There is something very pleasant about having loved ones who know just what you like, what you miss, and try to find alternatives for you when the place you once liked is gone.
For a long time I had had a special liking for the ala-carte Japanese buffet at this high-floor restaurant at CapitaGreen Tower, but then one day the restaurant offered that buffet no more.
At that time I didn't think much about it.
I mean, I generally don't.
But this was a birthday meal, my friend had recommended coming to Japanese restaurant Nozomi here at Millennia Walk for a buffet, and the sight of everything- menu and all- gave me pleasant reminders again.
It didn't matter that you didn't have a view, or that in the course of your meal you looked at the neighbors of the restaurant left, right and across.
Did that mean the ambience is missing?
No.
It just means that you get to embrace whatever is there.
The buffet is a popular one.
Noob that I was, I had thought there would not be many diners here for this meal, but to my surprise, not only was the table behind occupied studying diligently the menu- the kids were trying to decide what sort of sushi they wanted- the table to my left and right were also trying to decide what of the menu they should have.
We decided to go bold and order a couple of our favorite dishes- dishes that we'd always wanted to try whenever dining at Japanese restaurants but didn't usually get.
Before that, though, I gotta say that there is a lot to be had here at Nozomi.
It is an extensive menu they have.
Divided into two (or three) sections- if I'm not wrong- what you're required to do is to pick one dish from Part A, then unlimited portions of Part B and/or C.
Offhand now I can't recollect just what it was there for us to choose in Part A, but my friend and I chose to have the Hokkaido Uni Ikura Chirashi each.
This, I tell you, had to be one of the best choices we made this evening.
Never had it occurred to me that a Chirashi Don would be included in a buffet dinner of this price.
What's more, it came highly recommended too.
It didn't matter that we were only allowed to order one.
That, to me, already was more than enough, and I deeply relished in the sea urchin, plus all the perfectly cubed sashimi sitting scattered inside the bowl.
Trust me when I say i had a most lovely time picking out all the pieces of Hotate (scallops), Negitoro (chopped fatty tuna) and salmon resting pleasantly all over the bed of vinegared rice.
Then there was an abundance of ikura too.
So clean was the taste that I didn't need the wasabi and simply chucked it onto the other platters that by now had arrived.
Besides the Chawanmushi, we ordered ourselves what I think was a Kagoshima beef plate. I'm not sure whether it was wagyu. It just might well have been.
What I do remember is how easy it was to pick up with chopsticks, and how soft the meat was with its skillful marination. The beef was neither too sweet nor too savory. Very moreish it was too, I wondered if we ought to order more.
This evening I didn't get to try much of the Chawanmushi- we had decided to only order one bowl instead of two- but my friend said the egg custard steamed with dashi topped with crab was perfect, incredibly flavorful.
There was, of course, the sashimi platter, upon which there was tuna, salmon, and another fish of which I now cannot remember what it was, but it was white, there was still the skin on it, and although an acquired taste for the (unrefined) sashimi eater, it was fresh, with the right chill, and clean.
Some of our other dishes arrived at our table just now, one of which turned out to be one of the most memorable for the evening.
The name of this dish is the Salmon Tartare Renkon Senbei.
Now it may not look like much- really like a flattened dollop of salmon (and something more) with yellow flower petals scattered on top but trust me, this is a comforting dish- soft, mushy smooth, full of taste with tiny little pieces of salmon wrapped inside, with petals that I soon realized were edible.
If you ask me, it was the Renkon Senbei that made all the difference.
Yes, seriously, because whilst typical Japanese meals of such caliber might be proper and full of etiquette, it can be made more relaxed when a plate of Deep Fried Lotus Root Rings is placed in front of you.
All at once the Salmon Tartare doubles up as a dip.
Which, let me tell you, was the perfect balance of textures with the crisp, the fried, the soft, and the mushy smooth of the tartare itself.
Not just that, one got the refreshing cold of the tartare with the quiet crunch in each mouthful.
So good was it that we decided to order just the Renkon Senbei on its own.
What's so amazing about this dish is that it is so, so simple.
Like, it is literally a plate of deep fried lotus root rings- you can find it in the 100-yen shops- but this here comes served with a d*** solid truffle mushroom dip- and I think that was what my friend liked the best.
A part of us wondered if we could just eat the dip on its own.
Another part of us wondered if there were other dishes that would pair just as well.
In the end, my friend began eating the truffle mushroom dip on its own whilst I worked through the lotus root rings kosong style.
Restless me liked snacking on the rings as good on their own.
Perhaps I am in that kind of brain place where I get this urge to snack regardless how good or great the food is.
Don't ask me why but this evening I was able to snack my way through all the good sushi, a plate of fried salmon skin, and a bowl of what I call Salmon Don.
It didn't matter if the sushi of the Daily Sushi Platter had all the coveted fish like Salmon, Tuna, Grilled Unagi (Grilled Eel), Tamago (Sweet Egg Omelet), Salmon Mentai Aburi (Torched Salmon topped with Pollock Roe), Hamachi (Yellowtail) and Tai (Sea Bream).
It also didn't matter if the fried salmon skin had been prepared with seaweed seasoning- a snack of its own.
I snacked on the Renkon Senbei through it all.
At one time I was alternating the salmon skin together with lotus root rings.
At another time I was placing the Renkon Senbei on top of this Salmon Don (on the Salmon Platter) that had salmon, salmon belly, and chopped salmon on sushi rice and seaweed, and eating it together.
With all these foods fried and light and our stomachs filled with handmade sushi, we were almost ready for dessert but then we ran a final look at the menu and decided we still had space for two more.
My friend has always been somewhat fascinated by Pork fillets, or Katsu, so that's what we ordered, together with a bowl of Kakuni Don.
The katsu had less of the thick deep fried batter that we had had had elsewhere, and maybe because we had eaten it kosong without sauce or rice, save for the salad itself, the Pork Katsu gave off a slightly different texture than what we were used to.
Oh, there was the chew of the pork fillet- no mistake about that- but now I'm wondering if it had been cooked with the intention to make it a main with rice, not meant to be eaten alone as we had done.
It didn't matter though.
We finished the whole fillet.
We also finished all the Braised Pork Belly on the Kakuni Don.
I wish we could have finished the rice as well, but the tummy's limit was really getting close and there was still dessert that in no way were we going to forgo.
So we went for three of their most popular desserts.
There was a Matcha Ice Cream- served with azuki bean same way as the Salted Ice Cream- but my first favorite had to be the Yuzu Tofu Cheesecake.
Never mind that I already have a love for cheesecake.
This one I loved the perfect round size.
And I loved how light it was on the palate, yet so well balanced in terms of texture and taste, where I got a smooth, creamy texture not too rich nor too heavy, yet beautifully balanced with the flavors of salty, tart, sour, and sweet.
