‘Unassuming’- Details on mystery Nobu diner

He has been described as an “unassuming looking guy” from western Sydney.

Menu items at the popular Japanese restaurant at Crown Sydney, Barangaroo, can range from $6 (each) for nigiri and sashimi to $65 for its star dish – the Black Cod Miso – and $98 for its Lobster Wasabi Pepper.

Australian TV and radio host Sami Lukis happened to be on the receiving end of the stranger’s gesture on Monday night that left many of the diners, including herself, shocked.

“An incredible random act of kindness tonight from a stranger who paid EVERY table’s bill at Nobu restaurant in Sydney (including mine),” she wrote in a tweet.

“Thank you to one incredibly generous stranger. And I really hope you see this.”

Clearly overwhelmed by the act, she took to Twitter again Tuesday morning to thank the person.

“Still in shock after someone paid EVERY table’s bill at Nobu restaurant in Sydney last night (including mine),” Sami wrote.

“The waiter called it ‘a random act of kindness’. The incredibly generous stranger probably won’t see this … but … thank you.”

Sami later revealed in Nine Honey the stranger who paid for her and her friend’s roughly $400 bill, was “an unassuming looking guy” after the waitress pointed him out.

Sami said he was wearing shorts, a T-shirt and a cap and was shaking hands and having his photo taken with the men at the table behind her.

“I overheard him say, ‘I’m just a regular guy from western Sydney, mate.’”

“Are you the kind person who just paid our dinner bill?” she asked him, interrupting his conversation.

“Yes, that was me,” he told her sheepishly.

“Well, thank you very, very much. And also, I have to ask, what on earth inspired you to do something so amazingly generous?”

Sami said he didn’t answer.

“Did you just win the $40 million Powerball?” she asked him.

“No, I didn’t,” he said, before changing the subject.

“Hey, did you notice one of the Backstreet Boys was sitting at the table behind you?” he asked Sami as he pointed at the guy he’d just been taking photos with.

Sami said she was unaware of the boy band member sitting behind, before “reflecting on the weirdness of the whole experience”.

“And here’s the strangest thing of all. I certainly don’t want to sound ungrateful for my ridiculously lavish free meal, but as we left the restaurant, I couldn’t help feeling this particular art of generosity seemed weirdly out of place in such an expensive restaurant,” Sami said.

“It’s probably safe to assume most people who choose to dine at Nobu are not doing it tough, so I wondered if those thousands of dollars could have been better spent elsewhere?”

Some social media users also questioned the man’s act to treat those who were already willing to pay the restaurant’s prices.

“Would have been more useful to give it to people living on the streets of our cities. Missed opportunity!” one person wrote.

“This is ridiculous? No one who eats at Nobu … needs their dinner paid for,” a second person said, while a third added: “Gifting to the well-off is hardly altruism.”

However, despite feeling a “little uneasy” by the man’s gesture, Sami said you never know what’s going on in someone’s life.

“[And] it’s not my place to judge how someone chooses to spend their money. Maybe that guy had already donated to a charity or a homeless shelter, or spread joy elsewhere that day.”

A Crown Sydney spokesperson told news.com.au it is “always nice to hear stories like these where someone carries out a random act of kindness”.

“Nobu is one of the most recognised Japanese restaurant brands in the world and each week thousands of people visit to experience its signature flair,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re certain the guests who were enjoying their dining experience must have been delighted by this extraordinary act of generosity.”