We were on our way to Kathmandu Nepal in 2022 with Carl in tow. Our first flight was nearly 15 hours from Seattle to Doha, Qatar, and we had a nine-hour layover. Doha has one of the finest airports in the world at present, but after such a long trip, we wanted to stretch our legs, explore a bit, and get a proper meal, as we had all been in the back of the bus for 15 hours.
On our visits to other cities, we like to visit Nobu to compare them across cities. Now, one needs typically a 24-hour layover to enter Doha from the airport. We booked Nobu, which was in the Four Seasons on the waterfront in a beautiful multi-story building resembling the Guggenheim in NYC. This was during the height of COVID, and not everyone was vaccinated, a requirement to enter the city. We had a plan, and as we were executing it, we met with immigration officials, who inquired if we had had COVID. We thought a positive response would not be in our favor, so some in the party replied no. The kind lady looked at us and, under her breath, while speaking through her teeth, said, “If you have had COVID, we consider you immune”. Apparently, we had all been sick and gained access to the city. When asked where we were staying, I replied, “The Four Seasons,” of course.
Our approach into Doha.
Coming in for landing.
Beautiful reflections on the water at sunset.
The Doha skyline.
Doha has largely been built up over the last 20 years.
Happy to be off the plane and out of the airport, the crew is ready to hit the town.
Doha at night looking across the marina to the city from Nobu.
The beautiful Four Seasons lobby. All the new construction was amazingly elegant. It’s a good thing as Carter was stuck there this past summer for five days waiting for a Visa to clear.
Enjoying the cooler evening temperatures and soon a fine meal.
Our destination.
Nobu’s open kitchen.
The dining room was beautiful and open.
Multi-storied ceiling of the dining room.
Some of the older buildings resembled ziggurats.
Multi-level spirals of the four-story structure.
View of the distant airport.
Every architectural detail was amazing.
As far as Nobu’s go, this was one of the better ones. I must have been too tired to take food photos, but I felt the architecture and the prelude to our Kathmandu trip were worth a write-up. I have had more impressive food at other Nobu’s, but after a long leg of the trip, this was like an oasis. One I would not recommend is Nobu in Milan – bad service and mediocre food.
