The best Japanese cafés and tearooms in Singapore

You'll have to do a bit of legwork to get to Suzuki Gourmet Coffee, which makes its home in an industrial building in Jurong. It's quite the unlikely place for a zen-like Japanese café, but its espresso-based brews are well worth the effort. Opened by one of the oldest roasteries on the island, Suzuki Gourmet Coffee is a temple to the bean: it has a factory and warehouse that roasts, grinds, packs, and stores coffee from around the world. You can sample a freshly pulled cuppa on the second floor where the café is. Behind a latticed sliding door is a wood-clad space reminiscent of a Japanese tearoom, where you can sip on filter coffees and non-caffeinated options too. 

TRY Filter coffee options include a medium-roast blend from Costa Rica Aquiares Estate ($7.50) or light-roasted Yemen Mocha Matari ($9.50). Not into coffee? The teas are great too. Try the toasty houjicha Hokkaido anmitsu latte ($10) with Hokkaido milk or Japanese soy milk – you choose. 

While Pipes by Hattendo was once best known for its Japanese cream puffs, they’ve since branched out into a full-fledged sando menu. This cosy joint makes their own shokupan (Japanese milk bread) using French Echire butter – known to be one of more premium butters in the world. While they do have decadent sandos featuring Hokkaido A4 chateaubriand ($90) and an A4 Wagyu steak ($75), they’ve also mindful of their CBD location and offer reasonably priced takeaway sandwiches. 

TRY The potato salad sando ($14) which might seem like a carb-heavy lunch, but the shokupan itself is winningly fluffy – it also all comes together with a light spritz of truffle oil and a pair of runny ajitsuke eggs. Add on $7.90 for a side of fries and a drink.

This relatively hidden gem in Waterloo Street is your best bet for Japanese specialty coffee. Hailing from Kyoto, Japan, it expanded to Singapore 2017 (at Odeon Towers) before finding its present home in Bras Basah. Kurasu serves the same line-up of coffee here as it does in its Kyoto branch, sourcing its beans straight from its partners in Japan. Aromatic Japanese-roasted coffee in a minimalistic, co-working style space? Count us in. 

TRY Have a chat with the barista to decide which coffee to try, but the house blend is a safe bet. The smooth and creamy matcha latte at Kurasu is also a hit. 

Unlike the new cafés of today, Okada Coffee remains relatively low-profile despite being smack-bang in the trendy neighbourhood of Joo Chiat. But its inconspicuous manner alone lends it a touch of Japanese finesse that other coffee joints don’t necessarily have. It might be how they pride themselves on hand drip coffee (from $8.80), featuring specialty roasted beans from all around the world. Or, it might be the lineup of desserts: a warabi mochi ($3.50) or an azuki matcha cheesecake ($8.50). 

TRY One of the curry rices, whether the soft shell crab ($19) or chicken kaarage ($13). Both come served with hojicha rice and pickles. 

Boyutei has got some big names behind it, specifically Japanese teahouse Hvala and Michelin-starred Whitegrass. That shows in the menu, which mostly reads Japanese but with the slightest hint of French techniques – which comes from Whitegrass Head Chef Yamashita's culinary background in Japanese-French cuisine. Housed along Ann Siang Hill (taking over the space from The Coconut Club), Boyutei is a great all-day dining spot when you're craving Japanese with a twist. 

TRY The ebi katsu sando ($22) is a crowd favourite. And since Hvala is overseeing the dessert menu, you've got to try the matcha crepe ($14) with black sesame crumble. 

It first opened along Rangoon Road during the pre-pandemic days, but Daizu Café is still up and running with its Japanese rice bowls and fusion pasta dishes. While one of the more minimalist cafés on this list, the menu is anything but. Instead, it’s a steady stream of mentaiko, truffle, and thick-cut salmon belly – all very indulgent but proves to be all-time favourites for weekend café-hoppers. 

TRY The XXL Ikura Chirashi ($105), a massive rice bowl filled with marinated seafood that’s diced up into bara-style cubes. It’s a true showstopper, topped up with a copious scattering of ikura and edamame.

Hello Arigato has made a name for itself with Japanese-inspired sandos at both their outlets, Upper Thomson and Joo Chiat. The go-to order for many is the famed gyu sando ($26): Angus beef striploin cushioned between freshly baked shokupan, with a caramelised sweet onion jam for a sweet-salty depth of flavour. The menu is heavy-handed with Japanese ingredients – expect to see the likes of spam musubi ($12), crab inaniwa udon ($24), and teriyaki chicken donburi ($14). 

TRY One of the fusion sando assembles. The Upper Thomson joint has an otah sando ($20) with breaded Muar otah and kaffir lime sambal, while the Joo Chiat branch does a HCG Sando ($16) featuring a 48-hour marinated har cheong gai (prawn paste chicken).

The original Hvala outlet is in Chijmes, a stylish teahouse that's bringing the art of Japanese tea brewing to the masses. And we do mean 'masses', because Hvala has expanded a ton – to Somerset, Craig Road, Beach Road and Takashimaya too – where it continues to draw long lines. It's justified though, because Hvala is a reliable spot for freshly whisked cups of delicious matcha in its most unadulterated form. Besides that, they also have a range of dainty desserts like warabimochi, light Japanese cakes and tarts, and matcha ice cream paired with fluffy waffles and brioche buns. 

TRY You can't go wrong with Hvala's range of straight matcha, which is simply matcha that's been whisked with water – no milk. This way, you can taste the pure notes of each matcha type, ranging from mellow to robust profiles.  

When Café Natsu first burst onto the scene in Joo Chiat, many flocked over to capture its heritage Peranakan facade – the café is housed in a pre-war shophouse that’s on the corner of Koon Seng Road. Here, Japanese flavours are cleverly infused into classic brunch dishes. The eggs Florentine ($25), for one, features standard poached eggs over English muffins but with wilted wasabi spinach and a miso Hollandaise.

TRY The shio kombu gnocchi ($22) that’s served with a roasted Kabocha pumpkin sauce. It’s presented simply, but these little pasta dumplings come with a touch of salted kelp too for some Japanese culinary flair.

During the day, Sevens Kissaten is a Japanese-style tearoom sporting a minimalistic look with white walls and wooden furnishings. The menu is anything but minimalistic though, offering a full spread of hearty mains and desserts. Dishes range from unagi kabayaki, A4 Wagyu katsu sando, Japanese-inspired pastas and hearty rice bowls. Delightful desserts include warabimochi, parfaits, and Matcha Monaka – Japanese rice crackers with matcha ice cream and red bean mochi crepe stuffed within. If that's not enough to satiate, stay past 5.30pm when the space transforms into a Kappo-style omakase called Sevens Kappo. 

TRY The food is a tad bit overpriced, but give the angel hair pasta ($18) and Wagyu Hamburg omurice ($22) a shot. The tea lattes at Sevens Kissaten are worth every penny though – we like the iced houjicha latte ($8).