Where to find restaurant-quality Japanese food in Singapore hawker centres and coffee shops

Straits Times

14 hours ago

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(Clockwise from left) Mentai Ebi Fry Don from Haru-Haru; salmon and scallop sashimi from Ten Ten Otoko Japanese Food; and Unagi Ju Don and Tonkatsu With Pork Suki Don from Jinggho Shokudo.
SINGAPORE – At Ten Ten Otoko, a Japanese food stall tucked inside a coffee shop in Lavender, stall owner David Wong deftly slices slabs of sashimi-grade salmon. He pats them on ice, garnishing them with lemon slices to counter the heat of the setting with no air-conditioning.
The price? Ten dollars for five hefty slices.
The 39-year-old, who opened the stall in August 2024, started out serving raw fish and sushi at a coffee-shop stall at Punggol's Edgefield Plains, which he ran from January 2022 until he moved out in December 2023, to a larger space.
His motivation is to deliver well-priced Japanese fare, served with the flair and discipline of a restaurant kitchen, that regulars are able to afford more than once a week.
More hawkers are now following a similar playbook, raising the bar for Japanese cuisine in neighbourhood coffee shops and hawker centres.
Over the past year, a wave of cooks and chefs who used to work in Japanese restaurants have opened such stalls – from Haru-Haru, serving mentai tonkatsu in Bras Basah, to Jinggho Shokudo, which operates out of Yishun Park Hawker Centre and Beauty World Centre.
They took the leap to run their own business with a low barrier to entry, setting up stalls with modest start-up costs – from about $20,000.
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'Every chef dreams of having his own business,' says Mr Wong, who began as an apprentice at a Japanese restaurant when he was 19. He became sous chef at a Japanese fine-dining restaurant before quitting to start his own stall at 30.
'You can customise your menu, present your food the way you want and eventually earn money,' he says.
Pork Shogayaki Donburi, 6 Kind Sashimi Donburi, and salmon and hotate sashimi at Ten Ten Otoko.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
Mr Ye Guo Wei, 41, who runs Xin Japanese Cuisine Legendary at a coffee shop in New Upper Changi Road, agrees.
'Even though I'm a stallholder and not a restaurant owner, I still get to make my own decisions. I don't have to justify to anyone why I choose to use better-quality mirin or high-grade Japanese shoyu.'
Owner of Haru-Haru, Mr Yuki Haruyama, 37, who hails from Osaka and previously ran the kitchen at an izakaya in Novena, made his foray with a foodcourt stall in Bras Basah. He pooled $50,000 with a local partner to start the stall.
Starting an izakaya, he says, would have set him back by at least $300,000.
His other motivation for starting small? 'There are many good Japanese restaurants in Singapore, but there's a lack of quality Japanese food at the foodcourt level. I want to give a good representation of our cuisine at affordable prices.' Nothing at his stall costs more than $14.90.
Although his items are 30 to 40 per cent pricier than those of neighbouring stalls, which sell local staples such as chicken rice and fish ball noodles, Mr Wong hopes to draw customers living farther afield with his quality and consistency.
'They understand the value they are getting and, at the same time, are willing to forgo the niceties like service, air-conditioning and ambience,' he says.
His other wish is to see coffee-shop culture in Singapore evolve with better food and more options.
'People will not think of just satisfying their hunger when they come to coffee shops or hawker centres, but want to satisfy their cravings. I hope we can become a form of competition to restaurants with the quality of our food,' he says.
Here are five stalls serving hearty Japanese meals under $20.
Ten Ten Otoko: Sashimi and donburi in a coffee shop
Where: Stall 6, Kimly @ Da Sun Food House, 01-01 Kitchener Complex, Block 808 French Road
Open: 11am to 8.30pm daily
Tel: [phone]
Donburi anchors the menu at Ten Ten Otoko, with prices r anging from $8.90 for a Karaage Oyako Don to $22.90 for a Tenten Deluxe Donburi, packed with premium sashimi such as aka ebi (Argentine red shrimp) and ikura (salmon roe).
Portions are generous. Singaporean stall owner David Wong, 39, a former chef at several Japanese restaurants here, left his role as sous chef at a fine-dining Japanese establishment in Marina Square in 2015 to open his first stall, Otoko Japanese Food, at a coffee shop in Sultan Plaza in 2016.
