Hana Restaurant’s new Tsukiji Fish Market-style concept is a treat for both the eyes and stomach

Singapore fans of Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Fish Market (or the new one at Toyosu) needn’t travel far to get a slice of the live market action — local Japanese spot Hana Restaurant at Forum The Shopping Mall has redesigned part of its restaurant space to resemble the popular tourist destination.

Some might remember Hana Restaurant for its viral jiggly dessert, which took the social media landscape by storm late last year. Or perhaps for its affordable omakase sets starting from S$38.

It’s fair to say that the restaurant has quite a pulse on the viral and trendy — Hana Restaurant’s new Tsukiji market concept is no exception. 

The only catch? (Pun fully intended.)

Everything’s fake. Well, except the cooked food off its specially-themed menu, that is. 

If you’ve shunned visiting Japan’s famed fish markets because of the smell, wet floors or are just squeamish about seeing rows and rows of the day’s freshest catch, this pseudo setup at Hana Restaurant will certainly appeal to you.

Owner Pearlyn Tan tells us that they decided on this concept in late 2023 and launched this two weeks ago as they wanted to “start the year with a bang”. 

The team took about a week to plan and decorate the space and the attention to detail is astonishing. There’s boxes of realistic-looking seafood on fake ice, plastic bags emblazoned with the restaurant name, fake equipment such as knives, pseudo wet market invoices and even photos from Japan taken by Pearlyn on her most recent trip there. 

Feel free to deck yourself with the gloves, aprons, helmets and even the loudhailer hanging on the walls for your photos and videos. (Don’t worry it’s completely fine to take them down for photos, we’ve checked.)

Take your pick of seafood for your photos, from fish to sea urchins and huge crabs. You can even use its knife or scissors props for added realness. 

When you’ve had your fill of fun, dive right into its seafood dishes. These were newly launched to commemorate the opening of the new concept space, such as its omakase-style seafood pot (from S$38) and seafood tower (S$98). 

We particularly enjoyed the sweetness and full-on robustness of the soy-based broth in the seafood pot and kept reaching for more throughout our meal.

For those who prefer their seafood raw, there’s even its XXL chirashi (S$42) which comes in a sizable bucket with dozens of sashimi slices hanging off the edge, guaranteed to satisfy any raw fish craving, stat. 

Or if you have a smaller appetite, opt for its sushi tacos (S$32), served in a set of five, which come in more manageable portions. While the restaurant has served sushi tacos before, this version sets itself apart — instead of a corn shell, it comes with a seaweed “shell” instead, making it an open-faced onigiri of sorts.

Fans of Hana’s well-known omakase fare, fret not. The restaurant has dedicated the right wing of its restaurant to serving up its reservations-only classic omakase meals (from S$38 per diner) still. 

But if you’d like anything else off its a la carte menu, like its 12-plates set (from S$38) or its flying noodles (from S$18 for the udon or somen options), you can also have them at the fish market-themed section of the restaurant. 

The Tsukiji Fish Market-themed section isn’t big, and Pearlyn tells us that it’ll only be around for a year for now, so swing by while you can! 

This was a hosted tasting.

For more affordable eats, check out GrabFood Dine-in weekly Friday flash deals, and places for the best fish soup in Singapore.

Hana Japanese Restaurant at Forum is available on the GrabFood delivery service. 

Do explore the GrabFood Dine-in service for awesome deals. 

You can also book a ride to check out Hana Restaurant’s Tsukiji Fish Market concept.