I have a rule about restaurants that sit very high up. The view, I tell myself, is usually doing most of the work. You pay for the altitude and make your peace with it. SUSHISAMBA Singapore made me abandon that notion by the second course.
It opened in July 2024 as the brand's first outpost in Asia. Born in New York, with addresses in London, Las Vegas and Dubai, SUSHISAMBA has always lived at the intersection of culinary worlds: Japanese-Brazilian cuisine at its epicentre.
Though I have been here a gazillion times before, still when I enter the space, each time it's a wow moment. Like Leonardo’s character, Jack Dawson in Titanic I feel like yelling out “I'm the king of the world!"
The floor-to-ceiling windows always bedazzle me with the world going by. Then dinner arrived, and I got engrossed in the meal against this mesmerising backdrop in the clouds. The meal was a showstopper.
SUSHISAMBA's Senior Executive Chef Paul Hallett invited Daniel and Tamara Chavez, the husband-and-wife team behind Canchita, one of Singapore's most quietly serious Peruvian restaurants, to collaborate for the night. Four courses. $188++. And from the very first bite, it was clear that the collaboration was in sync. Displaying the finest from both kitchens.
The welcome cocktail set the tone immediately: a Coconut and Pandan Pisco Sour, served in a dark ceramic tiki vessel carved with a face that seemed faintly amused by the whole situation. Demonio de los Andes pisco, coconut, lime, a blade of fresh pandan angled across the rim. Cold, fragrant, bracingly good. This drink stopped me in the tracks from all the multi-tasking I was doing, such as checking emails, checking WhatsApp, and thinking what to wear to my friend’s friend birthday dinner. The drink signalled that we were in for a treat.
Next dish that graced our very flamboyant table was the Causa de Calamarcitos. If you are wondering what that means, it’s essentially golden discs of aji amarillo potato salad; that warm Andean yellow chilli more floral than fierce, arrived topped with baby calamari fried to a shattering crisp, cherry tomatoes, edamame, chalaquita salsa, salsa brava scattered across the surface.
Bright, textural, layered. Alongside it came the Tiradito Nikkei: thinly sliced tuna pooled in tiger's milk, finished with wasabi mayo, watermelon radish, garlic chips. Tiradito is Peru's answer to sashimi, born from the Japanese immigration that remade Lima's kitchens in the last century. I couldn’t wait to dig in and got annoyed with all the photo-taking that stopped me from digging into the food. The calamari was fresh and perfectly cooked, whereas the tuna disappeared at the rate of lightning from our table.
The Samba Moriawase Nigiri a premium dish on the SUSHISAMBA menu arrived next in a lacquered black bowl. Chutoro, sake, hamachi, hotatekai, each piece finished with the smallest precise dot of condiment. The chutoro was fatty and clean. The scallop sweet and yielding. The bowl went around the table in near silence.
Then my favourite part, the mains, arrived, and the evening fired up with the background of a clear sunset view. This was my absolute no-brainer favourite, the Chilean Sea Bass it came on a ceramic plate the colour of deep water, set on a cedar plank that had caught char along its edges. The white miso glaze had caramelised. The fish was extraordinary. Moist in the way only perfectly handled sea bass can be each flake pulling apart cleanly, almost dissolving on the tongue, the miso lending a depth that stayed long after the bite was gone. I have eaten a great deal of sea bass in a great many places, and it was the best I have ever had.
The Anticucho de Wagyu came next. The robata smoke was present in every bite, that good, insistent char that proper skewers carry when they have been treated with respect. Wagyu marinated in aji panca chilli, huancaina sauce pooled alongside, creamed white corn and chive. Anticucho is Lima street food at its most elemental, and here it arrived 52 floors in the air without losing a single thing that makes it worth eating.
Dessert arrived in a pink ceramic bowl with two shards of caramel brittle rising from the centre like sails. Tres Leche Cake with passion fruit, candied orange, pistachio ice cream. The milk-soaked sponge was tender without collapsing into sweetness. The pistachio ice cream was pale green and cool against the warm citrus of the passion fruit. It left me full in the most satisfying way: the kind of full that makes you exhale slowly, sit back, and feel genuinely grateful for the decision that brought you here.
And yet. I wanted four more portions. I found myself wishing, with complete seriousness, for a second stomach, purely so I could fit the dessert back in and begin again. I ate every spoonful and looked at the empty bowl. No regrets. Some calories are worth it!
For a Tuesday, there was an energy in the space that usually only arrives on a Thursday night out, when people have quietly decided the week is functionally over and are behaving accordingly. Tables were full, drinks were flowing, and the room had that hum of a place where everyone has collectively agreed to have a very good time. It suited the evening perfectly.
Tamara Chavez moved through it all with the calm authority of someone who knows exactly what she has sent out of the kitchen. Her husband Daniel was also making the rounds walking the floor explaining the creations. The service was impeccable and made for an enjoyable leisurely dinner.
If you missed the Canchita x SushiSamba collaboration, they have other set menus too, such as the Vivo Business Lunch that runs Monday through Friday from noon: two starters and a main from a curated menu at $58++ per person. For anyone in the CBD currently eating at their desk, consider this a gentle and overdue intervention. Midweek, the Alegria Dinner runs Monday through Wednesday from 6pm: three courses at $78++ per person, with an optional two-hour free flow of champagne and cocktails.
Saturdays, however, belong to the Copacabana Brunch, which launched in November 2024 and has since become one of the most talked-about afternoon experiences in the city. From noon to 3pm, the room fills with samba dancers, live percussionists, a DJ spinning Afro-Latin beats, and an unlimited spread of signature dishes across four courses with live sushi and robata stations.
The base package starts at $160++ per person with non-alcoholic free flow. From there, champagne tiers take over: Moët and Chandon Brut Imperial at $40++ add-on, Boizel Grand Vintage 2014 at $110++ add-on, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne at $345++ add-on, and for those having a truly exceptional Saturday, Dom Pérignon Jean-Michel Basquiat Special Edition 2015 at $788++ add-on. All champagne packages include a sommelier's selection of red and white wines, cocktails, spirits and beer. It is not a quiet afternoon I have heard and can’t wait to try it next.
Beyond the regular calendar, chef collaborations like this Canchita evening speak to a kitchen that is genuinely curious and unwilling to repeat itself. There is always something worth coming back for. Watch the calendar closely.
SUSHISAMBA Singapore is located at 168 Robinson Rd, Level 52 Capital Tower, Singapore 068912 | Near Tanjong Pagar MRT (Exit E, 5 min walk)
Tel: +65 6550 2290
Vivo Business Lunch: Mon-Fri 12pm-3pm, from $58++ per person.
Alegria Dinner: Mon-Wed from 6pm, from $78++ per person.
Long Lunch Fridays: Every Friday 11:30am-2pm, from $48++ per person.
Copacabana Brunch: Every Saturday 12pm-3pm, from $160++ per person (champagne add-ons available)
Dinner service: Mon-Sat from 6pm. Closed Sunday.
Reservations can be made via reservations@sushisambasg.com