Owner of Ten Ten Otoko, Mr David Wong, wants customers to feel full after dining at his stall.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
Sashimi such as hotate (scallop) is priced at $15 for an a la carte order.
Salmon and hotate served as sashimi at Ten Ten Otoko.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
Top sellers include the Pork Shogayaki Donburi with Onsen Egg ($9.90), featuring marinated pork loin pan-fried with ginger, and the 6 Kind Sashimi Donburi ($13.90), topped with salmon, scallop, hamachi, maguro, swordfish and either octopus or squid, depending on availability.
Pork Shogayaki Donburi comes with complimentary miso soup and watermelon.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
First-time customers are often surprised to find that each main course comes with a complimentary bowl of miso soup and two slices of watermelon. Filter out the brown plastic tray and the presentation evokes a set meal in a Japanese restaurant.
Mr Wong reveals that the complimentary watermelon costs him up to $1,000 monthly, hitting $1,600 two months ago on an exceptionally brisk month. His miso soup is prepared with Japanese dashi.
'I want to give customers a complete meal. It is like a perfect symphony, complete with drums, bass and violin,' he adds with a chuckle.
'Customers must feel full,' he says. 'My food is not cheap for coffee shop fare, but it is definitely value for money.'
To avoid a budget look, he opts for melamine bowls and plates that resemble enamelware or ceramic, along with Japanese-style chopsticks with a satisfying heft.
But he says food costs currently hover at 45 to 47 per cent of operating expenses. Premium ingredients – such as Canadian grass-fed pork, which costs up to $20 a kilogram, and swordfish at $35 a kilogram – have become too expensive, and he may have to prune his menu soon.
6 Kind Sashimi Donburi at Ten Ten Otoko Japanese Food is likely to be retired after a menu change in a few months' time.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
Salmon sashimi will remain on the menu at Ten Ten Otoko.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
With a new outlet opening at Lucky Plaza in July, he says labour costs make it even more crucial to manage overheads.
But the bachelor remains focused on quality and rejects the use of factory-made sauces or pre-cooked components.
'I do not intend to have a central kitchen. My workers are trained and have the skills to prepare our own blends of sauces and go through the needed cooking processes,' he says.
'We serve Japanese food made with soul.'
Jinggho Shokudo: Restaurant-quality fare at hawker prices
Where: 01-17 Yishun Park Hawker Centre, 51 Yishun Avenue 11
Open: 11am to 9pm, Tuesdays to Sundays. Closed on Mondays
Tel: [phone]
With more than a decade of experience working across ramen, tendon and other concepts under a Japanese restaurant group, Mr Alexander Kong, 34, aims to offer the kind of Japanese fare common in malls, but at hawker prices.
Mr Alexander Kong at his Japanese food stall Jinggho Shokudo at Yishun Park Hawker Centre.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
His stall, Jinggho Shokudo, opened at Yishun Park Hawker Centre in March 2024. A second outlet followed at Beauty World Centre's food centre in August the same year.
Originally from Kampar in Perak, Malaysia, Mr Kong came to Singapore in 2008 at age 18. He began as a kitchen helper at a ramen restaurant and rose to become kitchen leader.
His time at various concepts within the same group deepened his knowledge of Japanese cuisine, from tempura to donburi.
But pandemic-driven salary cuts prompted him to pivot to food delivery.
A fellow former gig worker, learning of his culinary background, partnered him to start a stall at Yishun Park Hawker Centre. It was a chance for him to return to cooking and offer Japanese food at more accessible prices.
Their target market: diners in their 20s to 50s who are familiar with mall-based Japanese restaurants, but prefer more affordable options for everyday meals.
Mr Kong named the stall Jinggho Shokudo – 'Jinggho' means 'very good' in Hokkien, a phrase many locals recognise.
Business was brisk from the start. The venture broke even in just four months.
Prices begin at $6 for Teriyaki Chicken Katsu. The most expensive item, Unagi Ju Don ($16.80), features a full slab of grilled eel and a brick of tamagoyaki drizzled with nacho cheese sauce and Kewpie mayonnaise, a fusion element to appeal to younger diners.
Unagi Ju Don with miso soup at Jinggho Shokudo at Yishun Park Hawker Centre.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
Like other new-wave Japanese stalls focused on housemade sauces and quality ingredients, Mr Kong sources his eel from Taiwan – $135 for a box of 25 – instead of China, where 28 pieces cost $128.
