Standing in the lobby of Hotel Royal while looking for Hatsu made us think, are we really in the right place? Old, retro vibes don’t exactly go with the mental picture we had of Hatsu, a modern Japanese Omakase restaurant.
However, once we took the lift up and walked through the doors of Hatsu, we were greeted with the iconic counter seats one usually associates omakase meals with.
Hatsu offers both Lunch and Dinner Omakase, with the lunch menu ranging from $60 to $120, and the dinner menu ranging from $128 to $250. We tried the Grand Hatsu menu, which was available during the 8pm dinner seating.
Appetizer
For appetizers, we started with a trio of dishes from various prefectures in Japan plated beautifully. The Biwa Masu Yuzu Jelly uses trout from Biwa Lake in the Shiga Prefecture. Next to it was the Hotate Tomato Jello which was a scallop with tomato dashi jelly and ginger flower from the Iwate Prefecture. Lastly, there was Sato Imo, which highlights the Saitama Prefecture with taro yam and miso paste.
Sashimi
We proceeded on with a plate of assorted sashimi which featured Fuedai from Tokushima, which is also known as Star Snapper, slices of Kuro awabi from Iwate, otherwise known as Black abalone and Shimofuri from Nagasaki, which was slices of Fatty Tuna Belly. Everything was fresh and the sashimi was served alongside a small dollop of seaweed sauce, which was something unique for a sashimi dish.
Steamed Dish
For the steamed dish, we had the Tougan Kani Ankake which features snow crabs from Hokkaido. This was a steamed winter melon with dashi and was light and delectable.
Cooked dish
The cooked dish featured 3 different ingredients done in a tempura way:
- Kamo Nasu from Kyoto (Eggplant)
- Baby Okura from Kyoto (Lady Finger)
- Hamo from Mie (Pike CongerEel)
Nigiri
We started off the Nigiri portion of our meal with Matsukawa Garei, which was a bar fin flounder from the Aomori prefecture.
This was followed by the Ishigakigai, which was a Bering Sea Cockle from the Iwate prefecture. This was probably one of the more unique seafood we had, with the Bering Sea Cockle stiffing up after being flicked. While it looked like it would be rubbery, the cockle had a somewhat crunchy texture that was so satisfying.
Next was the Shima Aji which is Striped Jack from the Ehime prefecture and the Akami zuke, a cut of the bluefin tuna from Nagasaki. One of our favourites for the night was the Nodoguro, which is a black throat sea perch from Ishikawa. The sea perch was slightly oily, but the addition of yuzu pepper helped to cut through the oiliness.
Our next dish came with a performance, with Chef Leon Yap grilling the Otoro with a huge lava stone, and much like our experience with any fatty tuna sushi, this did not disappoint either.
Fans of uni would appreciate the Uni Nigiri, made with Hokkaido Murasaki Uni and Sea Urchin from Russia. The Hokkaido uni was mind-blowingly creamy and fresh. *chef’s kiss*
One of the items we were looking forward to was the Umami Bomb Maki, which is Chef Leon’s signature roll made with 4 parts of tuna, pickles and dry-aged bonito topped with bafun uni, Poland Oscietra caviar and house-cured egg yolk. Just like its name, this was a bomb of umami and creamy flavours.
Soup
For soup, we had Freshwater clam miso soup which was a comforting concoction of seafood and earthy miso flavours.
Dessert
For dessert, we were presented with 3 different sweets. The first was a Castella Tamago Cake, which is an Edomae-styled cake, served alongside a cute rose flavour crystal candy and nama chocolate.
Next was a fruit platter with rock melon and kyoho grapes.
Ending the meal was a Hokkaido Milk Ice Cream with shio koji, salt and pumpkin seed. Served together with it was a fortune cat-shaped monaka rice cracker, so you can scoop the ice cream in and eat it together.
Omakase Restaurant in Town
If you’re looking for a restaurant in Singapore to celebrate a special occasion or simply just want to treat yourself after a long week at work, Hatsu is a nice spot to enjoy some of the freshest ingredients from Japan.
Hatsu
36 Newton Rd, #03-01, Singapore 307964
Mon-Sat, 12pm-2pm, 6pm-10:30pm
Only by Reservations via Quandoo
