With barely a dozen tables, Syun is, by any yardstick, a small restaurant. Yet the big ambitions of its owner, celebrity chef Hal Yamashita, to bring shin washoku, or ‘New Japanese Cuisine’, to the world shines clearly through in the menu.

Yamashita visits the restaurant a few times a year, leaving the restaurant in the capable hands of sous chef Mike Yap. And what a sensory feast he brings to the table by way of sashimi, sushi (the seafood is flown in thrice a week from Japan), shabu shabu and sukiyaki, the latter featuring Ohmi beef from Shiga prefecture and Kagoshima kurobuta pork.

The presentations are flawless and the flavours pristine. To wit: The natural unctuousness of a chopped toro hand roll is cut through by the acidity of spring onions and leeks. A sliver of succulent raw ohmi beef is rolled around coral-hued uni and sauced with lime, ponzu, yuzu and soy—it is, quite literally, the single, most exquisite mouthful of food to be had this side of Sentosa.

*Good to note: The restaurant’s entrance along Festive Walk has been closed. The main entrance is now relocated to Crockfords Tower.