I'm a heavy user of Starvista.
Previously I've done a review of the Chen's Mapo Tofu at Starvista. And I'll probably do more Starvista reviews in the future, too.
So naturally, Nozomi was on my radar for a while now.
It's easy to catch on the radar because their exterior design of this restaurant looks pretty impressive.
This is the first time I've actually tried this authentic looking Japanese restaurant. We're going in for a mid-week dinner.
Nozomi Starvista
1 Vista Exchange Green, #02-20
Website: https://www.nozomi.sg/
Hmm, the Google reviews are quite high.
But as everyone knows, more than 30% of reviews in the world are said to be fake.
So this is additional information, but take this with a grain of salt.
They can be artificially enhanced, or could be artificially lowered.
Looking at their homepage.
Nozomi is actually a chain restaurant with 2 other outlets. The others are at Millennial Walk and Forum.
Also from their homepage.
In their "about page", they mention something about their Kaiseki menu, and allowing it for takeaway during the pandemic.
This raised my expectation.
Kaiseki is a very traditional Japanese dish consisting of several traditional Japanese plates. Always very high-end.
Whenever this word is mentioned as a key part of the restaurant concept, my expectation of authenticity and quality skyrockets.
So I'm coming in with some expectations of authentic traditional Japanese dishes.
Let's get right into it.
So this is the entrance of Nozomi Starvista.
It looks clean, spacious, well-lit with good seat spacing.
You can tell why it's easy to catch on the radar.
The inside looks like this.
Looks nice.
The environment makes it look like a pretty versatile restaurant. Looks good for dates, business meetings, etc.
The staff here are really helpful too.
When we first got to our table, the ceiling track lighting was pointing directly into our eyes - which was horrible because it was so bright.
A tall staff came out from the back and was very helpful in pushing the light away so they wouldn't kill our eyes. Was very pleasant in doing so.
Kudos to the staff!
The Menu
As usual, I took some pictures of the menu. As it was still barely considered spring I guess, so we were given the Spring menu as the seasonal.
Looks like this.
And here are some pictures of the standard menu.
The dinner set - not exactly Kaiseki, but yes I see some concepts are incorporated.
The regular menu as below.
So a pretty wide range of menu, from the donburi to the bento to the sashimi and sushi.
but they even have some pasta menu.
So this is where I encountered my first problem at Nozomi.
It was so difficult to decide what I want.
I couldn't decide at all. And I couldn't figure out why.
Was it the pictures? Was it the names?
Why wasn't there any sizzle?
I was thinking and thinking and thinking, but really couldn't figure this out at all.
So actually, I was thinking about this after the dinner as well. And I think I got this.
So, here's the thing.
Kaiseki restaurants are usually high end, so it's a bit surprising to see donburi. But this I understand, after all we're in Singapore.
But to see a pasta section inside the menu - starting to look more like an izakaya (Japanese bar) rather than an authentic restaurant.
And then you even get bar snacks (menu below).
But it isn't exactly an izakaya either.
Why? The price ranges are too high. It's not like you order lots of different stuff like an izakaya.
So the price points are of a high-end authentic Japanese restaurant, but the menu construction is of an izakaya.
So I don't want to order lots of different items like an izakaya because it's too expensive.
However, I'm not exactly attracted to the set menus or the specials because you wouldn't expect much from those in an izakaya.
So it just took me forever to order.
Finally, we came up with this. Order for 2.
Wagyu Beef Shiogayaki Don - $26++
Wagyu Steak, Sushi, and Kushiage Bento - $38++
Renkon Senbei - $8++
Beer $12++
So the first thing that came out was this.
Beer and the Renkon Senbei.
Beer is normal.
Not the high grade. Normal. Which is okay.
But these Renkon chips?
They look a little burnt.
As a matter of fact...
They even taste burnt too!
Not to the extent that you can't eat them. We did finish most.
But there is that burnt taste to the renkon.
They did have a dip which was helpful in removing the burnt taste...
but not really the ideal way to start the dinner.
So here's the Wagyu Beef Shiogayaki Don
Firstly, the Shogayaki (They call it a Shiogayaki) is a dish which is usually made with thin-sliced pork.
Not that beef shouldn't be used or anything, but it's in a sense like throwing a curve ball. It's a premium thing to do as usually beef is much more expensive than pork.
So this doesn't look like a Shogayaki. And doesn't taste like a Shogayaki.
Which is understandable because I guess the taste of beef can kind of overpower the taste of ginger (Shoga).
But no.
That's not the issue.
The real issue here is this.
The quality of beef is only mediocre.
Really, just mediocre. Maybe considering the price, worse than mediocre.
The beef is a bit on the hard and dry side.
Almost feel like....
Why not use pork? Might be better. Hmm....
For this price? Honestly, very dissatisfactory.
Okay, next.
More of the same.
The wagyu steak here is dry and hard.
Recall that this thing cost $38++.
A bit of a shock.
The sashimi.
Well, the conclusion is that the sashimi is ok.
I'd say the taste is decent.
Maguro is a very telling fish, in terms of the quality of the restaurant.
I thought that the Maguro here was okay.
Nothing to scream about, but was okay.
Howerver, There's a problem here too.
It's the soy sauce.
I'm not sure what they're using,
But the soy sauce they're using should be changed.
It is way way way too salty.
It's destroying the taste.
In amazing consistency, every one of the dishes in Nozomi are mediocre.
Just, mediocre.
The painful part is that they're charging a premium price for this mediocre dish.
The exterior design, the interior design, the prices are at a pretty premium price. However, the taste of the food is just low.
Ok, anyways this is enough. Let's go into the ratings.
Which is a bit hard to do because I'm not sure what to categorize this as.
To refresh on how the guru ratings work. For each 'rating angle' I rate based on the below on the scale of one to ten.
Guru Rating Legend
7.5 - 10.0: If someone asks me for a recommendation, I will direct them to this service/product.
5.0 - 7.5: I might not go as far as directing people to this service/product, but I might go again myself.
2.5 - 5.0: I probably won't go again, but not to the extent of avoiding at all costs.
1.0 - 2.5: Avoid coming here again period.
Guru Rating
for the Shogayaki don: 2/10
I would not go here for shogayaki. period.
The taste doesn't demand repeat. And on top of that, it costs $26++.
for the Sushi: 2.5/10
I would not go here for sushi either.
The sashimi quality wasn't bad. But the soy sauce really isn't nice, and it's so expensive.
As an Izakaya or a teishoku restaurant: 2/10
Too expensive for this. I would avoid coming here as an Izakaya or teishoku restaurant
As a high-end Japanese restaurant: 1/10
I'm sorry to say, but the food doesn't qualify at all.
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