Head up to the fourth floor of Cuppage Plaza and look for a frosted glass door flanked by bowls of salt. Ring the bell and wait. Because what lies within is well worth all the cloak and daggers. Kappo Shunsui is an intimate Japanese dining experience only for people in the know. It's one of the few restaurants in Singapore that serves Kappo-style cuisine – an intricate balance of five primary food preparation techniques: grilling, steaming, frying, simmering and serving food raw.
Watch as chef Nishi Nobuhiro showcases these techniques when you sit at the counter of this 19-seater restaurant. The man is a sixth-generation chef and has cooked at the likes of Kagurazaka Ishikawa, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo. Expect seasonally-driven menus priced at either $150 or $250 (there's also a sake flight of six different rice wines priced at $69) that features dishes such as owan, a clear kombu and dried bonito broth served with a homemade fishcake that's stuffed two types of clams and five types of fish meat. Other highlights include charcoal grilled king crab and A4 Kagoshima wagyu claypot rice that's blow torched before it's served.