first dish was Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna which consisted of a deep fried block of sticky rice which you dip in a spicy fresh raw tuna mix. Very high quality, soft tuna, great level of spice and combined with the crunchy texture of the rice, this was a great starter.

Second up was Beef Tataki - this is a dish I could never get sick of eating, especially with such quality tender beef.  Third was a Black Cod Miso which was an incredible piece of fish with a sweet flavour topped with ginger.  Fourth was a bowl of miso.  

Fifth was Wagyu Gyoza - this was a really interesting dish as usually you would get pork gyoza.  The texture of the dumpling casing was spot on, the meat was really rich which made it hard to eat too many (and with a big plate of these in front of us, it made for a real battle between stomach and mind).  
Sixth was some sort of beef which was easily the highlight for me, perfectly cooked medium rare and so damn tender.  Seventh, and as the food coma was really starting to kick in, a big plate of mixed sushi was laid before us and this was easily the closest thing I've had to Tokyo sushi since I left Japan. 

Some sort of incredible Beef cooked to perfection

Overall, I would recommend going to Nobu but a couple of pointers - (1) If you are going on a date, it might be nice to sit upstairs rather than downstairs because there were a lot of big groups down there (which was fine for us but might be a bit noisy for something romantic) (2) Be prepared to spend - Nobu does not come cheaply and (3) Drive - you really don't want to be queuing for a cab home from the casino on a Saturday night. 

Nobu

Crown Casino Melbourne

Address: 8 Whiteman Street Melbourne, Victoria, 3000

Contact: +613 92927879

Website: http://www.noburestaurants.com/melbourne/experience/introduction/ 
Map: http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=Giuseppe%20Arnaldo%20%26%20Sons