Abura, which means ‘Oil’ in Japanese, is a fundamental cooking component. Here at Abura Kappo, Hashida’s new restaurant-in-restaurant concept, dishes come to life through oil.
Otoshidokoro
In Hashida, there’s a room dedicated to Abura Kappo, which can seat up to 6 pax. This space is what Chef Hatch calls, otoshidokoro, (落としどころ), a point of compromise, where ideas across the globe meet and are reimagined with a Japanese flair.
Here, the craziest ideas come to life, with a Japanese flair.
Fun fact: the counter in the Abura Kappo room is crafted from rare 200-year-old Sakura wood.
Abura Kappo Review
The menu consists of 13 courses ($200++), with familiar names for each course. Items such as Churros and Camembert were listed on the menu, which seemed unconventional for a Japanese restaurant, and piqued our interest.
Since the concept revolves around oil, most of the dishes featured an element of deep-frying.
The first surprise of the night was served to us in a wine glass. Naturally, our brains were expecting a punch of alcohol based on how it looked, but this was a consommé made using Bluefin Tuna. The finishing drops of spring onion oil nicely showcased the Abura concept.
Another fun dish was the Tebagyoza, which was a play on the parent-child combination found in Oyakodon. The well-executed chicken wing was deboned and stuffed with glutinous rice and egg, served along an oyako sauce and freshly grated wasabi.
One of our favourites here was the Ebi Toast, which replaces the classic bread used with their signature tamagoyaki, which added a nice sweetness to the dish.
A dish to look forward to is their Soba Taco, which is supposed to be a play on… *drum roll* Sukiyaki! Never would we have guessed that in a million years.
The taco shell is made using buckwheat flour, the same one used for soba noodles. The dish continues to combine elements of a sukiyaki meal with items like a minced wagyu cutlet, a tofu emulsion, and herbaceous shungiku sauce, finished off with some egg yolk.
We were not expecting this with the Oden course, which is typically a Japanese soup stew. Here at Abura Kappo, we were served a radish tempura and tomato tempura. Given how much water the vegetable contains, we would’ve never imagined radish to be served in a tempura style.
This was also one of the sweetest tomatoes, we’ve tried.
Fun Japanese Dining Experience in Singapore
While there was a fair bit of deep frying used throughout the course, not once, did we feel that it was too cloying or greasy. We also loved Abura Kappo’s reinterpretation of Japanese dishes, which made our dining experience enjoyable.
Abura Kappo
77 Amoy Street, Singapore 069896
Tues, 7pm-10:30pm, Wed-Sun, 12pm-3pm, 7pm-10:30pm
Nearest MRT: Telok Ayer
*This article is based on a media-tasting event, but all opinions expressed about the food are entirely our own.
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