Next time you’re out and there’s saké by the glass on the drinks list, I implore you to ask about it. If you’re the kind of person who appreciates a thoughtful wine pairing, you’re likely to derive just as much pleasure from its rice-based cousin. Saké production has traditionally been restricted to the colder months in Japan, when breweries host kurabiraki, or opening ceremonies, to launch the season’s brews. What better way to celebrate the days getting a little longer?
Tsuchida Te To Te saké at Sune
Sommelier and Sune co-owner Honey Spencer is one of London’s most passionate flag-flyers for inventive saké pairings. There has always been a saké by-the-glass at her restaurant when I’ve been, but she tells me she’s recently launched some tempting new pairings. The Te To Te (meaning “sky and hand”) is a savoury, low-intervention saké made with the hands-on Edo-period “kimoto” method. “It’s wildly savoury,” she says. “And tastes a bit like Monster Munch dipped in marmite.” Pair it with Sune’s smoked eel on toast.
A humble saké flight at Humble Chicken
There’s no cursory glass of saké in the pairings on this Michelin-starred, Japanese-inspired tasting menu: there’s an entire flight. When I was last at Humble Chicken, I had a combination of the wine and saké menu, but now I’ll most definitely be focusing on the team’s saké favourites. Restaurant manager Aidan Monk is such a saké obsessive he’s earned the nickname “White Samurai” – his favourite, Noguchi Naohiko's Yamahai Omachi muroka nama genshu, is my next must-drink.
Yuki Blossom at Isabel
If your chips have all come in at once and some Mayfair glamour beckons, there’s the Yuki Blossom at Isabel. As an enormous fan of The Real Housewives of London, I was champing at the bit to go to one of their regular haunts (without having a drink thrown in my face). The Yuki Blossom is the dearest but most spring-appropriate cocktail on the list – a heady mix of Yukigama saké, Suntory whisky, peach liqueur, jasmine, honey and green tea.
This article first appeared in the third issue of Broadsheet London's magazine. Here's where to find a copy.
