The Place While Hashida Singapore has been around for a decade, the Japanese omakase restaurant located along the buzzing Amoy Street unveiled a new concept last December, Abura Kappo. Sharing the same entrance as Hashida Singapore, Abura Kappo is a new restaurant-in-restaurant concept, where helming chef Kenjiro “Hatch”Hashida plays on his creative juices to design a menu and concept bound by the element of oil.  

It is a cosy and intimate dining setting which can accommodate up to six diners for the room designated for Abura Kappo which you will need to walk down a zen lane within Hashida Singapore to get to.  

The Food There is only one fixed menu at Abura Kappo, a 13-course menu at S$200++ per person, with a small selection of ala carte bites which you can have to supplement the fixed menu if you are still feeling peckish.  

Here is what to expect from the dinner menu I had: 

Monaka (Blue cheese | Comté cheese | Mushroom | Beetroot | Radish) 
The first bite is the Monaka, where you get a crisp wafer sandwiched with creamy egg custard prepared from a combination of blue cheese and Comté cheese, mushroom sauce, and pearls of roasted beetroot and Japanese radish simmered in kombucha.

The blue cheese bit is relatively pungent towards the end, so embrace yourself if you are not a fan of blue cheese. Thankfully, the radish element adds a refreshing touch to the monaka to balance off the heavy cheese flavours.  

Lamb x Squid (Lamb | Squid | Gin salt) 
This is quite interesting as we often come across raw beef but not raw lamb. The fresh raw lamb here is paired with squid and goes along well with Hashida’s very own gin salt. Overall, a course which surprises the palate in a good way.  

Camembert (Camembert | Kinome leaf) 
Cheese tempura? One of my favourite courses of the meal is this Camembert cheese tempura with the citrusy mint of kinome leaves, where the cheese texture is just slightly molten yet contained well within the tempura batter.  

Tuna Consommé (Bluefin tuna | Spring onion) 
I almost mistook it for wine, but we were asked to swirl this glass of tuna consommé to combine the fragrance of spring onion oil with the Japanese bluefin Tuna Consommé. 

Managatsuo (Silver pomfret | Onion) 
Next up was the Managatsuo which features the silver pomfret. It is accompanied by two sauces: a tangy house-made onion sauce and tempura sauce. 

Ebi Toast (Angel shrimp | Omelette) 
Another favourite of the night, this Ebi toast deviates from the usual bread by using a savoury house-made tamagoyaki along with the angel shrimp paste. I love the sweet flavour of the tamagoyaki and the addition of panko gives the toast that nice added texture.  

Tebagyoza (Chicken | Glutinous rice | Egg) 
This course is a twist on Tebagyoza where the crisp deboned chicken wing is stuffed generously with glutinous rice and egg, also a play of the chicken and egg pairing as seen in Oyako-don. You get a quail egg within the stuffed chicken, and it goes well with the accompaying oyako sauce. 

Wagyu Beef Tempura (Wagyu beef | Balsamic and pomegranate | Red shiso salt) 
The Hokkaido Tokachi Wagyu beef here is wrapped in green shiso leaf, coated in batter and then deep-fried. To finish, it is topped with a drizzle of sauce made with balsamic vinegar and pomegranate juice, and pomegranate aril. Dip the tempura along with the Sakura salt and red shiso (yukari) salt served on the side. 

Duck Salad (Duck | Turnip | Persimmon) 
A salad course as an interlude to the meal thus far, you get slices of tender duck breast with pickled turnip and persimmon for this Duck Salad course. 

Soft Soba Taco (Soba tortilla | Wagyu | Tofu | Chrysanthemum greens) 
I wasn’t expecting a taco course at a Japanese restaurant, but I guess this is part of the fun menu. The Soft Soba Taco features a house-made soft buckwheat tortilla crafted from the same flour as Japanese soba noodles.

There are also inspirations from sukiyaki with the deep-fried cutlet of minced Wagyu topped with tofu emulsion and then drizzled over with egg yolk. 

Oden Tempura (Radish | Tomato) 
My first time coming across an Oden Tempura where the radish and tomato are stewed in dashi, then deep-fried.  

Donabe  
(Spicy tuna – Tuna | Tempura crumb) 
(Prawn tempura – Spot prawn) 
(Kimbap – Radish | Shiitake | Spinach | Burdock root) 
The finale savoury course is a fun one. A DIY-style where you can have the donabe along with the condiments and accompanying ingredients as you fancy. The Nanatsuboshi rice here spots a sweet flavour, and it typically goes with the seafood of the day.  

I had it with a seasonal fish, and you can enjoy the delicious rice with the accompanying Spicy Tuna topped with golden tempura crumbs; or the Prawn Tempura served with tempura sauce; and an array of julienned radish, shiitake mushroom, spinach, and burdock root. Sheets of roasted seaweed are also served, and the idea is also to have it all like Korean Kimbap. 

Dessert (Shiitake chocolate | Vanilla | Persimmon | Matcha) 
Dessert is a two-part showcase of shiitake mushroom-infused chocolate paired with house-made vanilla ice cream, shaped to resemble a mushroom cap; and a slice of dried persimmon accompanied by house-made matcha ice cream. 

If you are still peckish, there is a small selection of ala carte add-ons such as the Uni & Caviar Tempura (S$35), Ika & Caviar Tempura (S$24), and Kani Tempura (S$12). I had the seasonal Kani (snow crab) Tempura which is delicious. Dessert add-on includes The Golden Mochi (S$12) which spots a crisp and chewy texture.  

Rants To add on to the fun dining experience, it would probably be nice if the menu offers a sake flight, or even surprise drinks pairing with some of the courses.

Will I Return Again? It is interesting that Abura Kappo plays on the “oil” element in designing its volume one menu and does not limit the courses to simply tempura dishes. There are some elements of surprises throughout the meal, and if you are looking for a slightly more fun omakase dining from the usual, this is one to check out.

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

Abura Kappo  
77 Amoy Street 
Singapore 069896 
Tel: +65 8129 5336 

Opening Hours 
Tuesday: 7.00pm to 10.30pm 
Wednesdays to Sundays 
Lunch: 12.00pm to 3.00pm 
Dinner: 7.00pm to 10.30pm 
Closed on Mondays 

Ranted by The Ranter