Warm, subsurface ocean waters that access ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are likely to be a key driver of high meltrates and ice shelf thinning. Numerical models of the ocean circulation have been essential for gaining understanding of the mechanisms responsible for heat delivery and meltrate response, but a number of challenges remain for simulations that incorporate this region. Here, we explore how sub ice shelf cavity circulation and meltrate patterns are impacted by parameterization schemes for (1) subgrid-scale ocean turbulence, and (2) ice-ocean interactions. We focus on developing a numerical model for the steady state ocean circulation underneath the Pine Island ice shelf, and validate a suite of numerical experiments against available mooring observations and satellite derived meltrate patterns. Each model is forced with data-informed open boundary conditions that bear the imprint of the gyre in Pine Island Bay. We find that even at a ∼600 m grid resolution, flow aware ocean parameterizations for subgrid-scale momentum and tracer transfer are crucial for representing the circulation and meltrate pattern adequately. Our simulations show that enhanced meltwater diffusion near the ice-ocean interface drives vigorous near wall velocities via thermal wind, which subsequently increases meltrates near the grounding line. Incorporating a velocity dependent ice-ocean transfer coefficient together with a flow aware ocean turbulence parameterization therefore seems to be necessary for modelling the sub ice shelf ocean circulation at this resolution.