Hamamoto

Hamamoto is a small sushi-kappo restaurant at 58 Tras Street in Tanjong Pagar. Kappo means the cooking happens in front of you, so every dish is finished at the counter. The menu mixes sushi with seasonal cooked courses.

Chef Kazuhiro Hamamoto opened the restaurant in 2021, after about 20 years in kitchens in Kyoto, Tokyo and Singapore. Hamamoto gained its first Michelin star in 2022. It holds one star in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide Singapore.

What to order

There is no à la carte menu. You choose one omakase menu at lunch or one of two at dinner, and the chef decides the rest. The menu on the website lists these stages:

• A seasonal appetiser to open the meal
• A seasonal uni course (sea urchin), which appears on every menu
• Seasonal dishes, with a hot dish or a premium signature dish at dinner
• Nigiri sushi, the main part of the meal
• Dessert to finish, with a soup before it at dinner

The Michelin Guide singles out nigiri such as nodoguro (rosy seabass) and chutoro (medium-fatty tuna). It also mentions uni and smoked tuna among the earlier courses. Other dishes reported by guides include spiny lobster with uni, Hokkaido hairy crab shabu-shabu and grilled eel. Treat these as examples, because the menu follows the seasons.

The chef cares a great deal about sourcing. He told the Michelin Guide that he uses only Japanese produce, with seafood from markets in Fukuoka and Tokyo's Toyosu. The rice is seasoned with either red vinegar or rice vinegar, depending on the fish.

The setting

The room is plain on purpose, so your attention stays on the food. Twelve seats sit around a curved counter of brushed hinoki, a Japanese cypress. The restaurant says it is the only curved sushi counter in Singapore. A private room seats up to five guests.

Small details matter here. Some of the lacquer serving ware is made by artist Kenji Hishida, and the sake glasses are etched in the Edo kiriko style. There is also a house sake, a junmai daiginjo called Hamamoto 7.

Good to know before you go

• One sitting: there is a single sitting at lunch and at dinner, so arrive on time.
• Book ahead: with only 12 seats, plan early. Bookings are taken online, by email or by phone.
• Solo diners: the Michelin Guide notes that solo diners are welcome.
• Drinks: the Michelin Guide highlights the sake list.

Nearby

Tras Street sits in Tanjong Pagar, an area full of bars and restaurants. Read our Tanjong Pagar and Keong Saik guides for ideas before or after dinner. If you want to stay close by, look at Oasia Hotel Downtown or Mondrian Singapore Duxton.

For more ideas, browse Japanese restaurants in Singapore, see all restaurants in Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar, or read our Michelin and fine dining guides. Menus and bookings are on the official Hamamoto website.