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If you've ever wandered around Bencoolen, Singapore's coolest neighbourhood of 2025, you might have walked past Skosh once or twice. The Japanese café is located within the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), and has been a popular hangout among students since 2024, known for its onigiri and sandos. Recently, it introduced a second outlet in the heart of Orchard Road at Scotts Square, this time specialising in hand rolls and matcha-based beverages.
The vibe
The new Skosh Hand Roll & Matcha Bar occupies a kiosk in the open area of the mall's basement, opposite FairPrice Finest. Unlike the cosier NAFA outlet, which is a proper dine-in café, this is more of a grab-and-go concept. The set-up is more casual and fluid, with just 20 seats dotted around the counter and a couple of tables by the side. Tip: While the open dining area is mostly reserved for customers of the neighbouring Suukee Coffee, the two cafés share the space when it gets busy during peak hours.
The food
There are 12 hand rolls on the menu, and all they've got the basics right: plump Haenuki rice from Yamagata Prefecture, seasoned with red sushi vinegar from Gifu for a light sweetness, and crispy sheets of Nico Nico Yaki Nori from Setouchi. These form solid bases to load on all sorts of proteins, from spicy salmon sashimi to the lesser-seen engawa. Each roll comes served with a plastic wrapper – a thoughtful touch that keeps the seaweed shell crispy. Enjoy them à la carte (from $4.50 to $10.80 each), or as a set ($12.80 for three, $18.80 for five). There's also the Skosh Tasting Menu ($32.80) with a selection of five hand rolls featuring more premium toppings like snow crab, torched octopus, Hokkaido N34 beef, aka ebi and negitoro.
Our pick is the engawa hand roll ($6.50), crowned with a healthy slice of fatty, torched engawa and simple pairings of shredded tamago, wasabi mayo, furikake and spring onions to let the fish shine. Seafood fans can also try versions packed with Hokkaido scallops ($6.50), maguro ($5.50) and unagi ($5.50), while beef lovers can go for the Hokkaido N34 hand roll ($10.80), glazed with yakiniku sauce, or the karubi wagyu ($5.50), which is more textural thanks to additions of sautéed onions, truffle pearls, garlic chips and spring onions. An interesting pick is the samsui scallion chicken roll ($4.50), which sees slow-cooked chicken breast, scallion sauce, chilli sauce and garlic chips as a nod to – you guessed it – chicken rice.
Still peckish? Order a side of sesame lotus salad ($5) or a comforting bowl of white miso soup ($3) loaded with shimeji mushrooms, tofu, kombu, carrots and onions, and round off the meal with desserts like kinako mochi with brown sugar syrup ($6) or a slice of mochi matcha Basque cheesecake ($12).
The drinks
With over 15 matcha beverages on the menu and over 20 drinks in total, you're truly spoilt for choice. The café offers three types of matcha from different growing regions in Japan, each with a different character and flavour profile: Mizu matcha from Nishio, Aichi; first harvest Ayame matcha from Shizuoka and Kagoshima; and first harvest Kirameiki matcha from Uji, Kyoto. Purists can enjoy them as is (from $7 to $13), in hot or cold variations, whether you prefer something balanced and smooth, floral and umami, or rich and full-bodied. In-store exclusive Skosh take-home matcha kits ($58) and standalone matcha tins (from $21 to $42) are also available for those who want to kickstart their matcha journey.
There are the regular café favourites like strawberry matcha and coconut matcha ($9). But for the more experimental at heart, try one of the matcha-based creations on the menu, ranging from miso brown sugar matcha and yuzu matcha to the crème brûlée matcha ($9 each). There's even a boozy matcha lychee lager ($15), spiked with lychee-infused beer. And for something truly different, go for the natural cola ($7), made with Skosh's house-made natural cola syrup and soda water. We went for the kinako matcha ($9), a creamy, nutty concoction that sees house-made kinako paste and Japanese brown sugar combined with a rich matcha base, and finished with a kinako foam float. The taro matcha ($9) is equally delightful, with a savoury-sweet purple taro foam and a distinct yam fragrance. Both are well-balanced and not too cloying.
Time Out's rating: 4/5
Skosh Hand Roll & Matcha Bar is open daily from 10am to 9pm at 6 Scotts Road, Scotts Square, #B1-K1, Singapore 228209.
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