Almost everything’s been called “omakase” at least once these days– in the last months we’ve witnessed omakase fruit gifting services, omakase bouquet creations, and everything in between. But what, exactly, is omakase?
“Omakase” translates directly to “I’ll leave it up to you” in Japanese. Like the best hospitality and dining concepts often do, it originates in Japan, where the chef is trusted to choose your dishes and prepare your meal, almost the way you’d appreciate an artwork through the eyes of its creator. Though original omakase restaurants featured traditional Japanese dishes like nigiri or sashimi, the term has soon expanded to include fusion foods and modern creations: you’ll see omakase bruschetta and Chinese-inspired dishes on this list.
Omakase dining experiences, for all their precision, are some of the easiest to enjoy: you’ll be taken through your culinary journey slowly and methodically. All you’ll have to do is come in with an open mind and empty stomach. Chances are, you’ve already got the omakase spirit in you: it’s there if you’ve ever gone up to a bartender and said “surprise me”.
For more of our favourite restaurants, check out our monthly dining reviews– and for an entirely different atmosphere, our guide to Singapore’s best alfresco restaurants.
Tentsuru – Omakase Style Tempura At Its Finest
Specialty Omakase-style tempura restaurant Tentsuru was established in 2022, helmed by Master Chef Daiki Kawaguchi and presenting tempura at its finest. Chef Kawaguchi’s culinary journey, which began in his father’s restaurant kitchen in Osaka, has led him through 18 years of experience in famous Japanese restaurants Tankuma and Hinokizaka, to co-found Bangkok’s acclaimed Tenharu, and finally to Singapore with his signature tempura creations.
At Tentsuru, Chef Kawaguchi blends the traditional with the unexpected, pairing delicate textures with bold flavour: the Hokkaido Sea Urchin Roll, wrapped with a sea urchin sheet, Wild King Crab with Japanese Sudachi, Miyazaki A5 Wagyu Beef topped with Black Truffle Shavings and Homemade Komi Sauce, and Kagoshima Sweet Potato, among others.
Complementing these dishes is a premium selection of sakes and fine wines, including rare finds like the La Isojiman sake (made with ultra-premium AAA Yamadanishiki rice), and the MV18 Henri Giraud champagne with fine bubbles and clean flavours.
Tentsuru’s menu is created from prized seasonal produce like the Japanese Tiger Prawn and Japanese Whiting, air flown from various prefectures in Japan and delicately cooked to bring out its distinctive flavours.
Echoing the art of tempura-making, Tentsuru’s décor is simple but highly detailed– as a nod to the restaurant’s name, meaning “ten (tempura)-tsuru (crane)”, crane motifs adorn the walls. The restaurant provides an elegant, relaxing dining experience: guests are able to enjoy an open kitchen experience from a 15-seat main dining room or a 7-seat private room.
Tentsuru is located in the St. Regis Singapore, at 29 Tanglin Road, Singapore, postal code 247911. You can make a reservation online at their website.
Image credit: Nobu Singapore
Nobu – Stylish Omakase Restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore
Step through the Zen garden on the third floor of the Four Seasons Hotel to find Nobu, a contemporary Japanese restaurant with an elegant ambience and one of Singapore’s best omakase lunches. Nobu is one of fifty restaurants around the world offering Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s specialities– the Singapore restaurant is operated by his protege, Executive Chef Hideki Maeda.
Omakase menus are available at both lunch and dinner, featuring Chef Matsuhisa’s signature Japanese creations with global influences: the Omakase A set at lunch features Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Spicy Sauce, Josper Charcoal-Grilled F1 Japanese Beef, a chef’s selection of sushi and maki, and the unique Nobu Mango Cheesecake with Thai Green Curry Sorbet.
Besides the regular Omakase menus, Nobu has recently introduced a teppanyaki menu, available for a limited time till April 11, 2025. This menu departs from Nobu’s usual offerings of sushi, sashimi and other fresh foods, and is served in a dedicated teppanyaki room away from the main space. The teppanyaki menu also comes in an Omakase format: choose between two menus with options like baby abalone with butter soy, shrimp and lobster with spicy lemon garlic, and A5 Japanese Wagyu steak.
Nobu Singapore is located at 190 Orchard Blvd, the Four Seasons Hotel, on Level 3, Singapore, postal code 248646. You can make a reservation online at their website.
Image credit: Ki-sho
Ki-sho – An Inspired Culinary Showcase In An Omakase Meal
Ki-sho, which means “aristocratic craftsmanship”, reflects the restaurant’s values of artistic appreciation for the experience of a meal– right down to the architecture, plating and service– as well as seasonally inspired, fresh ingredients with quality. Against a backdrop of a kappo-style dining room with an L-shaped hinoki wood counter, the restaurant, located in a black-and-white heritage building along Scotts Road, serves as an exclusive space and peaceful retreat. This restaurant has received numerous awards over the years, including the Best Japanese Fine Dining by RAS Epicurean Star Award and several notes on the Michelin Guide.
