Pleasant Hill finally has a destination for excellent sushi until 11:30 p.m. on weekends.
The Midnight Diners is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.
Everything about Nobuya is a bit of a surprise.
Start with the restaurant’s location on a quiet, semi-residential stretch of Pleasant Hill. We hadn’t previously found any late-night dining in this particular swath of the Contra Costa County suburbs, so when we heard about this newish sushi spot and izakaya, we were surprised to learn that it stays open until 11:30 p.m. on weekends. When we pulled up at a little before 10 on a recent Friday night, we were struck by the casual elegance of the dining room — all paper lanterns and light wood partitions, with quaint little nooks to sit in should you want some privacy…