He says Taiwanese eel has finer bones and a firmer texture, and no fishy odour.
The eel is grilled, torched and finished with a savoury-sweet housemade unagi sauce made from shoyu, fish stock, kombu, mirin and cooking sake.
Mr Kong torches the eel for Unagi Ju Don.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
In comparison, he notes, an unagi rice bowl with only half an eel would cost around $24 at a restaurant, before GST and service charges.
His stall's bestseller is the Tonkatsu With Pork Suki Don ($7.50), packed with braised pork belly and a crisp katsu (pork cutlet) topped with tangy housemade nanban sauce – a mix of hard-boiled egg, onion, mayonnaise, Japanese vinegar and a touch of Sarawak black pepper. Sweetcorn and broccoli complete the bowl.
The combination, while not strictly Japanese, is tailored for local diners who enjoy variety.
Tonkatsu With Pork Suki Don at Jinggho Shokudo at Yishun Park Hawker Centre.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
Mr Kong is scouting for a third location, perhaps in a foodcourt, and hopes to scale up to five outlets.
The father of a four-year-old boy says: 'I struck gold with this stall, so I want to keep it going.'
Xin Japanese Cuisine Legendary: Reviving an old menu
Where: Stall 4, 01-763 Kopihouse 1990, Block 211 New Upper Changi Road
Open: 11am to 9pm daily
At 21, Mr Ye Guo Wei got his first introduction to Japanese cuisine when working at a foodcourt stall owned by a former restaurant chef.
Twenty years later, the 41-year-old is back – not as an employee, but as the owner of Xin Japanese Cuisine Legendary, a coffee-shop stall reviving the very menu that kick-started his interest in Japanese food.
Stall owner of Xin Japanese Cuisine Legendary, Mr Ye Guo Wei.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
'I always felt that the menu my ex-boss designed stood out in the mass market, and it was a pity he never opened another Japanese stall,' says Mr Ye, who launched his business in March 2025 in New Upper Changi Road. His former boss readily agreed when he asked to reprise items from the old menu.
Mr Ye's culinary journey began at 18, working at a Taiwanese hotplate stall.
Three years later, he was offered a job at the Japanese foodcourt stall where his mother worked as a cashier. He had frequently patronised the stall as a customer, drawn to its katsu rice bowl.
There, the boss taught him how to prepare Japanese sauces – using mirin, cooking sake and Japanese shoyu – over the next six years, including how to marinate meats for yakiniku.
After stints cooking Taiwanese, Korean and mala dishes at other stalls, Mr Ye eventually became head chef at a now-defunct izakaya in Khatib.
There, he refined his skills further – handling sushi, sashimi, yakitori, grilled wagyu and oysters – before leaving in January 2025 to strike out on his own.
Mr Ye enjoys cooking Japanese fare.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
At his stall, prices range from $5.50 for Kitsune Udon, which comes with Japanese fish cake, inari (beancurd skin), xiao bai cai and roasted seaweed; to $16.80 for Grilled Unagi Kabayaki, served with a whole slab of eel.
He uses premium Japanese shoyu for his sauces, paying $60 for an 18-litre bottle.
He says: 'There is a cheaper option at $42, but the taste is not as fragrant – it's saltier and lacks complexity.'
The crowd-pleaser is the Pepper Pork Sukiyaki Set ($6.80), tender pork slices in a sauce made with grated onion, garlic and shoyu, served with miso soup, cold tofu and shredded cabbage salad topped with his housemade Thousand Island-style dressing.
Black Pepper Pork Sukiyaki Set from Xin Japanese Cuisine Legendary.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
He also offers a Soft Shell Crab Bowl ($6.50), made with his own blend of tempura batter.
Soft Shell Crab Rice Bowl at Xin Japanese Cuisine Legendary.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
A popular option is Scrambled Egg Tonkatsu Curry Rice ($7). His curry is 'more savoury than sweet', which he says better suits local tastes.
Scrambled Egg Tonkatsu Curry Rice at Xin Japanese Cuisine Legendary.
ST PHOTO: TARYN NG
With long hours, no fixed days off and slim margins, Mr Ye, who is married with no children, says his goal keeps him going. 'I want to let more people try my version of Japanese food.'
Haru-Haru: Quest for quality
Where: 01-79 Shifu Food Court, Bras Basah Complex, 231 Bain Street
Open: 11am to 9.30pm daily
Tel: [phone]
Family kept Osaka-born Yuki Haruyama here after he left his last job as head chef at an izakaya due to management changes.