All of the menus at Ki-sho come omakase-style: lunch is available as a seven or eight-course Kappou Omakase meal, and dinner is available as a eight or ten-course Kappou Omakase meal. Delicately plated and decorated, courses range from sea urchin to gently cooked seafood to softly poached eggs, all prepared with the pureness and preciseness of the best Japanese cuisine. The restaurant also has an extensive sake and spirit list sourced from across Japan: they include the limited-edition Kokuryu Fuku Daiginjo from Fukui, premium Juyonai Ryugetsu Shichitare Nijikan from Yamagata, and a chef’s special Umeshu.
Ki-sho is located at 29 Scotts Road, Singapore, postal code 228224. Visit their website to book a table.
Image credit: Sushi Zen / sushi.zen on Instagram
Sushi Zen – Hidden Omakase Restaurant Dedicated to Seafood Dishes
Many diners may have passed Sushi Zen’s unassuming door on Teck Lim Road without ever noticing that it was there– and what a waste, since this intimate eight-seater restaurant displays the talents of one of Beijing’s top sushi chefs. Chef-owner E Ran, who has practiced and mastered the art of Edo-mae sushi-making since he was 17, owns and runs the restaurant, whose following includes discerning diners, executives and celebrities like Tim Cook and Zhang Ziyi. The restaurant offers only omakase set menus for lunch and dinner, which are created from ingredients flown in four times a week from the famous Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo– and to complement the seafood, a special shari formula of top-grade Nanatsuboshi rice, red and white vinegar and a touch of salt is used.
Each menu consists of ten pieces of nigiri, accompanied by various seasonal appetisers, soups and desserts, all crafted from premium seafood: expect novel pairings of Japanese and Chinese tastes, like uni marinated in tangerine peel and Shaoxing wine, delicately seasoned and grilled hotate and fish, and perfected classics like ika, chuutoro and ootoro nigiri. Various diners have complimented the creamy uni dishes, light and fluffy tamago, and the ending “dessert” of a single, excellent Japanese melon slice. To pair with your meal, consider a Aramasa Ama Neko sake from Akita, or a rare Juyonda sake from northern Yamagata.
Sushi Zen is located at 1 Teck Lim Road, Singapore, postal code 088379. To reserve a table, visit their website.
Image credit: Oumi
Oumi – Contemporary Omakase Restaurant With Views of Marina Bay
Located on the rooftop of CapitaSpring, Oumi is a contemporary Japanese Kappo restaurant that features an open kitchen, the best of Japanese, Australian and locally farmed produce, and stunning views of the city from above. The restaurant reinvents traditions of Japanese dining in sustainable fashion by not only incorporating a “nose-to-tail” style of cooking, but also by using ingredients from the nearby 1-Arden Food Forest, the world’s highest sustainable urban farm.
Oumi’s dinner omakase menus are served in seven, eight, or nine-course options: each include selected appetisers, mains, and Japanese-inspired desserts. The nine-course Omakase menu begins with a chef’s selection of sashimi, followed by Hassun, an assorted platter of chef-selected small dishes, arranged together on a tray. Appetisers include the Foie Gras Monaka with salmon roe and shiso, Tempura Crepe with sakura ebi and Australian avocado, and the Ise Ebi Bouillabaisse: spiny lobster, Hokkaido scallop, Gruyère and locally grown king trumpet mushroom.
The stars of the menu, though, are the mains: each of them seamlessly incorporate house-grown herbs or vegetables, speaking to the future of sustainable dining. From the Kohitsuji Yaki, with grilled Australian lamb, satsumaimo and house-grown lemon balm, to the Gindara Somen made with wheat noodles, cod fish and house-grown komatsuna, each dish carries a unique touch. Pair your meal with an extensive selection of Japanese teas, sakes and shochus.
Oumi is located at 88 Market Street, unit 51-01, Singapore, postal code 048948. You can make a reservation online at their website.
Image credit: Terra Tokyo Italian
Terra Tokyo Italian – Unique Omakase Restaurant That Fuses Japanese and Italian Cuisines
Awarded one Michelin star from 2019 to 2024, Terra Tokyo Italian’s unique culinary concept fuses the essence of Italian cuisine with Japanese elegance and attention to detail, all in a set of omakase menus for lunch and dinner. Head Chef Shinji Inagaki, with over 20 years of experience, is dedicated to the exploration and innovation of Japanese and Italian cuisines. He is joined by award-winning, Hokkaido-born Head Sommelier Daisuke Shibuya, who creates wine, sake and Omakase pairings for the restaurant.
