[ Food Review — Casual premium Kyoto fare with multiple donburi and bento options! ] Don’t you just love it when a deluxe kaiseki-only place decides to open a casual spin-off that doesn’t gouge a gaping hole in your pocket? I sure do! (Gotta thank the bestest bestie for bringing me here!)

Where Yoshi (at Forum) specialises in kaiseki meals, Nozomi by Yoshi’s menu is lined with donburi and bento options. No, I’m not talking about selections that can effectively be squeezed onto a name card masquerading as menu, NBY has a whooping 27 items in its donburi and bento section — that’s excluding sashimi + sushi + other hot and cold mains — which cater to the more budget-conscious (they start at $16) all the way to the semi-extravagant ($98 for their season special omakase bento).

In other words, you don’t need to lament the impossibility of tasting Kyoto’s famed kaiseki — just come here and sample adjacent fare for a fraction of the price. (The menu at NBY is designed by the parent restaurant btw!)

And yes, they do deliveries and takeaways.

We had an early dinner here — it occupies the old Uma Uma unit — and while it wasn’t full, it’s started filling up towards the end of our meal. Better book!

As enticed as I was by their gorgeous donburi spread, I had to taste what their bento was like. That’s how I ended up with my Zaru Soba and Sashimi Bento ($22) while the bestie got her usual order of Barachirashi with Hokkaido Uni and Ikura ($40) w/o salmon.

Don’t be deceived by how compact our orders look — I was genuinely struggling to finish my soba near the end! The raw fish cuts were fresh and light, and the knifework was a cut (heh) above most other places of similar price points. The soba was lovely too, with the signature mild grainy texture a sign of careful handmanship, so much so I finished every last strand. The pork belly kushiage was a nice texture and flavour contrast, but while well made, was quite overwhelming in contrast to the rest of the bento.

I also missed having such careful presentation when eating at more casual Japanese places, so to enjoy that care whilst being in shorts was a nice change of pace.

If it weren’t for the strange times we live in, I’d definitely dine at NBY more!