Hey friends! My aunt is a fan of Japanese food and she really has a knack when it comes to finding hidden authentic Japanese restaurants in Singapore. She recently brought me and my cousin to this restaurant called Hibachi Japanese Casual Dining located at Cuppage Plaza. FYI, Cuppage Plaza also has lots of other authentic Japanese restaurants that you can check out, and although the location is a bit ulu it's a nice place to have an intimate, cozy dinner.

We made a reservation at Hibachi via Chope for 7.30pm and when we got there, there was only one group of diners who were halfway through their meal. The restaurant is pretty small and the seats are all counter seats, which is typical for an omakase place.

We ordered the Chef's Specials (S$168), a nine-course omakase with appetizer, sashimi (three kinds), nimono, kushiyaki, sauteed or fried dish, yukimura wagyu, sushi (6 kinds), soup, and dessert!

We also ordered the Maguro Wakame (S$8), Iwashi Belly (S$8), and Uzaku (S$12). Yes, lots of Japanese words, I know. Honestly, I can't even remember what dishes were what - I only know which ones were part of the Omakase, and which ones were the a la carte orders. Forgive me.

The a la carte orders came first, starting with the Iwashi Belly. If I'm not mistaken, iwashi is a kind of sardine. It was soooooo good - served in thick chunks with a refreshing taste. The seaweed had a sweet and sour sauce which was immensely zesty!

The Maguro Wakame came next, and if I were to translate it directly it means 'tuna kelp'. Sounds weird, but tasted absolutely amazing. The tuna was served with a soft, mushy texture.

Lastly was the Uzaku, which is basically eel. I'm not a fan of eel but this one was so good and so soft. I couldn't really feel the bones at all, and although it was drenched with sauce, it wasn't soggy and I could taste the sweetness of the flesh. A fantastic dish overall!

Once we were done with the individual dishes, the omakase course started! It kicked off with an attas-looking prawn appetizer served in a cocktail glass. The prawn tasted very fresh and the whole dish had a mix of sweet and sour tastes. There was lots of seaweed on this dish too - seems like the chef really has a thing for seaweed!

After that, we enjoyed the tuna sashimi, which was delicious and fatty, and also tasted a little creamy! It was served with scallops too.

This was followed by this stew with meat and potatoes. Wasn't really a fan of the meat as it was fatty - I think it was beef? - but the potatoes were very soft just like the ones you'd find in Japanese curry! We ordered a bowl of rice to mix into the sauce once the meat and potatoes were finished, and it tasted very good too.

The kushiyaki came next which had meatballs and asparagus. The meatballs were so-so, but the asparagus was surprisingly the highlight of the dish! It had a little bit of this bitter, burnt taste that I really liked.

Next was the sushi.

And even more sushi!

The highlight of the omakase was the wagyu, which was served on this really cool grill thingy. The wagyu had a strong smokey taste, and we could pair it with their interesting yuzu salt. I found the salt to be quite salty, and having the wagyu just by itself was perfect.

Lastly, we finished off dinner with a mochi dessert. I love mochi and this one definitely met my expectations of how Japanese dessert should be like! The red bean paste was sweet, and the mochi was bouncy, chewy, and almost plain, but it was just the way I liked it.

Hibachi Japanese Casual Dining is not a very well-known place among locals in Singapore, but you should definitely give it a try. The quality of the food is amazing and the staff are very, very friendly as well. Also, the prices are rather reasonable and I think relatively affordable compared to other attas omakase restaurants. Plus, you get a discount if you take a photo of their food and tag them on Instagram!

Great food, great service, and great ambience - this place was a 10/10 and I look forward to coming back.

Thanks for reading, and see you next post!