Shinji By Kanesaka

I’ve only tried better sushi in San Diego’s Nobu but hands down to this location. Recently moved to Singapore and I am always on a lookup for a new places and new go to restaurants and this will be one on my list for some time when here.
Like many people say its pricey but this is how it is with food and especially with sushi so when it comes to get a good stuff is good to pay for it good buck.
Food was fresh and very tasty, sake was as asake is and the service was amazing which adds on the top of the whole experience.
Perhaps some people have different experience due to their personality but this is me and my review.
:D

Ranks up there with the best sushi I’ve had in Tokyo. I’ll be back again — unfortunately I’ll have to wait for a special occa$ion.

Good sashimi sushi Japanese restaurant.
Like in Tokyo, we can find high quality fish here.
The severs are Japanese, they have very skilled knife cut and present each piece with English name.

My girlfriend and I visited this establishment at Raffles Hotel for a nice dinner, sat at the counter and just let the chef do his thing with the omakase.
It’s a very cool (and of course quiet) counter seating only with a friendly and interactive young chef.
Clearly from the Unilocal reviews, this place is extremely highly rated and definitely is well deserving of them. Unfortunately for me, there just wasn’t anything that special about their sushi. The more time I’ve spent inside sushi restaurants, the more I’ve found that the best chefs these days make their sushi POP in some way these days (e.q. the way at Michelin starred «Shin» in Japan uses a special technique using red vinegar to give his rice a special taste, or even the delicate marination process that Jiro in Tokyo embodies or even Ashino here in SG uses). Here at Shinji, I kept trying to find what makes this place different than any other upper tiered sushi restaurant and I couldn’t find it. It was very good but not the best. The toro was good, but was just like many other places. The snapper was good, but just like any other place. Etc.
My gf and I have gone to great lengths around the world for great omakase and think that Shinji was good but again not something that made either of us «wow’d» by any means. I like thinking that I can leave a sushi place knowing what made it so good other than «the fish tasted so fresh» and «the fish melted in your mouth» but again just didn’t leave here with that. You can also expect any of the nicest Japanese restaurants around the world to source their fish from Tsukiji in Tokyo.
I don’t mean to totally down Shinji as it was still very good and deserving of its high reviews but in my opinion just think there is better in Singapore and beyond for that price tag.
Great and friendly service and awesome sake list of course, I wouldn’t put this in my top three sushi in SG however.

A special occasion called for celebration and S surprised me with treat at Shinji by Kanesaka, an extension of 2-​star Michelin Chef Shinji Kanesaka’s Edo-​style sushi restaurant first set up in Tokyo’s exclusive Ginza district. There are 2 outlets in Singapore and S went with the charming Raffles Hotel (good on him) and we had the pleasure of having Master Chef Koichiro Oshino serve us.
Nama-​nori– fresh seaweed with yuzu pepper. Comforting start to the meal with a light umami broth that is warm. The yuzu pepper gave it a nice tang.
The Yellow jack. A new fish to add to my sashimi orders.
My eyes lit up when i saw the boxes of uni that Chef Oshino brought out. Chef Oshino was very generous with the serving of uni. Loved the sweet creamy uni which i devoured in no time.
It’s the season for Meji maguro, a baby blue fin tuna approx 6 months old weighing approx 5kg. The flavor is very light and clear, with a tinge of sourness. I’m not a fan. It just seems a little cruel.
Fried fugu. I wanted to eat that in Fukuoka but didn’t do sufficient research. Decided that it’s better not to kill myself accidentally so i didn’t. Firm fish meat without much flavor. It’s really just another fish.
Oh i love fresh momotaro! One of the chefs was skinning the tomatoes using a long knife that resembles a samurai sword (no kidding).
We then moved on to the sushi course. Chef Oshino told us that each ball of sushi rice at Shinji would have 150 grains of rice. Well, apparently a diner did a count and it turned out right #nothingbettertodo. Me? I sure wouldn’t mind if there were more than 150 grains!
My favorite cut of blue fin tuna, the Chutoro. A medium fatty cut from the side waist. The fats melted a little from the heat of the lightly warmed rice. It literally slid down the throat.
Horse mackerel with shiso leaf and spring onion paste. This is my favorite version yet as it was very refreshing and took away any fishy taste.
I’m not a fan of the regular tuna actually but this piece was marinated and aged for 13 days to make it more tender. More wasabi was added to this to counter the fishiness.
Murasaki uni! Chef Oshino explained that these are from the short-​spined sea urchin from deeper waters. They are of a bright orange color and have a creamier texture as compared to the long-​spined Bafun sea urchin which has a coarser texture and stronger flavor.
If you’re an uni fan, do request for a portion of Chef Oshino’s uni rice (about $ 50/​portion). A copious amount of murasaki uni was mixed with the warm sushi rice. Possibly the best uni ‘risotto’ ever. It comes topped with salmon roe and maguro as well.
Our fluffy anago was topped with a sprinkle of Yuzu and a light touch of sweet sauce.
Rounded up the sushi course with a negitoro maki made using Chutoro. Negi (spring onion) is good for masking the fishy maguro or the less fresh meats so it seemed like a waste of the Chutoro, not that I didn’t appreciate the better cut.
The Tamago (egg custard) was like a panna cotta curd and was sweet as well. I prefer the savory ones made with dashi though.
Our meal concluded with fresh sweets, a slice of crunchy persimon and melon from Kyushu. They were just the way I remember them to be. Love.
You can be sure of a great meal at Shinji by Kanesaka. Chef Oshino’s 一期一会 (one chance in a lifetime) philosophy ensures that every encounter is cherished and valued. Well, it could also be literally interpreted as «a meeting a week», which IMO is a great interpretation as well. See you soon Chef Oshino.

