“Nobu” (The Review)

It was like an ascent, a rise, in terms of quality. The start is always humble, and then it gets fancy. We started with the bite size tacos and skewers. The beef taco had a lobster truffle aioli to it, and the lobster taco had a wasabi aioli to it. Add a dash of lime to it and you have a flavor and a taste in your mouth that lasts for a lifetime. The skewers came with a teriyaki and spicy sauce (Anticucho) on the side. Of the four – chicken, shrimp, beef, salmon – go with the beef and salmon. Then there was the Wagyu dumplings with a sesame ponzu sauce on the side, along with braised short rib cubes with jalapeño salsa on top of them. The dumplings were jam-packed with flavor, the ponzu sauce added a welcomed sour or vinaigrette tang to it, and the braised short rib cubes melt in your mouth once you get through the chunky and crispy salsa. And then we end it all with Japanese A5 Wagyu, Miyazaki Prefecture to be specific, a four-ounce minimum of Tobanyaki, which is a hot skillet that blends and flames Japanese A5 Wagyu from Miyazaki, Japan with Sake, shitake mushrooms, onions, asparagus, and a butter yuzu soy sauce. A citrus touch. The sauce gives a citrus flavor to the dish. And then we down it all with a glass of Ongakushu Koshu – ‘Music Sake’ – and then there’s nothing left to live for. All else is absurdity. The absurdity of the world scene. You can’t compare apples to oranges either. I can’t say if Fiola Mare or Nobu is the best in DC. You can’t really compare apples to oranges. As hackneyed as that may sound. But I really don’t think anyone can beat Nobu in terms of creativity and imaginativeness in the culinary or leisure world. He’s unbeatable. He’s in a league of his own. I bow to him. I salute him.