Michelin-starred Sushi Sakuta at The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore is Japanese omakase par excellence.
Chef Yoshio Sakuta, of eponymous sushi restaurant Sushi Sakuta, is fastidious. Exacting, even. Like all good itamae, Chef Sakuta follows a personal ikigai that demands a relentless drive towards kaizen in every part of his culinary art.
You can tell from the way the chef-owner picked the rice for his sushi. Using part Hitomebore rice from Miyagi Prefecture known for its stickiness that’s good for moulding and part Sasanishiki rice for its firmer texture and inherent sweetness, each shari comes perfectly formed and hold its shape despite its burden of fish, be it hirame (spotted flounder), sayori (halfbeak), or kawahagi (leather jacket). His female snow crab nigiri? Pure hand-moulding masterpiece, and a sight to behold.
Or the way he prepares his fish. A meticulous two-step process – first salting, then brining – to mellow sayori’s bitterness, for example. Then there’s marinating kohada (gizzard shad) in salt and vinegar, to neutralise any inherent fishy odours.
Techniques differ, depending on species and season.
It’s perhaps why Sushi Sakuta received its first Michelin star in 2023, barely a year after the elegant and cosy 16-seater Edomae-style omakase restaurant first opened at The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore in 2022.
Cooked dishes also shine. The steamed abalone – part of our multi-course omakase experience – came with a gloriously luscious sauce rendered from the abalone’s liver along with an egg yolk emulsion. Then there’s an excellent nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch), smoky and flavourful from being grilled over binchotan, as well as the kinki (alfonsino), simply poached shabu shabu-style to retain all the fish’s subtle, sweet flesh.
The fugu – presented as karaage – I did not enjoy as much, but that’s only because I very much prefer my puffer fish as raw chewy slices than toothsome fried nuggets.
Most good fine dining sushi restaurants offer a more than decent sake list. The sake programme by Sushi Sakuta head sommelier Makoto Iwabuchi is excellent, and one that’s clearly targeted at the high end. Think Japanese footballer Hidetoshi Nakata’s exclusive N Sake, for example, or the ultra-premium cult Juyondai offerings from Yamagata Prefecture’s Takagi Shuzo. Makoto is masterful in his sake knowledge – the Master Sake Sommelier picked up the Michelin Sommelier Award in 2023 for good reason – and every inch as focused on his craft as Chef Sakuta.
The reality is, any good itamae worth their shio is demanding, of themselves as much as of their life’s work. But Chef Sakuta’s pursuit of perfection is evident in every morsel he presents at Sushi Sakuta.
Sushi Sakuta offers omakase lunch course options at S$350++ and S$500++ per person, and an omakase dinner course option at S$500++ person.
[Photo credits: Sushi Sakuta]
Sushi Sakuta
Address 15 Stamford Rd, #01-88 The Capitol Kempinski Hotel, Singapore 178906 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 12pm to 3pm and 7pm to 10.30pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; 7pm to 10.30pm on Thursdays; closed on Mondays
Tel (65) 9863 9302
Web www.sushi-sakuta.com
Facebook sushisakuta
Instagram @sushi_sakuta
Reservations book here
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