March 1 (Bloomberg) -- The real star of Nobu Hong Kong isn't the food, it's the people.

It's rare to see so many of the city's privileged packed into a single space. Here, two bejeweled women stride to their tables in Christian Louboutin heels, skirts flouncing against wine-jar hips. There, a man in an ink-blue blazer and gold cuff links chats with another flashing a diamond Rolex. Sake swirls, tulle twirls, laughter and New York accents reach and recede.

``These people look like they belong to another planet,'' said my Australian guest, as one neighbor -- a Derek Jeter lookalike -- patted down his suede fringe jacket, while another tried to keep her Bulgari chain necklace from dipping into her miso soup.

It's a scene straight out of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 novel ``The Beautiful and the Damned,'' with modern-day Anthony and Gloria Patches in every corner, soaking in the high life. Background techno music competes with loud, fast conversations. One diner, too sauced to stay in her straight-backed wooden chair, slinks into the velvet couch as she peels the raw-fish slices off her sushi, leaving bald rice-balls behind.

Nobu restaurants, especially those in Los Angeles and New York, have long been linked with the smart set, drawing celebrities like Denzel Washington and Jessica Simpson.

Kate and Coco

Nobu Hong Kong, the 17th restaurant by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, seems to follow in that tradition, luring a crowd that out-blings the cuisine. Since its Dec. 24 opening, diners have included Kate Moss and Hong Kong pop star Coco Lee, according to Carole Klein, public relations director at Intercontinental Hong Kong, where the restaurant is based.

Which isn't to slam the food. Quite the contrary. Matsuhisa's style of mixing South American spices with Japanese cooking results in dishes with flavors that tease and please the palate. Nobu Hong Kong is headed by Norwegian Oyvind Naesheim.

The Alaskan red-cod steak with sweet miso sauce is steamed and baked so well its seams yield at the fork's first pressure, and tastes like mellow, melted toffee. Nobu's yellowtail sashimi - - eaten with grated garlic, sliced chili and lemon-juice instead of wasabi -- is sharp and refreshing.

Our neighbors, a dapper retired banker and his wife from Seattle, said their tempura -- a deep-fried assortment of vegetables and seafood -- was the best they had tasted, lightly dip-battered and seasoned with sesame-seed oil and sweet sauce that let the ingredients' flavors show through.

The chocolate pudding is a master-class in harmonizing contrasting flavors and textures, its crispy crust peeling apart to release lava cocoa that melts the accompanying green-tea ice- cream. Blended together, the shock of hot and cold, sweet and bitter overwhelms the palate.

Skip the Sushi

My guest said the dishes were interesting and unconventional, finishing her share without a complaint. Nobu Hong Kong also offers classic sushi and sashimi (In his youth, Matsuhisa was apprenticed at an old-school sushi restaurant in Tokyo). They are delicate and fresh, but lack the mastery of those served at traditional Japanese restaurants like Rei Sushi. If it's classic Japanese fare you seek, skip Nobu.

There are also a few let-downs. My beef tenderloin steak, flavored with wasabi pepper-sauce, was undercooked for a ``medium rare'' order, making the meat hard to chew and swallow. The shrimp sauce that comes with the steamed baby bamboo-shoot is too mild to counter the vegetable's natural pungency, causing the dish -- one of few unique to Nobu Hong Kong -- to flop.

Dishes at Nobu Hong Kong are minimalist and meditative in their presentation, a treat for the eye: A bamboo leaf pulled at its ends to form a ribbon, a single sash of ginger root, a bouquet of coriander leaves. Dabs of miso sauce accent the dishes. The staff, clad in black, provides prompt, casual but polite service. Our waitress, an ingenue with Spock's hair-do, sounded like she could double as chef, judging from the ease with which she discussed the contents of each dish.

The Chef Is In

Unfortunately for her, most Nobu diners seem more interested in spotting people than ingredients. Toward the end of the evening, they were rewarded with a visit from Matsuhisa himself, in Hong Kong to supervise the restaurant.

A guest implored Matsuhisa to get her a place in Nobu Fifty- Seven, the chain's uptown New York location. Matsuhisa smiled, didn't answer, and urged them to order more.

He might have missed the point. It's not about the food.

Nobu Hong Kong, Intercontinental Hotel, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Tel: +852-2721 1211.

The Bloomberg Questions

How much? Dinner HK$1,800 for two, including wine.

Sound levels? Loud.

Special feature: Glamorous diners.

Private room? Yes.

Date place? If your date can withstand the competition.

Will I go back? Yes.

(Le-Min Lim is a reporter for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the reporter for this story: Le-Min Lim in Hong Kong at lmlim@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 28, 2007 11:06 EST