Kengo Kuma’s sushi bar Suzuki looks like a bamboo forest

Singapore sushi bar Suzuki creates the feeling of sitting in sun-dappled wood with a set of low-lit interiors by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

The intimate, eponymous 22-seater restaurant is helmed by Chef Suzuki and is tucked inside the new Mondrian Hotel on the edge of Chinatown.

It’s Kuma’s first commercial project in the nation city and bears all the classic Kuma hallmarks, using wood as the primary material with heightened and refined minimalism.

The exterior of Suzuki is wrapped in bamboo poles, which lead to a stone passage and dining room. Inside is an cosy space with an L-shaped counter – made from a single plank of century-old hinoki wood – the only thing that divides diners from Chef Suzuki’s team. Bamboo also continues inside, where it filters both natural and artificial light.

Guests who book Suzuki’s separate, private dining room can look onto the Singapore restaurant’s ‘courtyard’ – an internal garden lit to resemble the changing light of the day.

83 Neil Rd, #01-19 Mondrian Hotel, Singapore 089813