Nobu Newport Beach

Reviews

• MH

  Mehedi Hasan

  Apr 20, 2026
  5.0
  Had an exceptional experience at Nobu Newport Beach! The food was outstanding every dish was beautifully presented, fresh, and packed with refined, well-balanced flavors. The sushi and signature items were especially impressive, showcasing top-tier quality and craftsmanship. The service was impeccable, attentive without being intrusive, and the staff made the entire dining experience feel seamless and elevated. The atmosphere was stylish, modern, and upscale, with a perfect coastal vibe that adds to the overall experience. Easily a 5-star dining destination worth every visit!
• MM

  Megan McClean

  Apr 18, 2026
  3.0
  Have been to several Nobus several times. Came here for a birthday lunch and was pretty disappointed. We asked to do a chefs choice tasting experience which I had done before at the Malibu location. It was great there because things were perfectly portioned to our party size. But at Newport I was told that could not be done. We spent over 300 a person and felt we didn’t actually get that much to eat and it was just ok. Service was not great. The restaurant itself did not seem well cared for. Our table top was dirty when we sat down. There were scratches all over the floor. I wished we had spent our money elsewhere.
• JD

  Julia Dunaway

  Apr 11, 2026
  2.0
  We were looking forward to our special dinner at Nobu. We called ahead a few days before to inquire about a vegan omakase and were told that would be no problem. I had seen a social media post from Nobu in Las Vegas showing a beautiful vegan omakase with very high end creative dishes and a special coconut dessert. Everything from a hand roll to won ton tacos, sushi and more. I was expecting something similar. Instead I was served a plate of avocado slices, a bowl of cucumber sunomono, a plate of cherry tomatoes with oil and vinegar. These were so plain and uninspired for a restaurant of this caliber. Then came the burnt tasting okra. Inedible. I told the server I was not happy with the courses so far. She informed me that cold courses came first. That was not my problem. Cold courses are fine but at least they should be special in a “premium omakase” experience. Finally a good tasting course came—miso eggplant. Then a tofu tobanyaki came and it was good, not great. Big rubbery shiitake mushroom and too thick tasteless asparagus were not good. A strange Handroll arrived with seaweed and more avocado. Geez. I already had 6 slices of avocado. The plate of nigiri sushi that came next had a repeat of shiitake mushrooms, more of the cherry tomatoes in oil and vinegar on top of rice, more eggplant, and another avocado slice on rice. The odd corn on rice was not tasty nor was the broccolini on rice. This assortment of nigiri was a miss after already serving so many of the same foods. Finally a couple tiny crispy rice cakes came with more avocado slices on top. The rice cakes were more stale/cold than crispy. Chewy and odd. No dessert came with my premium omakase. I was handed the dessert menu to order but not informed of any vegan options on the dessert menu. My husband is not vegan and he ordered off the menu. He enjoyed the yellowtail. His mushroom tobanyaki had almost no sauce and lacked in flavor. He drizzled sauce on it. His black cod was good. He had a rough time because the music, a loud techno style sound made it impossible for him to hear so we couldn’t really talk. Our special evening for over $400 was a big let down on our last night in California. We hear there’s a Nobu in Dallas but we won’t be going. I just watched the Nobu movie and I’m sure Nobu San would be sad to hear how mediocre his restaurant has become. You could do so much better. When I get back to Fort Worth I’ll be making reservations at Uchi in Dallas. Tyson Cole has better high end Japanese food.
• AM

  Anah Minsberg

  Apr 10, 2026
  2.0
  I took my daughter on a date and right off the bat we got yelled at by a lady who was in the valet area. We tried to park our car in valet and use valet services and she essentially ran us off very violently. One of the most odd experiences I’ve had. When we tried to tell the valet attendant (a young man) he treated us very poorly. We decided to find parking on our own after this encounter and luckily found a good spot. It does get quite busy! Once you get into the restaurant, the ambience and setting is very beautiful. It is right on the marina and very picturesque. As soon as we sat down, our waitress said we only had an hour and a half, and then we had to leave, which was in my opinion poor training because it feels very rushed. Our waitress was slow and not helpful at all about the menu. She was behaving very stuck up and impatient. Luckily there was a gentleman beside us who also work there who was very kind, he guided us through the menu and told us some of his favorite things to order. He also recommended some fan favorites. Overall, the food is a three out of five. It doesn’t feel like authentic Japanese and some of the items tasted a little stale and not fresh. We ended up spending $450 and I think the prices are very fair for the two of us and we ordered a lot of different things on their menu. I think there’s a lot of hype around this restaurant, but it’s definitely oversold. I always like to give places a second chance, but I don’t think we need to do this with Nobu. Overall the experience fell short and if someone took me on a date here with the treatment that we received I would be disappointed that this is the type of place that we had gone to.
• VC

  Vi C

  Apr 8, 2026
  3.0
  I took my daughter to Nobu for lunch to celebrate her birthday, just the two of us, so I was really hoping for a special experience. The place itself is beautiful, right by the marina with a really nice, relaxing atmosphere. Service was great too very welcoming and attentive , and everything felt like a true fine dining experience (you do need reservations). One thing to keep in mind: parking here is pretty difficult, especially on weekends or busy days. It can take a while to find a spot, so definitely plan ahead. We ordered quite a few dishes to try a bit of everything. The food is good , fresh ingredients, nicely presented. We ordered the Chilean Sea Bass $48 and the Prime Ribeye Truffle $58 but both portions were really small for the price. In general, the flavors felt a bit familiar. Nothing was bad, everything was well done, but nothing really surprised or wowed me. A lot of the dishes also tasted somewhat similar. Our total bill came out to $300.62, and even after ordering quite a bit, we were only just full , not that satisfied, especially for a birthday lunch. It’s a nice place for the ambiance and overall experience, but if I’m just rating the food, I’d give it around a 3/5 .

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