When Australia Meets Japan: Omakase Experience at Oumi

Sitting at an omakase dinner is akin to embarking on a journey – you don’t know what you are going to get. When that journey is led by masterful chefs, it can become a transcendent dining experience. Oumi – a contemporary Japanese Kappo restaurant located on the 51^st floor of CapitaSpring – seeks to bring about that very dining experience to its guests – with exquisite flavours and artistic presentation, no less.

Ambiance and Atmosphere

Upon entering Oumi, one would be struck by the understated elegance of the restaurant’s design. The interior exudes a perfect balance of traditional Japanese aesthetics and modern sophistication. The dimly lit dining room, adorned with minimalist décor sets the right stage for what one would expect from an exquisite omakase dinner, coupled with stunning views of the city skyline.

Artistry on a Plate

Oumi’s omakase menu is a carefully curated symphony of flavours, textures, and techniques, artfully crafted by the skilled chefs behind the scenes. What sets Oumi’s omakase menu apart from others is that the restaurant offers ingredients that are seasonal, sustainably caught and ethically farmed. The ingredients are sourced from farms in Australia, Singapore and Japan. Herbs and plants are also harvested daily from the 1-Arden Food Forest and featured in the dishes.

The meal commences with Zensai Kabocha Uni Tofu – fried house-made tofu served with Australian pumpkin, sea urchin and shiitake tsuyu. This dish showcases the restaurant’s concept of Australian-Japanese omakase, harmonising the best of both worlds.

Next on the menu is Hassun – an assorted platter of selected small dishes presented on a bed of rock salt like a garden. Each dish showcases the chef’s meticulous attention to detail. Of particular highlight is the Nasu Dengaku – a dish that features Australian eggplant grilled over binchotan with nori white miso and topped with deep-fried golden buckwheat, deep-fried sakura ebi and shiso flowers from the 1-Arden Food Forest. The flavours harmoniously come together to complement the soft texture of the eggplant and the hint of charred taste from the binchotan.

Another interesting item on the menu is the Foie Gras Monaka. Meant to be pop into the mouth in one bite, the Foie Gras Monaka comes with a crisp wafer within which sits foie gras ganache, salmon roe, flying fish roe, pickled daikon and edible flowers.

For those who can’t do without the usual sashimi, fret not – Chef makes a selection of five types of sashimi to satisfy your craving. A cod fish soup completes the appetiser portion of the meal – by then, those with small appetites might be already full.

I have encountered many omakase meals that left me unsatisfied and wanting more in terms of portion. So I was surprised at having felt full before the main courses were presented.

One of the main dishes, Buta Kakuni is a braised pork belly dish that takes inspiration from Okinawan cuisine, which does feature a lot of pork. But Australian pork belly is used here and it is braised with dried orange peel, shoyu, sake, mirin, Awamori and Okinawan brown sugar for four and a half hours. The pork is served with eringi mushrooms, fame flowers, egg yolk and mountain caviar. It certainly makes for a hearty dish for I couldn’t manage to finish it.

Dessert, the grand finale, was a fusion of tradition and innovation. The meal ended on a sweet note with the Kyoho Sake Sorbet with sesame crumble, warabi mocha, black sesame praline and berry paper tuile.

Oumi’s dedication to seasonal ingredients shone through in every dish, with each course carefully selected to highlight the best that nature had to offer. The omakase menu at Oumi is not merely a meal; it’s a multi-sensory odyssey that takes diners on a journey through Japan’s culinary heritage and Australia’s farm-to-table culture.

Oumi’s 7-course omakase menu is priced at S$228++ per person and the 9-course at S$288++ per person. 

Oumi
88 Market Street
CapitaSpring, #51-01
Singapore 048948
Tel: +65 8338 3251