Chef Akmal Anuar is the culinary force behind TSUKI in Aljada, Sharjah.
His restaurant credentials include 3Fils, 11 Woodfire and FACT award-winning Harummanis.
The unlicensed restaurant welcomed Steve Harvey and Oweis Zahran shortly after opening.
The unlicensed restaurant brings the chef’s culinary credentials to Sharjah and has already welcomed Steve Harvey.
Sharjah has a new restaurant to add to your reservations radar, backed by a familiar name. Chef Akmal Anuar is the culinary force behind TSUKI, bringing his experience across some of Dubai’s best-known homegrown restaurants to Aljada.
Rooted in Japanese tradition and inspired by the sea, TSUKI celebrates the quality of its produce through careful preparation and considered presentation. The approach reflects Akmal’s appreciation for craftsmanship, allowing the ingredients to guide a Japanese dining journey that moves between seafood, sushi, and satisfying meat dishes.
The restaurant’s name means “moon” in Japanese and also draws inspiration from Tsukiji, Tokyo’s legendary former fish market, where Akmal’s love of Japanese cuisine first began. The restaurant’s interiors are anchored by an alluring curved sushi counter, billed as Sharjah’s first, which sits beneath an illuminated moon.
The menu features Salmon Carpaccio, Wagyu Nigiri and fresh sushi and sashimi selections. Seafood is central to the offering, with a choice of raw preparations and cooked dishes giving diners several ways to explore the kitchen’s approach.
Heartier options include Beef Striploin and Brisket Bao, extending the menu’s appeal beyond the sushi counter. For a sweet finish, the signature Dark Moon Dessert returns to the lunar theme, tying the final course to the restaurant’s identity. A chef-led omakase experience is also planned, built around entrusting the selection to the chef.
For those who don’t know Akmal, the Singaporean-Malay chef helped establish 3Fils, the Jumeirah Fishing Harbour restaurant that went on to top the inaugural Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2022. His work also includes the one MICHELIN-starred 11 Woodfire and FACT award-winning Harummanis.
Akmal’s culinary journey began at his parents’ hawker stall in Singapore, where helping with the family business introduced him to the demands of feeding a community. He later worked at Les Amis before moving to Dubai in 2014. That path has taken him through professional kitchens, restaurant ownership and consultancy, building a career that spans several distinct styles of dining.
TSUKI brings that experience to an unlicensed restaurant in Sharjah, and has already attracted some famous faces. American comedian and television host Steve Harvey visited alongside entrepreneur Oweis Zahran just days after opening, providing TSUKI with an early celebrity endorsement.
TSUKI makes a welcome addition to the hip Aljada neighbourhood, which is steadily building a wow-worthy dining scene. The Japanese restaurant joins a lineup that includes tashas, tashas, The Char’d Club and FACT award-winning Berenjak.
Where: TSUKI, Vida Aljada, Aljada, Sharjah
When: Daily from 6pm to midnight
Contact: @tsuki.uae