As close as you can get to authentic sushi without the 7 hour commute to Tokyo :) I’ve only been there at lunch since that’s what I can afford now and both times are consistent and good. Suggestion for men: order more than 7 pieces of sushi or be prepared to eat a plate of chicken rice next door at seah street :)

Epic is the only way to describe an experience at Shinji. Ok, expensive could be another, as lunch was over $ 400 for me but that includes over a $ 100 for sake. But it is well worth the $$ and the 5 star reviews, and I would have to agree that it’s perhaps one of the best Japanese restaurants outside of Japan. Then again, it does enjoy an unfair advantage when they source from Tsukiji fish market rather than locally but if quality and authenticity are what you are after, look no further.
The omakase-​lunch consisted of 5 major sections: Sashimi; cooked items; Sushi; a clear soup intermezzo; and ending. So on my particular visit, here’s the run down:
Sashimi
Ikura (salmon roe dusted with just the tiniests amount of yuzu)
Shimaji
Katsuo
Cooked course
Seared aji, barracuda, and braised octopus
Mix of uni and baby shrimp
Black cod with sake lees, pickles, and a yuzu
Sushi
Shirame
Sawara
Chutoro
Otoro
Aji
Kuruma ebi
Suimono (Clear broth)
The Ending
Anago
Negitoro temaki
Tamago
One of the big X factors here is the rice. The temperature and texture is quite unique in a very good way — simple and amazing. The fish is simply impeccable, and again the temperature and texture are amazing. Also definitely try for a seat at the sushi counter. Actually, I was seated in the back counter, which is very intimate as it seats only 7. Chef Yoshizawa took great care of each customer and the supporting service is excellent without being overbearing. At the counter, you can definitely appreciate the chef’s skill as well as ask questions — Yoshizawa-​san seriously knows where every piece of fish comes from! Shinji has definitely been one of my culinary highlights while living in Singapore. At the end of the meal, one feels incredibly satisfied and one can only dream of when the next time will be.

love my sea urchin and fat toro

How do you fault perfect sushi? If you can pay the price, Shinji is worth it. Lunch is slightly more affordable than dinner but you do get your money’s worth at dinner.
Service was impeccable too. And yes, the birthday surprise was cool and I like that the sushi chefs have a good sense of humor. He joked that the team comes in early in the morning to practice.
Yum.

