Sushi Ichi

The hand before the counter

At the hinoki counter, rice meets otoro in one hand's turn; at Sushi Ichi in Singapore, Masakazu Ishibashi, formerly Executive Chef, Shoukouwa & Ginza Sushi Ichi, helped carry the room from Ginza lineage into its Singapore room. His own apprenticeship began early, at age 10, in his family's restaurant in Tochigi Prefecture, before work in sushi restaurants in the US and a return to Tokyo as executive chef of Ginza Sushi Ichi. That Tokyo house earned a Michelin star in 2011-2012, and Ishibashi later moved to Singapore in 2016 to head Shoukouwa. He also oversaw Sushi Ichi expansions across Asia, including Singapore, Bangkok, and Jakarta. At this address, his tenure belongs to the restaurant's earlier formation, not its present pass. The useful inheritance is still visible in the method: the counter gives the guest the hands, the rice, the neta, and very little else to look at.

Edomae measured in rice and sequence

The program stays close to traditional Edomae omakase: sushi rice, seasonal seafood from Japan, fresh wasabi, vinegars and sauces brought in for continuity with the original house. The rhythm favors nigiri over ornament. Tuna often appears early in the progression, with akami, chutoro, and otoro carrying the first measure of fat, temperature, and cut. The menu has also been known for shima aji, kinmedai, katsuo, kasugo tai, hokigai, aji, anago, and the uni ikura don, a bowl that shifts the final register from single-piece discipline to richness over sushi rice. One lunch sequence has been described as 10 nigiri pieces; another premium sequence as 12. Those numbers matter because the craft here depends on order. Salty, chewy, milky, zesty, sweet: the counter builds the meal by increments, not by flourish. The rice is not a base. It is the other half of the cut.

Pale wood, quiet walls, the pass in view

The room keeps itself spare: pale wood finishings, unadorned walls, a classically Japanese calm, and the chefs working close enough for the guest to see the pressure of a thumb against rice. The hinoki counter is the room's center of gravity. Seafood flown in from Tsukiji market arrives as the visible material of the day, while the service keeps the sake glass within reach and the exchange at the counter measured. This is formal dining, but the formality has a bench-side purpose. The eye goes to the blade, the grain, the wasabi, the moment a piece leaves the chef's hand and crosses the counter.

A Singapore offshoot with a retained star

Sushi Ichi opened in Singapore in 2014, first at Scotts Square, before moving to the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel at 320 Orchard Road. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star in 2016 and retained one through 2025. The place has an omakase counter built around Ginza-style rice, Japanese seafood, and the restraint of Edomae sequence. If the craft is followed here, follow the counter rather than the room's polish; the clearest signature remains otoro nigiri at Sushi Ichi.