After bringing in Lavo Singapore, followed by Ferris wheel nightclub Marquee and cocktail lounge Avenue earlier this year, restaurant and nightlife company Tao Group has followed up with the opening of its third new concept for 2019. Koma is as fancy as can be (what other kind could there be at MBS?), boasting some pretty polished elements in its 230-seater restaurant, bar, and lounge space.
Newly launched last Friday, the swanky Japanese restaurant is designed by American firm Rockwell Group, and lures you in with its 20m-long passageway of red towering over you. Apparently, the entrance was inspired by the torii gates of the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto.
Inside, glass owls dot the bar and a wood “grid” suspended from the ceiling, but really, the centerpiece of the space is the 2.5m-high bell with 20 faces that looks out on a traditional Japanese foot bridge and reflecting pool. Even the high ceiling is decorated with a smattering of lily pad-shaped acoustic panels.
Headed by executive chef Kunihiro Moroi, who has almost three decades of culinary experience in the kitchen, the restaurant serves sashimi, nigiri, maki rolls, tempura items, and robata-grilled meats and veggies. For a start, try the salmon pillow ($15), a puff pastry shell stuffed with smoked avocado and topped with salmon sashimi and burnt jalapeño peppers, or the DIY spicy tuna ($19), where you get to stack your own crispy rice rings with spicy tuna tartare.
Other signatures include the surf and turf maki roll ($58), made of wagyu beef, Hokkaido uni, and caviar, and the fried koshihikari rice ($28) tossed with shiitake, enoki, shimeji, and maitake mushrooms.
Then, there’s the crown jewel of it all — the Niigata A5 wagyu beef ribeye, snow aged for 30 days for maximum umami. At $275, it’s easily the most expensive item on the menu.
As for the cocktails, some of the more unique concoctions use purple potato purée, saffron syrup, and pandan Earl Grey with gula melaka in their mix.
FIND IT:
Koma is at #B1-67 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Ave.
6688-8690. Sun-Thurs 5pm-midnight, Fri-Sat 5pm-2am.
MRT: Bayfront
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