Singapore is known to be a food paradise. However, when it comes to fresh sashimi and authentic sushi, it is often hard to measure up to Japan’s standard. Nevertheless, Shinji by Kanesaka was recently ranked No.35 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, surpassing many top sushi restaurants in Japan and effectively making it the top Japanese restaurant in Singapore. Now, we can have a taste of Japan’s superior quality food without leaving the island.
Shinji serves only sushi sets for lunch and omakase sets for dinner. Omakase, meaning «I’ll leave the choice up to you», is a menuless dining experience whereby diners will eat whatever the chef prepares for them. Apart from an element of surprise, omakase also ensures that only the freshest ingredients are used for the dishes. Of course, one can specify beforehand what one does not eat and the chef will take care not to include that in the meal.
The omakase menu includes an assortment of dishes, typically including sashimi, nigiri and maki sushi, soup and perhaps some cooked dishes. As promised, all ingredients were of superb quality and were extremely fresh. The chef revealed to us that this was attributed to the fact that the owner, chef Shinji Kanesaka, personally goes down to Tsukiji Market daily to choose the freshest ingredients before having them air flown into Singapore.
While all the dishes were exemplary, a few stood out from the rest.
The sea urchin with squid, topped with freshly grated wasabi) was a real treat to the tastebuds. The sea urchin was velvety smooth and luscious while the squid added texture to the dish. Topped with freshly grated wasabi, this dish titillated our tastebuds.
Another hot favourite was the raw prawn nigiri. The live prawns were brought before us and the chef deftly took care of them with a slight twist of their heads. Indeed, the prawns were so fresh that any fresher, we would have had to eat them alive. The prawns were then neatly butterflied before making into nigiris. The prawn was sweet and crunchy and the grains of rice were distinct and yet held together. Undoubtedly, Shinji has the best sushi in Singapore.
The service was also impeccable and the chef was really entertaining. A must go!
Summary
Cost: $ 388/​person, including 2 beers each
Food: Superb quality, possibly the best sushi in Singapore
Service: Impeccable
Ambience: Traditional sushi bar with mostly counter seating
Dress code: Smart casual
Will I recommend it? Definitely!
Remember to make a reservation as they are always full!
Shinji by Kanesaka
Address: Raffles Hotel
#02−20
1 Beach Road
(via Seah Street lobby)
Singapore 189 673
Lunch: 12pm to 3pm
Dinner: 6pm to 10.30pm
Closed on Sundays
Contact: +65 6338 6131

An amazing Japanese sushi/​sashimi omakase experience by the sushi bar.
Gorgeous interior, impeccable service.
Pricey so highly recommended for über special occasions.

I took my girlfriend for lunch on her birthday. I had the cheapest one and she had the second-​cheapest. They turned the lights off and sang happy birthday to her, wearing goofy hats and glasses, and gave her a sushi cake with a candle in it.
Best service in Singapore. The waitresses must have refilled my tea cup 7 times, but it was an opaque cup, so they must have been paying attention to the angle of the cup when I was sipping in order to guess how much liquid was still inside.
The sea eel was much better and more tender than normal river eel (unagi). The miso soup and pickled ginger were the best I had ever tasted.
The group next to us got the omakase menu and it looked insane. I couldn’t believe how much food they had and that they were able to eat it. The sushi chef cut fresh fish in front of us, would carry it back to the kitchen, and come back with it perfectly grilled or steamed, over and over again.
As a PhD student, it’s hard to justify spending this much money on food, but once in a while I think this is worth it. Easily the best sushi I have ever had.

I’ve dined at Shinji By Kanesaka at Raffles Hotel twice more since my last review, for a total of four times now, and I’ve never, ever, been disappointed. Never. It’s just not possible. The food, and service, are without peer. I would go there every week if I could afford it. But I can’t. Sigh.
Anyway this update really is to talk about what happened last night. I had emailed ahead to mention that I was celebrating my best friend’s dinner by taking her to Shinji, and the person answer the reservations had said «please let the chefs do something special» for her birthday, and I was thinking, okay… maybe a cake or something.
WRONG.
Just before dessert, the lights go off, and the chefs come out of the back wearing WIGS (blonde and pink), kitsch plastic sunglasses, and a maki roll with a candle in it singing happy birthday. IT WAS HILARIOUSLY AMAZING! You can’t quite picture it unless you were there because they looked so camp, and ridiculous, and they were complaining how the wigs were really hot, posing for the other guests to take pictures… it was just so cool.
It was just an amazing thing to do to help celebrate my friend’s birthday, and that made it the most memorable meal I’ve ever had there.
Mad props to the Shinji team. When you think they’re at the top of their game, they do something else to take it to a whole new level.

