Nobu Cafe at Nobu Hotel

What’s It All About?

Having visited the Nobu Restaurants a number of times, it does come to a surprise that I haven’t yet visited the Nobu Hotel. But that has recently changed.

I paid a visit to the Nobu Café when I was in Shoreditch as the restaurant I wanted to visit did not have any tables without a wait of 3 hours – yes I did tried to make an online reservation but to be surprise, I wasn’t able to book a table for less than 6 guests.

One of the key thing that puzzled me was, two of their restaurants are based near Park Lane and another on Berkeley Street, both had been busy when I visited, so opening a hotel in Shoreditch was a very different choice. But nonetheless, I really enjoyed my visit to the Nobu Café, and this is why.

What’s The Room Like?

There are a number of bar chairs for guests and visitors to enjoy some drinks. You can easily walk over to the front desk to book a room as they have opt for the use of screens as opposed to walls, giving the room more warmth and a feeling of spaciousness.

The hotel itself had taken inspiration from the Eastern cultures, with the door having very decorative features and beautifully fret cut it provides a nice texture and a difference to typical doors you see in hotels. The height of the door reminds of a number of Eastern culture as if you are walking into something that will take your breath away.

The café, is located at the lobby lounge of the hotel that serves “an eclectic menu with an exclusive Matcha Bar and London’s only Kinto hand-brew Japanese filter-coffee”. I particularly like the contrasting detail of the space and decorations, I noticed embossed walls with a number of timber boards and screens.

Walking into the café bar, it gave me the impression of a cosy hotel bar that only serves drinks – except they also serve small-eats such as sashimi, and something slightly more filling such as donburi. The café was lowly lit, with ceiling to floor windows giving plenty of natural light in the summer days.

The different areas of the restaurant all enrich a sense of significance. Slatted strips of timber, shelter the private dining room and subtly exposes it’s space through long, delicate mesh panels. This embraces the Japanese infusion in great detail.

Overall, our experience at Nobu was a very enjoyable visit. It was great to appreciate a well thought out design relative to it’s true valued concept. 

What’s The Menu Like?

There is a menu that features their popular dishes that was adopted from the restaurant, an alcohol menu which showcases their wide choice of wine, beer and Japanese-inspired cocktails.

I was particularly interested in their Afternoon Tea menu which I will be paying a visit there the next time I am around the area as I always enjoy a delicious afternoon tea – something I haven’t had the chance to enjoy for a while.

On their ‘All Day Café Menu’ I enjoyed the section for Artisanal Whole Leaf Tea, considering a number of places I have visited tend to provide tea in a tea bag as opposed to whole leaf loose tea.

What I Ordered?

With such an extensive choice of loose tea, I decided to choose something outside of that menu – the Nitro Matcha Shot. There was a trend in using nitro around the dining scene but actually trying a nitro matcha shot was something new to me and I very much preferred that than the addition of milk and sugar. By nitro charging the matcha it provides a thicker and smoother taste without the extra ingredients

I had also chose to order the Salmon Donburi for my main dish as I wanted something not too filling but enough keep the stomach happy.

What I’d Go Back For?

I think I’d be booking myself a stay the next time I am back at Nobu Hotel. Simply because I’m curious at what the rooms are like giving the fact that I have stayed in a lot of hotels previously and having worked in some wonderful hotels I’ve always been keen to find out more about how other hotels operate – bonus points for delicious hotel food!

Find Nobu Hotel at:

30 Willow St, Hackney, London EC2A 4BH