The Ginza Yoshihiro family of upscale Japanese sushi restaurants is famous back in Japan, having made multiple television appearances and garnering critical acclaim for their careful approach to Japanese cuisine that perfectly balances time-honoured tradition with the demands of contemporary gastronomy. The Singapore outpost of Ginza Yoshihiro finds a home in the Marina Mandarin hotel at Marina Bay, and a fitting home it is – this restaurant represents the kind of elegance and luxury – albeit tempered by the restraint appropriate to a group of sushi auteurs – that the hotel itself embodies.

The decor at Ginza Yoshihiro’s Raffles Boulevard address is suitably clean-lined and minimal, all polished pine and recessed lighting. The kitchen, helmed by a member of the Ginza Yoshihiro family’s second generation, chef Nishioka, inherits all the acumen of its elder brother back in Tokyo. Signature dishes include the tendon served with fresh prawns and seasonal vegetables and their famous take on the traditional winter dish of oden, a stew of various ingredients (depending on the season and regional variation) steeped in a dashi broth. Absolutely unmissable for Singapore’s fans of Japanese cuisine, reservations at this up-and-comer in Marina Bay are, proportionately, essential.