You know, it is a joy, I have to say, (despite myself) seeing all these pictures now.
Sometimes it is very hard seeing pictures of food that I like, that I want to eat, and wish I could have.
But that's life.
We might not always get to have what we miss having, and wish to have, but we do have memories, and memories are- at the moment- what we hold.
It doesn't mean that I won't go back to Nozomi at Millennia Walk for a meal.
It just means that Christmas 2025 has passed three and a half months upon writing this post, those days are gone, and we won't be able to get that time back anymore.
I am thankful for the meal we had had here at Nozomi in December close to the Christmas season late last year.
This place has to be one of the best dining discoveries made in 2025.
It isn't just the location, the ambience, or the convenience of the place.
It is- predominantly- the food, and the aesthetics of it.
So good is the food here that one becomes very careful when placing the orders. It is the kind of situation where you don't want to over order and end up with too much food that you can't finish or become too full to appreciate.
This evening we began the meal with a Chawanmushi.
Not just any chawanmushi but an Ikura one that saw the egg custard steamed with dashi and salmon roe.
I'm not sure whether I had the Hokkaido Uni Chawanmushi or not.
I might have.
I might not have.
But I definitely remember the firmness of the egg, and the umami taste of the salmon roe as it burst inside my mouth.
A good portion of our meal here today was salmon.
Salmon is one of our favorites when it comes to cuisine prepared in the style of Nozomi, and so this evening we made sure we had double servings of the dishes we liked.
One of the dishes we always go for is the Salmon Tartare Renkon Senbei.
The name is rather long, yes, but in short, what it really is Diced Salmon with Yuzu Dressing and a heap of Stir-fried Lotus Root Rings.
What I like is the flower on top of the salmon.
It looks so delicate, so sweet, so elegant.
And I think it is edible (though I've never tried).
What makes this dish so charming is that the salmon is very firm, very smooth, and is cubed so well that it is picked up very easily with chopsticks, no fear of it dropping.
The lotus root rings are delicious too.
On surface they don't seem like a big deal- Japanese supermarkets do sell them by the packet- but made in-house, they're crispy, fresh, full of flavor, and are a very interesting snack to have over the duration of the entire meal.
Of course this isn't the only salmons we get to have.
There is the Salmon Platter where you get Salmon, Salmon Belly and Chopped Salmon with sushi rice, and seaweed.
And we liked the Salmon Tartare so much we ordered a second bowl together with the Lotus Root Rings.
It's impossible to come here to Nozomi and not have as much salmon as one wants, so, yes, we got another plate of salmon sashimi (which, interestingly I cant find in the menu)
Their menu here offers a fair bit of other dishes- all of which are appetizing and attractive.
I mean, I would have loved the Hokkaido Pork Katsu Tama Don (Pork Katsu and Egg served over rice). or the Tempura Don, or the Tempura Moriawase. In the same way I wouldn't have minded the Butayaki Don- Grilled Pork Belly with Onsen Egg over rice, or the Buta Kakuni- Braised Slow-cooked Pork Belly.
But one of the best foods to be had here is fish.
Like their tuna.
So we got that.
In a Negitoro style, where the Fatty Tuna was diced and made into a sushi roll with spring onions.
Afterwards we also got the Daily Sushi Platter, although I can't remember whether we ordered one, or two.
It feels like a fanciful one, this plate, when it comes served to your table. It is one thing to have six pieces of sushi. It is another thing where the six pieces include Salmon, Salmon Mentai Aburi, Tai (which is sea bream), Hamachi (Yellowtail) and Anago (Sea Eel).
Honestly I don't know which is which, but I guess there was Anago and Tai, and in place of one of the sushis, there was Tamago (Egg). Definitely they had the Salmon Mentai Aburi, which we cut into two and ate happily.
By this time we were getting rather full, so we looked into the dessert.
But then we didn't want to end the mains without having some nice fried stuff, so we got one plate of Tori Kaarage, and one plate of Shrimp Gyozas.
After that came the desserts.
As they say, dessert is another meal.
So, between the both of us, we got one Matcha Ice Cream each, one Salted Ice Cream to share, one Yuzu Tofu Cheesecake, one Matcha Tofu Cheesecake and because I was feeling like I needed more sweets, another Yuzu Tofu Cheesecake for me.
All the desserts are great, mind, but for some reason, I liked the Salted Ice Cream more than the matcha.
Maybe it's unusual, rare, to have the taste of creamy slightly sweet vanilla blend with the sharp tartness of salt.
I ought to save more room for their desserts the next time I come, especially their tofu cheesecakes, which before coming here, I had heard about but had never had the chance to try.
And I'll want two Salted Ice Creams of my own too.