First up, a Nobu classic: rock shrimp tempura, sweet nuggets of shrimp sealed inside the crispest of batters, and served with a ponzu (Japanese citrus and soy) dipping sauce. Next, a sushi selection, best of which were the temaki, hand-rolled cones filled with eel and cucumber. Nigiri with o-toro, a superior tuna marbled with fat, and norimaki rolls stuffed with crunchy soft-shelled crab were also fresh and fabulous. This branch introduces a couple of new elements - a Japanese wood-burning oven and hibachi table, where food is cooked in front of the diners.Our meal combined sure-fire hits with a few of the newly introduced dishes. Nobu's waiters tend to be well-informed, and ours was discreetly helpful in guiding us through the menu, a document no less strange and thrilling than it seemed when the Park Lane branch opened back in the last century. Unusually, in these times of restless innovation, the various Nobus offer an unchanging repertoire of dishes: sushi and sashimi, tempura, interesting salads, and hot dishes, including the famed black cod in miso. The first-night clientele - mainly Cat Deeley blondes and swaggery men of rapacious mien - obviously didn't care; they couldn't have looked more pleased with themselves if they'd been in Studio 54 on the night Bianca Jagger rode in on a white horse.Upstairs in the restaurant, the staff greet you with Nobu's trademark chorus of "irashaimase", delivered with enough oomph to make one of my guests yelp, "What the hell was that?" Up here, the waiting staff are kitted out in designer chav outfits; a reworking of the black tracksuit, with Adidas-style stripes down the arms.
Equally eye-popping are the prices - £12 for the cheapest glass of champagne and £10.50 for a cocktail. Where before the interior was a bit Donatella tacky, it has now gone tastefully Seventies futurist, all Pierre Cardin streamlined curves and tree-like excrescences.The bar staff are a Helmut Newton fantasy made flesh; an army of ravishing, sexy hostesses who slink around in spike heels and black halterneck dresses slashed to the thigh, and crouch geisha-like at the table to take your order. anyone who isn't Liz Hurley) to get a table.To their credit, the group's owners have designated this latest Mayfair branch a no-bookings zone. Parties of six-plus can reserve a table, but otherwise it's turn up and chance your luck, and too bad if the paparazzi at the door jeer when you get turned away.The former Mayfair Club (which sounds Bertie Woosterish, but was known for its podium dancers) has been redesigned by the talented Mr Collins.
Replacements: H Shimange, G Steenkamp, A van den Berg, J Cronje, F du Preez, W Julies, J van der Westhuyzen.Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).l The England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson has been admitted to hospital in Japan suffering from an inflamed appendix. Wilkinson, currently on a pre-season tour with the Newcastle Falcons, is on medication to counter the inflammation. The Falcons play NEC Green Rockets in Tokyo today and Toyota Verblitz on Tuesday.. It Isn't really done for critics to visit new restaurants during the first week of business, let alone on the very first night.
