Five Omakase Counters Singapore Doesn't Advertise

Singapore's omakase scene has exploded. Every new restaurant opening seems to feature a counter with eight seats, a chef with a Tsukiji pedigree, and a starting price that makes your corporate card nervous. Most of them are excellent. All of them are on Chope.

But the counters worth knowing about are the ones you can't book online. The ones that run on referral, reputation, and the kind of quiet word-of-mouth that doesn't make it to food blogs.

Here are five omakase experiences in Singapore that don't advertise. You won't find them on a reservation app. But if you know the right people, you'll find some of the most extraordinary meals in Asia.

The Apartment Counter

Tucked inside a residential building in the Tanjong Pagar conservation area, this eight-seat counter operates from a converted shophouse apartment. The chef, formerly of a two-Michelin-starred Tokyo establishment, left the restaurant world to cook for a handful of guests three nights a week.

There's no signage. No Instagram. The only way in is through someone who's already been. The omakase changes entirely with the season, sourced from a single supplier in Hokkaido. It's some of the most technically precise sushi in Singapore, served in a living room.

The Hotel Basement

One of Singapore's heritage hotels maintains a counter in what was once a wine cellar. It seats six. The chef has been there for eleven years and has never sought press coverage. The hotel doesn't list it on their website or their dining page.

What makes it remarkable isn't just the fish. It's the pacing. Each course arrives with the kind of deliberate timing that suggests the chef is cooking for you specifically, not for a room. Because he is. Bookings are made through the hotel's concierge, and only for guests who ask by name.

The Workshop Counter

In a light-industrial space in Lavender, a former sushi apprentice runs a weekly omakase from his ceramics workshop. The counter is handmade. The plates are handmade. The experience is part meal, part art installation.

He cooks on Saturdays only, for four guests at a time. There's a waitlist, but it moves faster than you'd think. The meal is BYOB, which creates a wonderfully informal atmosphere for something so meticulously crafted.

The Private Room at the Izakaya

A well-known izakaya in Duxton has a private room behind the kitchen that most regulars don't know about. It seats six at a counter that faces a small garden. The chef serves an entirely different menu here, more experimental, more personal, and more expensive.

You won't see it mentioned on the main menu. The room is offered to regulars and friends of the house. If you've eaten at the main counter enough times, and the chef recognises you, you might be invited back.

The Rooftop

Perhaps the most unusual omakase in Singapore operates on a residential rooftop in Tiong Bahru. The chef, a former private dining operator, hosts ten guests once a month under string lights with a view of the neighbourhood's art deco rooflines.

The format is unconventional. It's omakase-style but not strictly sushi. Think Japanese technique applied to Southeast Asian ingredients, served course by course with natural wines. The atmosphere is closer to a dinner party than a restaurant. Which, of course, is the point.

How to Find Them

The honest answer: through people who've already been. These experiences thrive on discretion and personal connection. They don't scale because they're not meant to. The intimacy is the product.

This is also, not coincidentally, what we believe about community. The best things aren't advertised. They're shared.