Nobu is a restaurant founded in 1994. It is a branch of restaurants opened by Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro, Drew Nieporent, and Meir Teper.
Nobu is a famous restaurant with around 47 restaurants in the USA, London, and worldwide. Their signature dish is Black Cod With Miso. But you might be wondering about the vegan options at Nobu, right?
Fret not; the celebrity Japanese Chef, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, hasn’t left you hanging. While the Nobu menu remains filled with many fish dishes, there are some vegan options too.
You can enjoy dishes like spicy edamame, truffle rice, eggplant miso, shishito peppers, and more. You will find a couple of vegan options in each course at Nobu.
As you read ahead, you will know the various vegan options at Nobu. Moreover, you will also know what it costs to dine at this fine dining restaurant.
Table of Contents
What Is Nobu?
Nobu is a fine dining restaurant started by celebrity chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa and others. Established in 1994, this restaurant has grown in popularity in the USA and worldwide. This chain of restaurants began its operations in New York.
Matsuhisa, the chef, wanted to offer a fusion type of cuisine, mixing Japanese ingredients and dishes with the American taste palate. He also draws inspiration from Peruvian cuisine.
Nobu is a popular restaurant if you want to go star sighting. So long as you can afford the hefty price of the food, you get to see Hollywood celebs at any branch of the Michelin star restaurant.
Nobu restaurant food is renowned for its presentation, quality, and exquisite taste.
What to Eat at Nobu?
The veganism and vegetarianism wave has gripped the world over time.
Nobu is a restaurant predominantly known for its many seafood and sushi dishes. However, several vegan options at Nobu have emerged with the spread of veganism. As a vegan, you can enter any Nobu restaurant confidently and enjoy a tasty meal.
Nobu has several meat-free options to offer a delicious plant-based diet. While the options might seem limited, you can still enjoy a filling meal as a vegan in Nobu.
Check out these top 11 vegan options at Nobu!
Quinoa Truffle Risotto
Nobu’s Quinoa Truffle Risotto is a rich, delicious, and warm dish. You replace the cheese-filled risotto with quinoa to ensure you get your share of protein. Moreover, this dish is made entirely vegan by substituting the risotto with quinoa.
This vegan alternative to risotto is made with quinoa cooked with dashi and yellow anticucho sauce. Yuzu sauce and salad leaves are used for garnishing. You will get a tangy, heartwarming, and tasty dish with one of the top vegan options at Nobu.
Roasted Leek With Miso Sauce
You might find leek bitter and bland but not at Nobu. At Nobu, the roasted leek with miso sauce is anything but boring. It is a flavorful dish that makes you forget you are actually eating leek.
Nobu’s leek gets slow-roasted. It is soft and crunchy and gets doused with miso sauce. The miso sauce uses white or red grain miso, soy sauce, grapeseed oil, rice vinegar, and sugar syrup. It packs a smack full of flavor and tastes undoubtedly delicious.
Shimeji Mushroom Taco
You might have heard of the famous Nobu salmon taco. Well, here’s the vegan equivalent of it. The Shimeji mushroom taco is made with natural plant-based ingredients. Moreover, it is packed with a protein source, shimeji mushroom.
The shimeji mushroom filling in the crispy taco offers a crunch and smack of flavor. This vegan dish is sure to become your favorite of the vegan options at Nobu in the appetizers section.
Cauliflower Creamy, Spicy Tempura
The cauliflower creamy, spicy tempura is partially vegan due to the cream used. You can ask the restaurant not to put cream in your dish.
The cauliflower creamy tempura is a spicy and deep-fried dish that is a delight for the taste buds.
Vegetarian Sushi Platter
Suppose you love sushi. You needn’t worry, as Nobu has a vegetarian option too. You can order the veg sushi platter with tasty makis and other sushi rolls. The popular ingredients used in this platter are asparagus, American corn, tofu, and salad greens.
It is a satisfying and filling vegan platter that even non-vegans can enjoy. Dipping sushi rolls in various vegan sauces will provide you with a delicious sushi platter that is flavorful.
