delicious.100: Southbank’s Nobu is one of Melbourne’s best restaurants.

Nobu’s Melbourne outpost offers flashy glamour with a ground-level bar offering river views as well as cool cocktails and a great sake list.

Nobu’s wagyu tacos. Pictures: Tim Carrafa

IT’S hard not to get caught up in conspicuous consumption at Nobu.

There’s its A-lister connections, both as a celebrity hangout and with Robert De Niro among the owners of this international empire that spans Malibu to Moscow. Its Melbourne outpost continues the flashy glamour with a ground-level bar offering river views along with cool cocktails and a great sake list.

Nobu’s basement dining room.

For more of those famed Nobu signature dishes, decamp to the basement dining room, seductively lit and lined with wood. Order with abandon and you’ll need a win on a nearby roulette table at Crown, but there are some must eats starting with the justly famous black miso cod, glazed to glistening in mirin, sake and miso and caramelised to just-so sweet.

Black miso cod.

Kingfish sashimi.

The kingfish sashimi — supple slivers of buttery fish with jalapeno and ponzu — and diced wagyu on puffed bite-size “tacos” (pictured above) are equally bang-the-table good.

Desserts nod to tradition, with a delicate oozy chocolate fondant served in a bento box with green tea ice cream.

Hostesses need to warm their welcome, but wait staff were bubbly and on the ball.

Must eat dish: any of the “tacos”

NOBU

Crown complex, Southbank.

Ph: 9292 7879

noburestaurants.com/melbourne

Cuisine: Japanese

Chef: Sean Tan

Price: between $41 and $80 a person for two courses, food only

Bookings: yes

Open: daily noon-3pm, Sun-Thu 6pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 6pm-late (plus bar)

Instagram: @nobuworldwide

This restaurant was ranked the 46th best restaurant in Victoria in the 2016 edition of the delicious.100.