Anyway, my boyfriend and I decided to try it out, so we ended up queuing and before we knew it, we were seated down inside.

I quite like the ambience of this place because it's vibrant and welcoming. The diners are mostly families with children, groups of friends and couples. The staff are also really friendly, love cracking jokes, and even recommended us a few dishes when they found out that it was our first time here.

The Tonkatsu Premium Pork Loin was the highlight of the night and came with a set with rice, Tonjiru and watermelon slices. I have to say the Tonkatsu was the best I've ever tasted in Singapore. You know how Tonkatsu can be quite hard? This one was nothing like that! The meat was very crispy on the outside, and when you bit into it, it was soft and flavourful. I generally dislike pork, but this one lacked the strong pork smell and taste, and everything was just simple with just enough flavour.

There's also this dipping sauce that you can make by gridding sesame seeds and adding Tonkatsu sauce. Have fun grinding! ;)

The Kurobuta Shabu Ramen was not bad - the ramen was alright, but the meat was so soft like it would melt in your mouth. The broth had a bit of spice to it but nothing that was too much to handle; it was still rather refreshing and 清淡. 

My dish was the Salmon Don. It looked absolutely delicious and tasted good, but I won't say it was amazing. The salmon slices were soft and creamy, and the rice had a decent amount of soy sauce that gave the whole dish a sweet and savoury taste. I enjoyed it very well, but out of all 3 dishes, this one was definitely outshined by the rest!

Even side dishes tasted amazing. The Potato Salad was wonderful and was the chunky kind with bits of vegetables in it. By itself, it was already rather filling. The Potato Korokke was 10/10 - crispy and soft on the outside, and warm and creamy inside. Best I've ever had, and the portion was generous!

For those of you who don't live near Thomson Plaza, Hajime also has food delivery via Deliveroo (for their Serangoon branch). But the food is so great, I think it's worth coming down to eat it fresh out of the kitchen. Looks like this will be my new favourite Japanese food place at Thomson Plaza!

Address: 301 Upper Thomson Rd, #01-110 Thomson Plaza, S574408

Telephone: +65 6509 9952