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Tempura being placed on the counter at TenshimaIllustration
Restaurants

The best Japanese restaurants in Singapore

Edited by Jamie   15 October 2026

Singapore has more omakase counters than anyone can count. Here are the ones worth the reservation, and one worth the bus ride.

Finding Japanese food in Singapore is easy; choosing it is the hard part. The 2026 Michelin Guide is full of it: Shoukouwa holds two stars, Hamamoto and Waku Ghin hold one each, and a tempura counter called Tenshima earned a new star in August. At the other end of the scale, a narrow ramen shop in an east-side mall has built its following on word of mouth alone.

So this list is sorted by the kind of meal you want: the hushed sushi counter where every grain of rice matters, the friendlier one where the chef makes you feel at home, tempura fried in front of you piece by piece, kappo cooking that goes beyond sushi, Tetsuya Wakuda's grand Marina Bay Sands dining room, and a ramen bowl that costs less than a cocktail.

Book the counters weeks ahead, try lunch before dinner if the prices make you wince, and turn up to the ramen shop at opening.

Evergreen

The collection

  1. Shoukouwa's eight-seat hinoki sushi counter at One Fullerton

    Shoukouwa

    Marina Bay

    Two Michelin stars in 2026 and a counter at One Fullerton run with near-total precision. Fish arrives from Japan four times a week, the rice is a set blend from two prefectures, and each piece comes with two sauces. Book it when the sushi is the occasion and the room is not; anyone after a lively dinner should look further down this list. Reserve well ahead.

  2. Nigiri on Hamamoto's curved hinoki sushi counter on Tras Street

    Hamamoto

    Tanjong Pagar

    Kyoto-born Kazuhiro Hamamoto's Tras Street counter holds a Michelin star and is the warmer of the two sushi counters here, the one for a first omakase or a nervous guest. Look out for nodoguro and chutoro nigiri, and rice seasoned with red or rice vinegar to suit each fish. Book well ahead and allow three hours, which is a long dinner and the right length for this one.

  3. Marinated botan ebi topped with sea urchin and caviar at Waku Ghin, Marina Bay SandsIllustration

    Waku Ghin

    Marina Bay

    Tetsuya Wakuda's Marina Bay Sands dining room marries Japanese produce with Western technique, and holds a Michelin star. The marinated botan ebi with sea urchin and caviar has been on the menu since at least 2011, which tells you what to order. It is grander and more Western than the counters on this list, so choose it for a once-a-year occasion rather than for pure sushi.

  1. A pale-golden piece of tempura lifted from the oil at Tenshima's counter, Millenia Walk

    Tenshima

    Marina Bay

    A new Michelin star in 2026 for a tempura counter in Millenia Walk, and the proof that tempura deserves a booking of its own. The chef fries each piece in front of you to a pale gold; eat it the moment it lands, which is the whole point of sitting at the counter. It is the right pick for someone who finds a raw-fish omakase a bit much.

  2. Ki-sho's black-and-white bungalow on Scotts Road at dusk

    Ki-sho

    Orchard

    Chef Taro Takayama's kappo counter on Scotts Road cooks across techniques rather than sticking to sushi, which makes it the pick for anyone who wants Japanese fine dining beyond nigiri. The six-course lunch is the gentlest way in, and a lower-stakes test than dinner if you are still deciding whether kappo is your thing.

  3. Bowl of ramen on the eight-seat counter at Ramen-ya in Bedok, Ultraman figures on the wallIllustration

    Ramen-ya

    Bedok

    Eight seats, a Japanese chef and a short menu in East Village, Bedok, built almost entirely on word of mouth. It is the bowl on this list worth the bus ride east. Order the Special Tonkotsu Red, go at opening and accept that eight seats means eating elbow to elbow with strangers (who are, after all, there for the same reason).

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