Kinki Restaurant and Bar

Decorated with feisty urban murals to reflect its philosophy and pop-culture credo (the main fish art on the floor of the entrance was designed by tattoo artist Chris Garver of Miami Ink fame), this 60-seater also prides itself on having fresh, well-sourced ingredients for innovative dishes. Crowd favourites – called Ninja's favourites here – include sea bream carpaccio ($34), foie gras and unagi maki ($32) and seafood and bacon-loaded okonomiyaki ($28). Kinki also dispatches bento sets for office deliveries during lunch within the CBD.  

After dinner, head upstairs to the open-air Kinki Rooftop Bar on the third floor. Here, you can catch a calming vista of the Marina Bay skyline and waterfront with a bucket of five beers ($50/6-9pm) or one-for-one housepours (5-8pm). The trellis-lined bar and Japanese writing on bamboos add to the underground, home-run feel of this place, even if the menu strikes a different chord: a little less than half the drinks menu is Japanese, while the cocktails have Western elements shaken in. The house special Spicy Hachimitshu ($19) is a refreshingly spicy martini glass of vodka, honey umeshu, a tinge of wasabi gomme, fresh lemon and Japanese cucumber. The nachos at Kinki ($18/half size, $32/full size) are not quite nachos; rather, they’re tempura seaweed sheets topped with guacamole, sour cream and a choice of either black-pepper beef or spicy pork.