I found this restaurant driving by when I moved to California five years ago from the east coast and have been a loyal and frequent customer ever since. The one word that I can say to best sum up NOBU is "fresh". The quality of the fish that is used here is premium to say the least. There is always a huge selection of 'not on the menu' offerings that are worth their weight in gold. Everyone should start out with an order of spicy squid (cooked appetizer). My husband and I are huge fans of the fresh albacore, toro, special hamachi and salmon (ask for the onion!). Psycho scallop rolls and tataki rolls are also outstanding as are any of the delicious hand rolls. Our recommendation is to grab a seat at the sushi bar (all of the chefs are amazing but we love Nobu and Ike) and just dive in. The chefs are so entertaining and warm and the environment at the bar is conducive to chatting up some new friends.
The only word of caution that we would have is that everything is so great that you lose track of just how much you ate....until you get the bill. We feel that the quality is worth the price but be prepared to plunk down about $100 per couple for dinner. This is the kind of food that you will crave once you leave and most of our out-of-town guests will ask to come here on every visit. We have eaten at some of the fanciest sushi restaurants in every major US city and somehow, find them lacking when compared to NOBU. If you're all about good fish, this is your place.