My experience at Shinji was excellent. I had the «end of silence» 15 piece sushi meal for a business lunch last week and it was divine.
As someone who doesn’t eat sushi everyday, I probably wasn’t able to discern the finer points of the chef’s artistry but based on what I could observe, the sushi was both delicious and beautiful. My favorite pieces were the scallop, uni (oh boy) and chutoro. The scallop was incredibly soft and had a faint egg overtone that meshed so well with the vinegared rice. I tried uni for the first time in my life having avoided it previously because it, well, looks like Hannibal Lector had a field day. What made me change my mind? This uni was bright, almost gold and had a light, sweet flavor to it that was too good to pass up. Finally, the chutoro sushi was just, ah man, like a tease. A really mean, lingering, beautiful tease.
Aside from the fish, the accompanying sushi rice was an epiphany. I finally understood why they put so much damn effort into making the rice warm, slightly tart yet sweet. It makes complete sense when everything comes together in your mouth long enough before disintegrating into a carb-​high bliss. I also have to give it to the chef for his presentation of the sushi on each «geta». Since I was seated in a private room and unable to eat by the chef’s counter, I was amazed at the thought that went into lining up each tray with sushi, topped with just the right amount of chopped onions or coat sauce. If you’re an Apple owner, you’d probably get a similar aha! moment looking at the food being presented to you.
Of course as with humanity in general, my meal did have some faults. Our waitress was very attentive but seemed to always forget to introduce the sushi. We had to ask her for introductions and I felt this was something that should be done without prompting. Also, probably because we were not sitting at the counter, my first two pieces of sushi were topped with mild white fish and for some reason, the accompanying dollops of wasabi underneath were overpowering for everyone at my table. The waitress immediately informed the chef to adjust the wasabi for our next tray but we still encountered 1 – 2 more pieces afterwards that almost made me tear. I thought it was kind of funny (to cry tears of wasabi-​induced pain) but had I paid the bill for this meal, I would’ve been slightly displeased.
Nonetheless, an all round great meal that was everything I was looking forward to.

This is a review of a Tuesday evening dinner date at Shinji by Kanesaka.
Shinji by Kanesaka provides a very refined Japanese dining experience.
The ambiance is intimate, or is it? Upon entering the room, the first thing my dinner date said was «this is intimate». In some ways, it was. We were at a sushi bar that seated only eight and we were being served by the same chef. There were four couples. However, the seating area is quite small. The seats were very close together. With the size and acoustics of the room, everyone (even when speaking quietly) can hear everyone’s conversations.
Shinji also has other dining areas but I did not see enough of these to describe them.
The service was exactly what I expect from a traditional Japanese restaurant. It was attentive, without fault. It was quiet and restrained. It was measured and well paced.
When we sat down, we had a quick conversation about what to order. There are three options for omakase. Since I did not know if either of us would ever return, I suggested we simply each order more extensive option, the Omakase Shin. She agreed.
Omakase Shin
Appetiser
Assorted premium sashimi
Assorted cooked dishes
Nigiri sushi and maki sushi
Soup
Japanese fruit
Our tastes in Japanese beverages differs. She always orders a umeshu and I order a sake.
As for the food, I am not going to go completely dish by dish. There are simply too many courses. I will work simply work through the meal, I will also cover the key highlights.
The first dish was this simple appetizer. It represented a complex set of seafood flavors fresh and dry.
Sushi — Overall, the sushi was very well prepared. However, the same was not true for the vinegar rice. Some of the rice was hard and some was rubbery. I was surprised by this poor exectution.
However, the quality of the seafood was unquestionable. The care in the presentation was unmistakable. This was some of the singularly most beautiful pieces of sushi I’ve ever seen. It was sushi as art.
This mackerel is as pristine as any nigiri that I have ever personally eaten.
Other sushi:
The queen of sushi, bluefin tuna. I choose not to eat it. This meant my friend was able to double up on the delicacy. She seemed quite pleased.
Abalone — This was quite good. There was the fresh delicate taste of the abalone with just a slight hint of smokiness.
Shirako (fish sperm) — Neither of us had tried this before. We didn’t know what it was and he would not tell us until we had eaten it. We had settled on guessing some type of intestine. However, we were wrong. Visually, this is not a particularly appetizing dish. Afterwards, he informed us that it was fish sperm. It was quite good. It was very rich. The flavor is hard to compare to anything else, possibly uni but with a completely different texture. However, you can certainly tell it is from the ocean.
Prepared Mackerel Dish — The chef commented that mackerel is his favorite. This is probably why there were two mackerel dishes. This was a very straight-​forward presentation. But it was extremely good. The wonderful fish contrasted very well with the spring onions and ginger.
Hairy Crab — This was an extremely rich dish. This was one of two dishes that were so rich I had to truly persevere to complete them. This is also a dish that I have no idea of the specific ingredients.
Uni rice with fish tartare — This was the second extremely rich dish. It was so good. The uni prepared rice, the fish, and the roe; it just came together so well. This was a powerhouse of fresh ingredients being brought together into a single harmonic dish.
Uni (two types) — Yes, it was easy to distinguish the two types of uni. One had a much stronger presence of the flavour of the ocean. Each were very good and each would rank among the best uni I’ve eaten.
Dessert — The meal finished with a simple melon dessert. This was a nice way to cut through the richness of the overall meal.
There are also photos of other dishes.
Receipt (1178.20 for 2):
Overall — For the most part, the food was prepared with extreme care. The service was impeccable with the controlled experience I expect from fine Japanese dining. The room was small with a sincere nod to its inspiration from Japan. While not perfect, this was a five star experience. I am not sure if Shinji By Kanesaka justifies the premium over similar Japanese restaurants (like Aoki) but I certainly do not regret the investment.

