After occupying a temporary space at Eau Resort & Spa, a restaurant affiliated with one of the world’s most famous upscale Japanese-cuisine chains has settled into a larger permanent oceanfront venue at the Manalapan resort.
Nobu Manalapan began making its move last autumn from a temporary 65-seat spot to a spacious dining room formerly occupied by a 140-seat Italian restaurant at the resort, 100 S. Ocean Blvd.
Although the move was completed by the end of November, Nobu Manalapan’s sushi bar was just completed in April.
Eau first became home to a coveted Nobu dining experience in 2024 after the resort’s then-new owner — Silicon Vallery tech mogul and Nobu fan/investor Larry Ellison — bought the 7-acre Manalapan property.
A temporary space for the restaurant was carved out for it. Now it’s in a larger permanent home, still boasting the internationally famed chef-restaurateur Nobu Matsuihisa’s imprimatur and the cuisine that has made the chain famous among celebrities and the rich: Japanese cuisine often accented by Peruvian ingredients.
“Nobu is a natural expression of the level of culinary excellence we strive to offer at Eau Resort & Spa,” Michelle Phillips, the resort’s director of marketing and branding, told the Palm Beach Daily News.
“Its transition into a permanent space (at Eau) reflects both our long-term commitment to the partnership and the incredible enthusiasm we’ve seen from our guests,” she noted. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing Nobu as a defining part of the new Eau experience.”
The menus feature all of the dishes for which the other 55-plus Nobu restaurants around the world are famous — from such small plates as yellowtail sashimi jalapeno ($37) to miso-marinated black cod ($54), tempura items and even Matsuhisa’s Japanese-Peruvian take on tacos.
Other dishes include a warm mushroom salad ($36) and yakimono-style fare with teriyaki or wasabi pepper, starring salmon (7 ounces, $44), for instance, or perhaps Prime-grade beef tenderloin (6 ounces, $69).
Many sushi and sashimi selections are offered in the dining room or at the 10-seat sushi bar. Sake, wine and cocktail programs are featured, too.
But what also is a key asset — and has been since Eau was founded in 2013 after the property was a Ritz-Calton — is the ocean view.
The day-to-day culinary activities at Nobu Manalapan are led by Chef Matt Raso, who, along with the front-of-the-house staff, has worked with Matsuhisa and his team to create an “authentic” Nobu experience.
That a Nobu restaurant has become a staple at Eau isn’t a surprise.
Eau owner Ellison, founder and chairman of Oracle Software, happens to be partial to the Nobu culinary ethos. He bought Eau resort in August of 2024 for $277.4 million; not long after, the property debuted a temporary-location Nobu.
In addition to Nobu restaurants, numerous Nobu-branded hotels dot the globe. Co-founders of the Nobu empire include actor Robert De Niro and film producer and businessman Meir Teper.
In 2017, they partnered with Ellison and Matsuhisa to open the Nobu Ryokan Malibu, a boutique luxury hotel in Malibu, California.
Nobu Manalapan is among various other dining outlets at Eau; among them, Angle, a seafood-featuring steakhouse; alfresco Breeze Ocean Kitchen; spa-cuisine Savor; the gift shop/coffee hub Oceana; and an ice-cream parlor, Melt.
Nobu Manalapan’s current larger space at Eau formerly was occupied by an outpost of an Italian restaurant founded in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Polpo debuted at Eau in February of 2022 as part of new amenities at the resort following a multi-million-dollar social-spaces renovation. It’s now looking to open another location in the area, Polpo officials told the Palm Beach Daily News.
In the meantime, the spotlight shines on Nobu Manalapan at Eau, which also includes its 42,000-square-foot spa, tennis, pools and children’s programs.
It’s the only official Nobu restaurant in Palm Beach County, but a Nobu-inspired eatery with such Nobu dishes as yellowtail sashimi jalapeno operates at Palm House, the island boutique hotel that reopened — after a 17-year closure — in the winter of 2024 at 160 Royal Palm Way.
More information about Nobu Manalapan at Eau is available at by calling Eau Resort & Spa at 561-533-6000 or visiting EauResortAndSpa.com or NobuRestaurants.com/Manalapan.
For more than 20 years, M.M. Cloutier has written about restaurants, wine, the hospitality industry and island history for the Palm Beach Daily News.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Nobu restaurant moves into larger space at Eau Resort & Spa Manalapan
Reporting by M.M. Cloutier, Special to Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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