Nobu-Style Caesar Salad
Caesar Salad might probably sound ordinary. But Nobu-style Caesar salad is hardly ordinary!
Nobu’s Caesar salad is made of lettuce, potato mochi, and caramelized pecan nuts mixed in truffle oil. Made without cream, this Caesar salad has chili powder sprinkled too. It is a sweet, savory, and yummy vegan dish.
Shishito Peppers
Did you know green chilis have cancer-fighting properties? As vegans, you will find it delightful that Nobu serves a green chili platter as a starter.
This delicious, tender, and slightly sweet appetizer is not at all immensely spicy. You can pop an entire shishito pepper in your mouth and have a burst of flavor and a finger-licking delicacy.
This is one of the vegan options Nobu favored for its tiny size, bright color, and taste. Moreover, it is not as hot as you think; it has a flavor similar to jalapenos and is quite enjoyable.
Eggplant Miso
If you want a vegan version of the black cod miso, Nobu’s signature dish, you might consider ordering the eggplant miso.
It is made with Japanese eggplant. Then, it is marinated in a miso sauce with plenty of sesame seeds to give you more crunch.
The eggplant miso is the closest vegan dish to the black cod miso. Made with natural plant-based ingredients, the eggplant miso packs a punch of flavor.
Vegetarian Truffle Rice
The Nobu vegetarian truffle rice is an indulgent and delicious dish. It contains mushrooms, edamame, carrot, truffle, rice, and shiitake mushroom. Usually, it has parmesan too. However, you can request your chef to skip the parmesan.
Made with traditional sticky rice, this dish is rich and flavorful. It is one of the vegan options at Nobu for the main course.
Spicy Edamame
As the name suggests, spicy edamame gets made with edamame doused in a salty garlic paste. It is a delicious and soul-satisfying snack at Nobu that will keep you coming back for more.
Coconut Pudding Dipped in Dark Chocolate
How can your meal remain complete without a dessert? Vegan options at Nobu are not devoid of a perfect dessert.
You can order the coconut pudding that gets dipped in dark chocolate. The pudding is rolled in toasted coconut. Moreover, this dessert has plentiful berries. An antioxidant-rich dessert, isn’t it?
What Does It Cost to Eat at Nobu?
Now that you know the vegan options at Nobu, you might be wondering what it costs to eat at this Michelin-star restaurant.
As a restaurant whose owner is the celebrity chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, they have various dishes inspired by Japanese and Peruvian heritage. This fine-dining restaurant has tasty, beautifully presented food items. Moreover, their vegan dishes are drool-worthy too.
An average meal at the Nobu would probably cost you $50-$60 per person. That is quite expensive. Moreover, there are 7-course meal options at almost $700 per person. Stunning revelation, isn’t it?
You might want to plan your budget before entering this first-class restaurant to enjoy a meal.
Nobu’s Vegan Cookbook
While eating at Nobu restaurant might prove expensive, there is no reason to miss the various vegan options at Nobu. You can recreate the fantastic and delicious dishes at home. You might be wondering how.
Nobuyuki Matsuhisa has written a Nobu’s Vegan cookbook that you can order from Amazon. Released in 2012, this is one of the first cookbooks written by Nobu highlighting the vegetarian and vegan items you can recreate.
The vegan cookbook gives you a ton of information regarding Japanese cuisine and holds 60 vegan recipes you can enjoy.
Nobu highlights the processes like marinating, steaming, roasting, boiling and frying to bring out various vegetables’ flavors. Moreover, you will also learn different techniques to use soybean, tofu, and yuba to make delicious dishes.
Moreover, you have vegan options at Nobu in sweets and cocktails highlighted in this cookbook.
Endnotes
Nobu is a world-famous restaurant started by celebrity chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro, and others. It is a Michelin-star restaurant offering fine dining options. While famous for its black cod miso and other non-veg items, they have a fair share of vegan options at Nobu.
So, you needn’t miss out on the Nobu experience even though you follow veganism. Merely examine your budget and consult your chef to avoid ingredients that don’t match your vegan lifestyle. You can enjoy a first-class meal at this classy joint.