Ishinomaki at Palais Renaissance: An Orchard Sake Bar Near Me With Sommeliers

Ishinomaki pours chilled sake from S$25 for a 150ml glass in the basement of Palais Renaissance, 390 Orchard Road, Singapore 238871, and it opens every day of the week, from 11:30am to 3pm and again from 6pm to 10pm. The mall now lists it as Ishinomaki Dining, formerly Ishinomaki Grill and Sake, and it is one of the few places to find a sake bar near me on Orchard Road where the person choosing your glass is a Master Sake Sommelier.

The name comes from Ishinomaki, the fishing city in Miyagi Prefecture that was devastated by the 2011 tsunami. City Nomads reported when it opened that the owners chose it after visiting the stricken region, and the dining room was designed to recall a Japanese fishing cabin, with raw wood, metal fittings and fishermen's tools on the walls, as Time Out described it in November 2014. The official site dates the flagship to 2014 and says it has celebrated seasonality ever since.

It is a family business. Founder and chef Chi Pin Han brings a 40-year career that ran through Meguro Gajoen in Tokyo, Keyaki and the InterContinental Singapore, and he built the menu around five Japanese cooking methods: raw, grilled, simmered, fried and steamed. Co-owner Janice Chi runs operations, and the official site describes her as the first female restaurateur in Singapore to hold the Master Sake Sommelier title from the Sake Sommelier Academy.

The group's drinks team is unusually large for a mall restaurant. The official events page counts three Master Sake Sommeliers, 15 Certified Sake Sommeliers and 10 WSET-certified wine sommeliers, and between 2022 and 2023 they hosted more than 20 themed pairing dinners, the last listed one built around the Okuechizen terroir of the Ippongi brewery in Fukui. Sake is sold by the carafe and the bottle, alongside shochu, whisky and a wine list chosen by the same team.

Over the years the business grew from a single unit to three of the four basement units at the mall. Ieatishootipost reported in 2024 that the expansion added a teppanyaki counter, and the mall directory now lists a separate counter concept, Ishinomaki Sake and Wine, in units B1-10 and B1-11, right beside the main dining room. That makes it easy to start with a glass at the counter and move to a table for food.

The seasonal cold list is sold in 150ml and 300ml pours. Kira Gokukarakuchi, an extra-dry sake, is S$25 and S$45, Yukitsubaki is S$28 and S$48, Ippongi Monogatari is S$32 and S$58, and Shidaizumi Junmai Daiginjo is S$35 and S$58. Start with the Kira if you like a crisp, food-friendly glass and finish with the Shidaizumi, a richer daiginjo that suits fatty fish.

Warm sake is served in 220ml carafes at S$38 each, with labels such as Nagurayama Josen and Daishinshu Senren rotating by season, and it is the right call with the grilled and simmered dishes. Full 720ml bottles start at S$85 for Yukitsubaki and run to S$125 for Fukunishiki Yutaka, with Garyubai at S$89 and Jinya Tokubetsu Junmai at S$90. Every page of the menu notes a 10% service charge and prevailing GST on top.

The chirashidon has been the best-seller since opening, according to Ieatishootipost, with 16 to 17 kinds of seafood over rice. At lunch the Premium Chirashi is S$40 and the Hokkaido Chirashi S$60, and the official lunch menu says these sets are served daily, weekends included. That makes a weekday lunch the most affordable way in: a chirashi with a 150ml glass of Kira comes to S$65 before service and GST.

Dinner is more ambitious. The Wateishoku set is S$68, or S$88 with nigiri, and the robatayaki section keeps things casual with tebasaki chicken wings at S$12 and yakitori or tsukune at S$10. The teppan counter runs set menus from S$70, and a sukiyaki of wagyu is S$98 per person. For a sake-focused evening, skip the big teppan sets and build a table of skewers, a sashimi plate and two or three different pours instead.

Being in Palais Renaissance shapes the crowd, with Orchard shoppers filling the lunch sets and sake enthusiasts returning for the sommelier-led pairing nights. Google reviews average 4.4 stars from more than 400 ratings, and Tripadvisor sits at 4.0. A recurring complaint in review summaries is occasional service lapses when staff are stretched across the group's several outlets, so dinner on a busy weekend can feel slower than lunch.

If the sommelier team is your reason to visit, say so when you book and come on a quieter weeknight, when there is time to talk through the list. The counter seats at the teppan grill are the most sociable spot, and they suit solo diners who want to watch the cooking while working through a sake flight of their own choosing.

Palais Renaissance sits at the quieter end of Orchard Road, and the mall's own directions point to Orchard MRT station on the North-South and Thomson-East Coast lines, with the Delfi Orchard bus stop, number 09169, right outside. Drivers can use the drop-off on Claymore Drive.

Ishinomaki also runs a second branch at Guoco Midtown, 120 Beach Road #01-03, Singapore 189769, with the same daily hours. If Orchard is fully booked, that branch near Bugis is the closest backup with the same sake list philosophy, and it is the better choice if you are coming from the CBD side of town.

Upstairs at #02-09A, PS.Cafe Palais Renaissance opened in 2008 and was the first outlet of the chain to serve its signature truffle fries. It opens daily from 11am to 10pm, so a late coffee or a dessert after a sake lunch is one escalator ride away. On the ground floor, the Merci Marcel concept store at #01-03 and #01-04 sells Paris homeware and designer pieces, a good stop for a slow browse.

Address: Ishinomaki Dining, Palais Renaissance, 390 Orchard Road #B1-01/02/03 and #B1-08/09/10/11, Singapore 238871. Hours: daily 11:30am to 3pm and 6pm to 10pm. Nearest MRT: Orchard. Prices carry 10% service charge and GST. Second branch: 120 Beach Road #01-03, Guoco Midtown. Ask the Karpo APP for another Orchard sake bar if you want a second stop.