Sake Tasting

After reading about the Sake Tasting at Tsuru on the Food Stories blog recently, I broached the topic with a few of the girls at work, who were - to my surprise - really excited by the idea. We booked ourselves in for the next tasting on the 12 May and looked forward to what promised to be an unusual tasting event.

I have to admit - I was a 'Sake Virgin', as our host Ngaire Takani deemed us, so wasn't quite sure what to expect. We tried four different Sakes (and were fortunately given some notes), two by a brewer called Akashi-tai and two by a brewer called Sawanohana, who is apparently trialling their product in the UK on us guinea pigs. Considering how low in alcohol sake is (15-17%), I found it tasted very strong. I don't drink spirits generally and this definitely reminded me of sipping a spirit more than a wine.

Along with our sake, we ate edamame beans, marinated chicken skewers, potsticker dumplings, three types of sushi and an incredibly rich chocolate brownie. The food was all excellent, very fresh and full of flavour.

Unfortunately, I guess, while Ngaire was incredibly knowledgeable and the cause of promoting sake is an admirable one, I didn't really enjoy it that much and probably won't rush out to buy any. That being said, it was an excellent night, the food was great, the drinks were drinkable and educational and I would highly recommend both the Sake Tasting and the restaurant itself.

Tsuru
4 Canvey Street
London
SE1 9AN