Han

This brand new kushikatsu specialist took over the space previously occupied by the popular Hanabi buffet-style dining at Odeon Towers. The elegant restaurant has a main kushikatsu counter whose centerpiece is a handmade bronze cooker hood shipped in from Japan, a sushi counter, semi-private dining tables and a private dining room.

The highlight here is of course the traditional kushikatsu cuisine served kaiseki style. Sit at the counter and watch the chef dip the variety of ingredients (meats, seafood, vegetables) in batter, and then coat them with flour and panko. He skillfully deep-fries each item in hot oil until they are perfectly browned. The variety of skewers are matched with a range of sauces, Okinawan salt mixed with seaweed and lemon.

Helming the kitchen is Chef Seiichiro Arakawa who was mentored by Chef Hasegawa Tsutomu of A-Bon, a one-Michelin-starred restaurant in Ashiya, Kobe.  An expert in the traditional Naniwa (old Osakan) cuisine, the chef has 18 years of culinary experience in Japan, and a further eight years in Singapore. The meticulous chef ensures that all the ingredients are of the highest quality. He even customised the bread crumb recipe and had it produced in Japan. It needs the right balance of sugar - "if too much it will caramelise, if too little there's no flavour," he says.

A good introduction to the cuisine here is the lunch set which comprises seven skewers, appetiser, salad, dried fish perilla rice, soup and dessert, priced at $75. For dinner, the kushikatsu omakase course starts at $120, offering 10 sticks, appetiser, salad and dessert.

The kushikatsu items changes daily depending on the produce that comes in. You may be served skewers of tomato with cream cheese topped with a dab of pureed dried tomato; mashed green peas (each pea is individually peeled before mashing) coated with the light delicate crumbs and cooked till golden; prawns so fresh that they need just a touch of salt and lime; sweet succulent scallops; lotus root with a hint of curry paste; king oyster mushroom and cream cheese topped with parma ham; and the highlight - oumi beef from Japan - beautifully marbled and delicate in flavour. 

Aside from deep-fried items, sashimi and sushi platters are available too. The Osakan style sushi rice is slightly sweetened compared to the more vinegary version served in Tokyo. Seafood is flown four times a week from Japan (Tuesday and Friday from Osaka and Wednesday and Saturday from Kyushu). On Thursday, the restaurant gets live fish and seafood from Korea.

#01-04 Odeon Towers, 331 North Bridge Road, 6336 2466