Terra’s seasonal menu has a distinctive Italian style, incorporating various Italian techniques and ingredients while maintaining Japanese precision. Ingredients are sourced from across Japan, from subtropical Kyushu to wintry Hokkaido, to create dishes diverse in both flavour and inspiration. Among unmistakably Italian dishes like the restaurant’s signature trio of bruschetta with uni, ebi and labneh and zuppa di pesce, you’ll also be able to find more creative dishes like the Fugu Shirako Arrabbiata: a flat pasta sheet filled with fugu shirako and topped with mildly spicy sauce. We’ve also spotted burrata courses served at this restaurant: though the menu is seasonal and subject to changes with ingredient availability.
Terra Tokyo Italian is located at 54 Tras St, Singapore, postal code 078993. You can make a reservation online at their website.
Image credit: Sushi Hare
Sushi Hare – Taiwanese Hospitality Meets Japanese Delicacy
Taiwanese sushi chef Angus Chang creates a unique setting for sushi preparation and exceptional service in Sushi Hare, a venue that combines Taiwanese hospitality with Japanese craftsmanship. Tucked inside a conserved shophouse, behind a processionary garden path, dining at this restaurant is a journey: from the sights and the decorations to the sounds of sushi-making and the progression of the meal.
Sushi Hare’s atmosphere is extraordinary: this “theatre for sushi” features a luminous, “sunlike” lamp that greets diners with its ethereal glow. Entering through a lowered engawa, the diners then settle at a seamless, 7-metre long hinoki-top sushi counter, custom-fabricated from Japan, in a warm yellow-lit space with an open kitchen countertop.
Three omakase menus are available: for lunch, dinner, and an exclusive menu that has to be ordered a week in advance. Besides masterfully crafting sushi, Chef Angus also holds a sake certification, and expertly pairs his own creations with premium sakes– as the spirit of omakase goes, leave it all to the chef.
Sushi Hare is located at 14 Stanley Road, Singapore, postal code 068733. To reserve a table, visit the website.
Image credit: Shoukouwa Shinjidai
Shoukouwa Shinjidai – Kaiseki-Inspired Omakase With A Modern Edge
Shoukouwa Shinjidai is an edgy, modern cousin to the two-starred Michelin restaurant Shoukouwa Sushi, itself a classic omakase-style restaurant. What sets Shinjidai apart, though, is its unique background of collaborative effort and culinary innovation: born from Emmanuel Stroobant and Kazumine Nishida from Saint Pierre and Shoukouwa Sushi, alongside a team of handpicked maverick chefs, avant-garde plates are created and sampled, featuring seasonal ingredients of the highest quality.
The restaurant’s atmosphere is sleek and modern, with black and white furnishings and a soundtrack of soft rock and modern pop-jazz: a departure from tradition and an invitation to relax and open your mind. Then comes the food: three multi-course omakase menus to choose from, each including appetisers, mains and dessert. Each menu consists of nigiri, a Japanese omelette, miso soup and more: each dish creatively named after classic pop and rock songs and featuring the finest Japanese seafood like hamachi, king crab, monkfish liver and uni.
Shoukouwa Shinjidai is located at 1 Cuscaden Road, unit 01-03/04 Conrad Singapore, Singapore, postal code 249715. Book a table online at their website.
Image credit: Hazuki
Hazuki – Kyoto-Style Omakase in Orchard Road
This Kyoto-style omakase restaurant, though located in the rather hectic Ngee Ann City, is calm and absolutely relaxing. Every detail at Hazuki is designed to enhance your dining experience– Gucci homeware, Kagami crystalware used by the Japanese Imperial Household Agency, 1000-year old yakusugi/cedar wood place settings, and carefully crafted menus create an impeccable, Kyoto-style omakase experience that’s a true expression of the finer things in life. The restaurant is helmed by kappo chef Kenta Yamauchi, formerly of the Michelin-starred Gion Fukushi in Kyoto, and supported by Hirohito Tanaka. sushi specialist from the (also) Michelin-starred Ginza Onodera in New York, who together create culinary delights from rare and delicate Japanese ingredients like shiro miso.
Several omakase menus are available at both lunch and dinner– there are a total of five menus– and generally follow the format of appetiser, mushimono, sashimi, yakimono, sushi, tempura or a seasonal item, beef, donabe, and then dessert. As a classic kappo restaurant, courses are simply prepared and plated, yet complex in texture: assorted sashimi platters accompanied by housemade plum sauce, seasonal tempura,and creamy donabe with kinoko mushroom are among the menu’s highlights, as are the desserts: they range from fresh fruit to emblematic Japanese sweets like the Mochi Ichigo.
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