A truly delicious Japanese food experience for an incredible price: Restaurant Izakaya Nozomi (24. February 2023)

We were a group of six, so the majority of us decided to go for the “Izakaya Experience Menu” (CHF 78.00 per person) since it would allow you to taste a variety of different things like the “Senmaizuke (Japanese  pickled turnip)” (usually CHF 5.00), which wasn’t the best bite I’ve had, but overall nice.

The “Miso Yasai Pancake (miso vegetable pancake)” (usually CHF 10.00) sounded quite nice and looked interesting, but turned out to be not the best of things as it was a bit mushy and lacking texture.

Then, it was time for a few different gyozas like the “Keru-Satsumaimo Gyoza (pan-fried dumplings filled with kale and sweet potato)” (usually CHF 11.00), which were surprisingly delicious and quite unexpectedly light.

The “Ume Gyu Hoho (in plum-wine braised beef cheek)” (usually CHF 20.00) was delicious. I love when the meat is prepared in a way, so it basically dissembles the moment you take a bite.

The “edamame (roasted soy beans with yuzu salt)” (usually CHF 5.00) were prepared in a way I have never tried them before – roasted. And I must say, it was at first a bit weird, but then turned out to be quite delicious.

The “Hijiki Salada (marinated hijiki seaweed with carrots and soy beans)” (usually CHF 10.00) were light and refreshing and quite different to most dishes served that evening.

The “nasu (cold sweet and sour marinated eggplant)” (CHF 9.00) was good for one or two bites, but was of an intensity, which made me personally dislike it after a quite short period of time.

The “Maguro Tataki (grilled tuna with radish and marinated onions)” (usually CHF 21.00) was, at least according to my understanding, not really a tataki, but it was tasty.

The “Sashimi (mixed sashimi)” (usually CHF 21.00) was nice as well, but it was, I found, lacking a bit of diversity (just mainly focusing on salmon and tuna).

The “Horenso no Groma Ae (spinach with sesame)” (usually CHF 6.00) was something I truly enjoyed. It was a bit too much towards the end of the meal, but it was definitely a favourite of mine.

The “Butaniku Gyoza (pan-fried dumplings filled with pork)” (usually CHF 11.00), which were like the gyoza you know so well, and they were good.

My favourite gyozas this night were the “Japanese Vegi Gyoza (pan-fried dumplings filled with vegetables curry)” (usually CHF 11.00) because their filling with curry was something I haven’t tried before.

The “Chicken Nanban (sweet marinated fried chicken with tartar sauce)” (CHF 16.00) was great, especially since there was a lot of chicken attached to the fried part, which was truly enjoyable. However, there fried batter was quite a piece though too.

Something I did not enjoy too much were the “ebi and yasai tempura (shrimp and mixed seasonal vegetable tempura)” (usually CHF 31.00) – especially the shrimp bit. The vegetables were quite okay, but the shrimps in tempura didn’t do the trick for me.

Last but not least, because we felt like we wanted to try one thing more, we went for the “Tako no Karaage (fried octopus)” (usually CHF 14.00), which was better than expected, since the octopus wasn’t chewy as it so often is.

The “Maguro Kakuni (slowly simmered tuna with ginger)” (usually CHF 8.00) was nice, but what was a bit weird was the fact that they had only served four slices while five of us had ordered the menu.

The place is nice in terms of interior design, it’s super busy, and people keep walking in asking for a table (so, it’s key to book in advance).

The staff is friendly and nice, but a bit uncoordinated – so, it was the case several times that we were asked the same question by two different staff members in the period of a few minutes. Table responsibilities would be great.

All in all, though, the Izakaya Nozomi is definitely a place worth returning to, when you’re into the Japanese cuisine and are in Lucerne!

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Izakaya Nozomi

Löwengraben 18

6004 Luzern (CH)

Tel.: +41 41 417 01 98

E-Mail: info@nozomi-luzern.ch

Homepage: http://www.nozomi-luzern.ch

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.