Shinji, for me, is by far the best high-​end sushi restaurant in Singapore. Sushi is not a complicated dish and it boils down to just 2 things basically: The quality of the ingredient and the cutting skill of the chef. Shinji takes both seriously and the result is pure sushgasm. I recommend you to get the most expensive menu, because the difference is quite stark and hey, when you splurge, splurge all the way! xD

I am a sucker for food shows.
Thus, after watching the hunger-​inducing documentary Jiro dreams of sushi, I felt compelled to try the real deal at what is considered one of the best sushi restaurants in Singapore.
Shinji by Kanesaka — an outpost of the two Michelin-​stared original in Ginza — makes it very clear from the moment you walk in, that you are entering a very formal Japanese restaurant. There is lots of bowing, dainty gestures, and shuffling of feet by waitresses in kimonos. I couldn’t help but feel like an overly casual intruder in my jeans.
With their all-​Japanese staff watching your every reaction to the dishes, I almost felt pressured to express my extreme appreciation each time I put a piece a piece of sushi in my mouth. I mean, you never want to offend the sushi gods who so graciously welcome you into their temple, right?
Pressure aside, the food at Shinji certainly lives up to the hype.
The restaurant’s seafood is flown in from the Tsukiji market in Tokyo four times a week and thus every item served is exquisitely fresh. None of that rock-​hard nigiri sushi rice we are all accustomed to from the take-​away places. This sushi rice was slightly warm, flawlessly vinagered, and balanced perfectly with the cold fish shaped lovingly on top of it.
There were 4 kinds of tuna served to us (in ascending order of fattiness), fabulous fish I had never tasted before, and a generous mound of UNI (sea urchin roe) served with ika sashimi (squid). Heaven.
Because the chef times his preparation and brushing-​on of their special soya sauce so carefully, everything is supposed to be eaten STRAIGHTAWAY.
I was happy to oblige.
See pictures here:

my only regret was not being seated at the sushi counter!
alas, how i love watching sushi chefs work their magic.
instead we were shown the way to a private room, as the sushi counter was fully booked.
this isolation, in a quiet room, did however lead to sharpened senses and thus great enjoyment nonetheless.
despite being in a room away from everyone, service was impeccable.
every now and then, their staff intuitively came checking in on us.
call it privacy without any feelings of abandonment.
food was faultless, see photos attached.
price for our omakase dinner for 2, worked out to be about S$ 1000.
not cheap at all but well worth in terms of quality and quantity.
my recent watching of the film «jiro dreams of sushi», reignited my fond memories of the shinji experience.

Ooh. Shinji was pretty awesome. The sashimi was really fresh and the sushi was really well done. There’s no real menu so you can pretty much order whatever you want, which is cool.
Food: The otoro tuna was pretty good, but what really blew me away was the unagi sushi. Being a bit of a philistine when it comes to sushi, I ordered mine mostly aburi and even some hotate foie gras sushi just to hit the spot. I must be a purist Japanese chef’s worst nightmare. Everything overall was pretty good.
Ambience: Nice place for a business lunch or when you’re feeling flush.
Service: Pretty good.
Overall a good experience but I prefer fusion sushi like those from kinki or Sushi of Gari so this is a bit wasted on me, heh.