There’s a new Japanese restaurant at Ion Orchard’s third floor called sen-ryo, and at first glance, it looks intimidatingly expensive. The gleaming all-black entrance screams, “Gimme your salary!”, while suited-up staff greet you deferentially at every corner.

The restaurant, which recently opened on April 1, is a chain from Tochigi, Japan. It’s brought into Singapore by the parent company of Genki Sushi and Yakiniku Like here. Other than Japan, sen-ryo is also popular in Hong Kong, where it has 13 outlets.

The cavernous 129-seat space (60 with safe distancing) is divided into communal dining rooms, private dining rooms (minimum spending required), a sushi and robatayaki-style counter, and a sake bar for pre-meal tipples.

The sake bar

Communal dining room

The staff here are attentive and well-trained, providing service like what you’d get at a fine-dining restaurant. But the bill is, happily, more casual Japanese diner than fine-diner. Read on to find out more.

Despite its ultra-posh appearance, the restaurant’s prices are wallet-friendly. On weekdays, there’s a set lunch menu with prices starting from $15.80 for a Tori Nanban Set with tartar sauce-drizzled fried chicken. For unagi lovers, there’s also an Unajyu Set ($18.80) with grilled unagi on rice.

With the exception of the sushi sets, most of the lunch sets here come with Japanese koshihikari rice, chawanmushi, tomato salad, miso soup and pickles. Pretty filling stuff.

If you like sushi, go for the value-for-money Assorted Aburi Sushi Set ($18.80), which comes with hotate (scallop), salmon, unagi, akaebi (Argentine red shrimp) and sides of ebi fry maki, croquette, chilled zaru inaniwa udon and tomato salad.

The sen-ryo Sushi Set (pictured, $20) offers a selection of assorted sushi like unagi, aburi salmon, akami maguro (red tuna cut from the upper back of the fish) and hamachi (Japanese amberjack). It also comes with chawanmushi, miso soup and a tomato salad.

The priciest lunch set, a Deluxe Sashimi Set ($42), comes with eight types of sashimi including uni and chutoro (tuna belly).

For something soupy and comforting, there’s a Wagyu Sukiyaki Set ($27) and Nabeyaki Udon (udon noodle soup served in an earthenware pot, $25), the latter also served with an assortment of sashimi.

The a la carte menu here is also surprisingly affordable, with a two-piece tamagoyaki starter topped with a dollop of pure mentaiko going for just $2.80.

This seafood dobin mushi comes in a little ceremonial teapot with fresh steamed seafood broth jazzed up with a squeeze of tangy lime and clams, prawns and shimeji mushrooms. The cloudy broth is poured out into a teacup and savoured in small sips, before tucking into the seafood. Order this if you want something warm and light to whet your appetite before the main course.

You can assemble your own uni temaki sushi (hand roll) with this fun dish, which comes with a 200g tray of briny, creamy Hokkaido bafun uni, clean-tasting sushi rice, ikura, seaweed and ribbons of cucumber. A platter can make six to eight petite hand rolls.

Exclusive to Singapore’s menu is this elegant nabemono, Japanese-style hotpot that can be eaten individually or shared. Our hotpot is served on a small portable gas stove by the staff, who helps us cook our food on the spot. The rich, tasty broth is spiked with soy milk, in which simmers ingredients like springy, meaty snow crab, mushrooms, tofu and veggies. Delish and value-for-money.

The fattiest part of the tuna belly, air flown twice weekly from Tokyo’s Toyosu Fish Market (formerly known as Tsukiji), melts decadently in our mouth. Its price is comparable to casual sushi chain like Itacho Sushi.

Served on a cast iron pan, the chicken thigh side here is cooked robatayaki-style, albeit over an electric grill instead of charcoal due to the mall’s fire safety regulations. But the tender, subtly-charred chunks are still pretty decent and go well with warm white rice.

Compared to the savoury dishes, the desserts we try at sen-ryo are passable but not memorable. If you have not tried the viral transparent raindrop cake that was heavily Instagrammed a few years back, the version here is a delicately wobbly (not stodgy, like some raindrop cakes we’ve tried) orb sprinkled with kinako (soybean) powder and brown sugar syrup.

#03-14 Ion Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, S238801. Tel: 6974-6782. Open daily 11.30am-10.30pm. Facebook, Instagram.

Photos: Aik Chen & sen-ryo