Orihara Shoten

This friendly little hole-in-the-wall place, sibling to the Tokyo original, is Singapore's only Japanese-style stand-up sake joint.

The wall-mounted fridges are lined with an impressive range of sakes, not to mention 50-odd varieties of plum wine and 20-odd shochus. A bar snack menu of traditional Japanese sake accompaniments (otsumami) runs from accessible favourites such as edamame to exotica such as smoked stingray fin.

Staff know their stuff backwards and the menu makes a great introduction to sake. Sets, at $30 for three glasses, are themed as Sukkiri (refreshing), Unakuchi (rich flavour), Amai (sweet) and Karakuchi (dry).

If you know your sake already, opt for a bottle and share with the new friends you'll undoubtedly make here, or ask the staff to save it for your next visit. They will store bottles for up to three weeks.