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FOOD & WINE
5 Best Japanese Restaurants in Singapore to Try Now
by Anton D. Javier
31 Oct 2023
31 Oct 2023
New and exciting Japanese dining concepts are cropping up all over, proving that the well-loved cuisine reigns supreme in Singapore. Here are our top five selections.
- SHIN TERROIR
- SHOUKOUWA SHINJIDAI
- TENTSURU
- KAPPOU
- TAKAHASHI
Shin Terroir, a new 10-seater omakase concept on along Tras Street, proves that yakitori has a place in the world of fine dining. Here, Singaporean Chef Nicholas Lee and Japanese Chef Takeshi Nakayama work together to create delicious, smoky magic on a custom-made three-tier grill filled with Kishu bincho coals made of Japanese oak from Wakayama.
The 15-course menu ($198++/person) is comprised of starters designed to whet your appetite like Chawanmushi with Japanese abalone and Charcoal-Grilled Onigiri topped with fatty tuna belly and Iranian caviar. What follows are expertly grilled skewers like chicken breast with shiso, the signature Mille Feuille, where layers of chicken gizzard and chives are cloaked in crisp chicken skin, Tebasaki (chicken wing), and Reba (chicken liver) that’s sprinkled with spiced cookie crumbs for a hint of sweetness. Complementing the menu is a selection of premium sakes and over 150 French wines from the Burgundy and Champagne regions.
- SHIN TERROIR
- SHOUKOUWA SHINJIDAI
- TENTSURU
- KAPPOU
- TAKAHASHI
SHOUKOUWA SHINJIDAI
Kaiseki cuisine is turned on its head at the recently opened Shoukouwa Shinjidai, a collaboration between celebrated chefs Emmanuel Stroobant and Kazumine Nishida. The Michelin-starred chefs urge diners to leave formalities out the door and embrace the 13-seater space’s casual outlook, unexpected choice of classic rock tunes, as well as playful flavor combinations.
The menus here (ranging from $250++ to $480++/person) feature standouts such as Like A Virgin – marinated Hamachi, shironegi, myoga, radish and oba leaf, wrapped with shiso leaf, Rule of Threes – trio of cooked rice with an assortment of toppings, Whet My Appetite – Amela tomato brimming with creamy Bafun uni, tenshin ebi, and ponzu dressing, and Sweet Child O’ Mine – hairy crab and rice in gazami crab roe sauce topped with pickled watermelon radish.
Visit Shoukouwa Shinjidai at Conrad Singapore Orchard, 1 Cuscaden Road, #01-03/04, Tel: 8010 9939
- SHIN TERROIR
- SHOUKOUWA SHINJIDAI
- TENTSURU
- KAPPOU
- TAKAHASHI
TENTSURU
Enjoy an omakase tempura experience, for both lunch and dinner (starting from $120++ to $380++/person), at Tentsuru, an elegant establishment hidden on the second floor of St. Regis Singapore. Behind the counter expertly frying a beautiful array of seasonal ingredients is Master Chef Daiki Kawaguchi. Under his watchful eye, each morsel is coated in a light batter comprised of three different flours from Hokkaido and deep fried to perfection in sunflower oil.
For the season, look forward to ingredients like Kurumaebi Tiger Prawn, Kisu Whiting fish, plump Hotate Scallops, Nodoguro Blackthroat Seaperch, as well as Miyazaki Beef Sirloin served with a housemade negi sauce. For a satisfying finish, opt for the bowl of tendon, where steamed rice is topped with Kakiage tempura comprised of diced prawns, sweet onion, and finely sliced ohba leaves.
Visit Tentsuru at The St. Regis Singapore, Level 2, 29 Tanglin Road, Tel: 8113 3612
(Related: Waku Ghin unveils its brand new sushi room)
- SHIN TERROIR
- SHOUKOUWA SHINJIDAI
- TENTSURU
- KAPPOU
- TAKAHASHI
KAPPOU
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Chef Aeron Choo is on a mission to change people’s impression of Japanese fine dining with Kappou. Here, the talented 29-year-old does omotenashi differently, bringing together her expertise in handling ingredients, humor, and slight irreverence. The dishes at Kappou are dictated by Japan’s micro seasons and the menu tends to change on a weekly basis.
On our visit, we were lucky to have experienced small bites comprised of Skipjack Tuna, Persimmon, and Plum Pickled Lotus Roots, calling to mind the lingering flavors of summer. We move on to the signature dish comprised of egg yolks from free-range eggs from Oita topped with 8 Gems Caviar, which we greedily piled onto buttered brioche discs. We were then treated to slices of Blue Fin Tuna, bites of crispy abalone and shark’s fin tempura, as well as buttery wagyu from Tochigi paired with sweet homemade miso. As the dinner drew to a close, the overall vibe got lighter and the dishes became more experimental – a truly refreshing take on what one expects from a Japanese meal.
- SHIN TERROIR
- SHOUKOUWA SHINJIDAI
- TENTSURU
- KAPPOU
- TAKAHASHI
TAKAHASHI
Tokyo’s famed Sushi Takahashi (which boasts six-month waitlists) recently opened Takahashi, its Singapore outpost, at Mohamed Sultan Road. Helmed by the young yet capable Chef Rinto Sasagawa, the omakase restaurant is a vision of serene simplicity, anchored by a Zen garden in the middle of the space.
Take your seat at the 12-seater counter and let Chef Rinto take you on a journey where each ingredient shines. This is immediately apparent in the course that features charcoal grilled Unagi and Anago eel accompanied by sansho pepper, seaweed salt, and wasabi, as well as the Scallop Chawanmushi, and Tamago with Caramel Sauce. Also impressive is the nigiri course, which is comprised of either six or eight pieces of nigiri sushi featuring the season’s best seafood like stone perch, gizzard shad, botan ebi, Spanish mackerel, and more.
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