sake

While I was in the process of planning my trip to Japan, the most common question I received was along the lines of “Are you planning any big sushi meals?” My answer to that was always a resounding yes, and while I was in Japan, I did indeed enjoy quite a bit of sushi over my two weeks there. One thing I spent an inordinate amount of time researching for my trip was where to have one blowout omakase experience. I wanted something very high quality, but not super formal or regimented. I wanted something where I would feel welcomed as a foreigner, but where I’d be dining with mostly locals.

I hit the jackpot. Sushi Saisho in the Ginza neighbourhood of Tokyo ticked all those boxes. And it did, mostly because of the sushi master himself, Saisho.

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Before heading to Japan, I had only tried sake a few times. After being in Japan, I have realized that I have not ever tried any credible or quality sake in my life prior. Much of my sake awakening came in the form of an afternoon and early evening tasting in Tokyo. Part formal, part informal, it ended up being one of the most fun things I did while visiting Japan back in the fall.

Prior to leaving Canada, I had arranged a “sake experience” via AirBnB that had been highly reviewed. The experience started out with some learning about the history and brewing of sake, as well as its classifications, all aimed toward helping make me a more informed customer. To make the learning go down nice and easy, there was some initial sampling involved. Nice touch!