Heaven

[Radio7]

Salut mes amis!

I am one happy girl. Last night, my birthday, I had the opportunity to go to Matsuhisa for dinner.

The word is YUM.

I have admired Nobu for some time, and have wanted to try his food. I feel very lucky to have gotten the chance to go to this restaurant.

We got the tasting menu, some sake, and of course had a glass of champagne for a toast. The restaurant was much smaller than I would have thought and also more casual. It was quite busy, and the noise factor is signifigant, but not extreme.

The tasting menu started with 2 oysters on the half shell. One was topped with a black caviar, the other with an exquisite salsa-like mix. I've been dying to have raw oysters for ages (literally years) and so upon this plate's arrival my grin probably reached both walls! lol

Next up was 4 thin slices of halibut, in an oily sauce that I'm sorry I can't identify. they were artfully arranged on the plate in a sort of 'flag' and had a tiny half cherry tomato on top. This was very good. I'm sorry I don't know exactly how it was prepared. (I took a picture, but I dont have a scanner, so we'll see if I ever manage to post it here).

Next was a miso soup with clams. Good, but not overly exciting.

Then.....THE KOBE BEEF with 3 different kinds of mushrooms, and asparagus.

!Dear Sweet Canadian Meese! - this was beyond delicious. Melt-in-your-mouth, perfection. Perfection I say!

Angels wept.....a voice from above said "the cow that happily gave his life for this dish had golden hooves and little gossamer fairy wings. He was well-read, and generally a dapper fellow with a classical music library. He died having completed his PHD in cowology at the world-renowned CIW (cow institute of the world), and is now sitting right beside me in heaven. He says 'hello' and blows you a kiss."

So yeah, the KB was okay.

This was more or less followed by an array of sushi: large sweet shrimp, eel, tuna, whitefish. Very fresh, soft and lovely. The sweet shrimp had a very custardy consistency to it, which I'm not sure if I'm too enthused about - but it looked beautiful! lol The taste was quite different from the usual tiny ebi they serve in japanese restaurants. Perhaps this is because Matsuhisa's shrimp was superplump and about 4x the size of my typical experience. Big shrimp - big taste.

Finally, we were served a molten chocolate cake, and a tiramisu with raspberry coulis.

Okay, let me preface this by saying, I'm not a major fan of chocolate. I prefer vanilla. Chocolate cake is not on my 'favorites list', I like chocolate well enough, it can be very good, but rarely does it truly indulge my senses.

This molten cake was the bees knees. The cake was not too sweet, rich but not heavy, warm with a vanilla sauce pooled on top, and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and mint leaf next to it. It was so good. Just divine.The tiramisu was excellent as well, I quite enjoyed the raspberry coulis - so light and fresh!

Anyway, it was an extraordinary evening, and I wanted to share it with you all. My dining companion was just as impressed as I was. I'm sure my descriptive skills are somewhat lacking, but its extremely late, and I wanted to get this down when it was still fairly fresh in my mind.

I'd love to hear about others' experiences there!

I'll stop gushing now.......

Matsuhisa

129 N. La Cienega

Beverly Hills, Ca

[FoodZealot]

You turn quite a phrase. Sounds fantastic.

I've been twice, but only one time counts. The time that doesn't count was for lunch, on an expense account, for someone's last day at work. But the "host" kept talking about how expensive it is (although I think it's quite reasonable, all things considered), and how she's going to get in trouble. She also kept steering us toward basic sushi. The food was great, but I couldn't enjoy it under the circumstances.

The second time was much more enjoyable - I had the smaller omakase menu. What impressed me the most was the precision of the kitchen and the service.

This makes me want to go again, and soon!

[ARASHI!RQ]

:ONE OF MY FAVORITS,SEABASS WITH FOIEGRAS,SHIITAKI MUSHROOMS.ANY THING OFF THE SPECIAL BOARD IS GREAT

[Carolyn Tillie]

Matsuhisa is one of the LA restaurants I probably miss the most -- there is nothing like it in NoCal. Thanks for bringing back all those memories.

And, ARASH!RQ, welcome to eGullet!

[savvysearch]

Mmm. Sounds delicious. I have never been to Matsuhisa. How does this compare to his other restaurants in LA?

[Matsu]

We went to Nobu's in Las Vegas and the food was outstanding. It's off the strip in the Hard Rock Cafe. Went early (as soon as they opened) and got in without a reservation. I really enjoyed the black cod in miso sauce (one of his signature dishes) and the new style sashimi (which was drizzled with a mixture of hot olive and sesame oils.). Everything was beautifully plated and mouth-wateringly delicious. We had about 6 or 7 dishes all together. The restaurant filled up completely before we left so go early unless you have a reservation.