In Los Angeles, it seems that everyone loves superb sushi but not everyone can afford to eat at the premier destinations. Nobu West Hollywood, one of the finest establishments in the world, has answered our cries for recession-friendly fares and have just launched their new affordable tapas menu and happy hour specials. We popped in for some "small bites" and managed to leave with both our bellies and wallets full.

Known for their world-class sushi, the restaurant boasts locations in London, Miami, Malibu, Vegas and of course, right here in our own backyard of West Hollywood. They have designed a special selection of incredible, flavor-bursting fare that won't break the bank, even though the quality certainly looks like it would.

"Our food and service is completely different from other high-end establishments," said Justin Wyborn, the General Manager of Nobu West Hollywood. "Our servers can pretty much design a menu for you depending on how much you want, what you want to spend and what you like and don't like."

Liking the food certainly wasn't a problem as we went on a Tapas Tour that featured delicious and adventurous fare from Nobu West Hollywood's taste-making kitchen. Standouts included the Kampachi Sashimi, which was topped with avocado, red jalapeno and mico-cilantro, as well as the Black Cod on a Bed of Lettuce, which is a special variation on Nobu's signature dish. Possibly our favorites on this tour were the Sashimi Tacos, which we sampled the lobster sashimi and wagyu, which is Japanese-style Kobe beef and felt a flavor explosion inside of our mouths as these tiny tacos rocked our worlds.

"We do so many different things," Justin explained. "A lot of stuff is really outside the boundaries, which is pretty much Nobu's mantra."

With these new small bite options, you can truly try a plethora of different dishes and still have money left over for the restaurant's exceptional and innovative desserts too. We took on the Banana Carmel Soy Tobanyaki, which was a carmel-soy soaked banana with roasted pecans topped off with malaga ice cream. It was a true taste of heaven and only rivaled by the restaurant's PB & J Satandagi, which featured warm peanut butter and chocolate satandagi served over peanut butter ice cream with a plum wine gelee. It's not too often you find a sushi establishment with much more than mochi ice cream for dessert but Nobu West Hollywood is all about doing things differently.

"We have so many specials, which is completely different from what everyone else is doing," Justin proudly told us. "People want something a little different here and that's why we go outside of just doing sushi and hit you with some amazing flavors that sort of smack you on the back of your head."

With these special new menu offerings, there's never been a better time to try out a ton of different samplings from one of the sushi world's superior establishments. So this summer, head on down to Nobu West Hollywood because from the food, to the service, to the music, this is truly taste-making done right.

THE DETAILS:

Nobu West Hollywood
903 North La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069
310.657.5711

Story by Ryan Simoneau.