He decided to remain in Singapore for the sake of his Malaysia-born wife and their four-year-old son, as she prefers life here.
In October 2024, the 37-year-old set up his own foodcourt stall at a foodcourt in Bras Basah Complex and is now applying to be a Singapore permanent resident.
Japanese chef Haruyama Yuki at his stall, Haru-Haru.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
He attracts hordes of young diners with his signature Mentai Pork Katsu Curry ($10.90), which features US pork loin coated in nama panko (fresh breadcrumbs), deep-fried to order and topped with house-blended mentaiko mayonnaise.
No detail is overlooked. The curry, savoury and flavoursome, comes with the signature fukujinzuke (red pickled radish).
Mentai Pork Katsu Curry at Haru-Haru.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
'Many places use more mayo than mentaiko, but I balance both. You can taste the roe,' he says.
Before moving to Singapore in 2016, Mr Haruyama, who is a bassist with a music diploma, trained across casual dining spots and izakayas in Osaka. A part-time job at a yakiniku joint led him to seek a more stable career in F&B.
Assisted by two part-timers, he prepares the food himself, using quality ingredients such as Japanese rice from Akita prefecture and large tiger prawns.
For his tonkatsu, he uses US pork that costs $17 a kilogram – more than double the price of Brazilian pork.
'I want to present high-quality Japanese food even though it is in a foodcourt,' he says.
Other favourites include the Mentai Ebi Fry Don ($12.90) and Mentai Chicken Karaage Don ($7.90), both made to order using premium ingredients.
Mentai Ebi Fry Don at Haru-Haru.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
'It is more challenging running a foodcourt stall as customers have higher expectations when it comes to getting value for their money,' he says. 'I am giving customers restaurant-quality food.'
Menya Horikawa: Mazesoba in a hawker centre
Where: 01-40 Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre, 202C Woodleigh Link
Open: 11.30am to 8.30pm daily
Mr Rick Tan runs hawker stall Menya Horikawa, which specialises in mazesoba.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
When Mr Rick Tan's egglet and waffle hawker stall did not perform as well as he had hoped, he hatched a new plan. He pivoted to selling mazesoba (Japanese dry ramen) nine months later in May 2025.
The 29-year-old, who runs his stall at Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre, says: 'There's stronger demand for staples over snacks here. Noodles are more viable in a hawker setting.'
He chose mazesoba – a dish he enjoys – as it is still relatively niche in Singapore's hawker scene.
He says: 'Bak chor mee is my favourite food, but competition is too strong. Mazesoba is similar but Japanese, and Singaporeans love Japanese food.'
Not having any formal culinary training did not deter the Singapore Polytechnic graduate in business information technology, who has a side hustle in website design and marketing services.
He found Japanese restaurant chef Koichi Horikawa, who is from Tokyo and working in Singapore. He was willing to teach Mr Tan to cook mazesoba. From February to April 2025 , Mr Tan trained for two hours daily at Horikawa's restaurant.
Mr Tan named his stall Menya Horikawa to pay tribute to the chef and strictly follows his advice, using only Japanese ingredients. For instance, he opts for Japanese sesame oil at $26 for 1.5 litres – versus local brands at $7 for 1 litre – for its superior aroma and flavour.
He uses tsukemen noodles, which remain springy after boiling, though they take five minutes to cook and cost almost $1 a portion. 'Some customers lack the patience to wait, but I choose quality over convenience,' he says.
Mr Rick Tan uses premium ingredients such as sesame oil from Japan to prepare his seasoning.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Ingredients make up 40 per cent of operating expenses, yet he keeps prices competitive, aiming to recover costs through volume. Dishes start at $6.90 for a regular Original Mazesoba, comprising noodles with minced pork, spring onion, nori, onsen egg; and go up to $10.90 for a large order of Spicy Seafood Mazesoba with prawns, crab sticks and Japanese fish powder seasoning.
Spicy Seafood Mazesoba at Menya Horikawa at Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
For spice lovers, he makes a house-blend chilli with chilli padi, miso, black pepper, shoyu and sesame oil, topped with ichimi (Japanese chilli powder). The Spicy Mazesoba ($7.90) is a top seller, featuring spicy minced pork, nori, spring onion and onsen egg. His advice: 'Mix well before digging in.'