My most anticipated review from people has been about what I thought of Nobu. Well let me tell you, Nobu - Indian Wells did not live up to the hype. Sorry to say but it's the truth. I think the biggest miss was that the service did not at all live up to the hype or my expectations of what a nice restaurants service and hospitality should be like...I'll explain more.
This Nobu is located at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. This location could be cool, during tennis season. Who wouldn't love to overlook the tennis matches in the daytime, high above the courts, eating the freshest sushi in the desert? However, going off season and at night, this spot loses that allure, loses the ambiance. We ate inside the main dining room and yes it was clean and pretty in a very minimal way. Dimly lit and wood everywhere, it was "nice" but not very exciting or special. If you want to do Nobu right stick to coming here either for a tennis match or just going to their Malibu location, because who could beat an ocean view?
I'll breakdown why I ultimately decided to give 3 stars. The service was rough.
Ok so first issue was 1 hour before our reservation I get left a voicemail from Nobu to call them back (annoying that they didn't leave a call back number and when I tried to call the number on the caller ID it was a number that doesn't go through directly to Nobu, just the tennis gardens, that no one was answering that phone as tennis gardens were closed). After my own digging online I was able to call Nobu direct. When I reach them they let me know that the outdoor patio table I requested would in fact not be available to us. Disheartening because we wanted to sit outside with the heaters and I picked this seating reservation specifically but I was understanding, what can they do if they fell behind or guests weren't leaving as quickly as they wanted. Ok could get over that. However, when we got there we were then told that our new table wouldn't be ready for us. Still annoying but let it go. What bothered me is we've already had two hiccups to our dining reservation and no comped little glass of champagne or a cocktail? 1. Every nice restaurant I've ever been to I've never had issues with getting my table or being seated 2. Should this ever happen, totally expected some kind of "sorry, here's a cheap pour of champagne on us." We were encouraged to sit at the bar while we waited for our table, but really that was on our dime and likely just a hope their part that we'd buy booze, which we did.
The last kicker with service were when we were told as our table was finally ready, they said "this table needs to be ready for next seating at 9pm" (it was 8:15pm). How are you going to not have the table ready for us, for our reservation time and then seat us late, and then demand we rush through our meal? It all felt so icky and low class. The real laugh at the very end was that despite it all, we were mindful to be done dining by 9pm. However, after we asked the waiter for our check, to be respectful and to relieve the table, the waiter took over 15 minutes to bring us the check. It was all so odd. Sorry for all of the ranting and raving but this isn't the kind of service I'd really accept anywhere, especially not a place with a reputation like Nobu. Sigh.
If you are still reading my review to this point maybe you care about the food? Ending on a better note, I will say the sushi is uber fresh and tasty. The presentation was lovely and every dish was good. There wasn't a bite I didn't like BUT I will say, I think it's overpriced for what it is and the portions are small. Had service been spectacular I think I'd still only have given them 4 stars because while the sushi is good, the price point and portions are just not worth it in my opinion.
My favorite bites of the night were surprisingly the simplest dishes. Loved the salmon avocado cut roll because that was actually a good value for your money and you could really taste the deliciousness of the salmon. The baked crab roll was also divine.
Skip the spicy tuna on crispy rice. So overrated for the price. The people that rave about this bite I think like it just because they think they have to like it? All of the influencers hyping some of these dishes are out of touch. There are plenty of $$ sushi spots locally that are honestly just as good as here. Maybe it's not as "trendy" but better value and same level of freshness. The spicy fried shrimp was super tasty but again, there is a spot in La Quinta 7 minutes up the road who makes them just as good for half the price. All in all the sushi and fish is tasty but you are paying for an experience and some cool pictures vs anything really being worth the price. Glad to say I tried Nobu, but won't be back to this location. read more