When I looked up "best Japanese restaurant" in Canberra, Raku was the obvious front runner, with many people extolling its virtues. I always look up the best local Japanese when we travel, as we love eating Japanese food and I am always interested to see how other places do it differently. We are lucky in … Continue reading RAKU- A sublime dining experience.
On the 1st June our Taste with the Toji Session 5, hosted by the lovely Sake Mistress, Simone, took us to the idyllic seaside town of Ine, in the north of Kyoto Prefecture, to a wonderful quirky brewery as unique and as lovely as the Toji who makes the sake there. Mukai Shuzo has been … Continue reading Sake By The Sea
Last Sunday night we had the pleasure of virtually visiting an extraordinary sake brewery in Japan that is definitely the rebellious teenager of the sake world. Miyoshikiku Shuzo is situated in Tokushima, in Shikoku, and the sake is as charismatic as the Toji, Ryoichiro Mamiya. This event was the 6th in the Taste with the … Continue reading Punks Not Dead… And Nor Is Sake
Last year, somewhere between sitting our WSET Level 3 exam and receiving our results, Super Sake Boy and I had the privilege to be asked to pour sake at the Melbourne Sake Matsuri. It was a great deal of fun. It was also an excellent learning experience and we had the opportunity to work alongside … Continue reading Gozenshu…Taste with the Toji with an ancient twist
From the moment we heard that Simone, the Sake Mistress, was hosting another Taste the Toji session, this time with Rumiko Moriki of Moriki Shuzo, we were excited. Super Sake Boy and I had met Rumiko-san and her husband, Hideki-san, at an excellent afternoon at Tamura Sake Bar in Melbourne. Hosted by Black Market Sake, … Continue reading Another exceptional sake experience…Taste with the Toji- with manga and a frog
My friend Simone, the Sake Mistress, is a clever and creative being. She was on a trajectory when COVID-19 hit and we were on our way to sip much sake and tour breweries together when international travel was pulled from current reality. She is a sake educator, but also has a hospitality background, and hosts … Continue reading Taste with the Toji- an online, lockdown, sake experience like no other…
Twenty five days ago I wrote a blog about our impending trip to Japan. It feels like a year ago. Needless to say our plans have been completely disbanded and even if we wanted to leave the country, we could not. I am somewhat relieved we were not stuck in a difficult situation of being … Continue reading Love in the Time of Coronavirus… or The Quiet Ryokan
Back in May I wrote a blog about Super Sake Boy and I taking the WSET Level 3 Award in Sake course and examination. You can read the blog here. At the time we knew we would have to wait eight to ten weeks to receive our results. It occurred to me when I re-read … Continue reading Sake Qualified
Earlier this year, a wonderful little bar opened near the top end of Gertrude Street in Fitzroy. Dark and mysterious, but cleverly illuminated with a welcoming glow from inside, Tamura Sake Bar has all the wonderful things a sake bar in Japan has, namely great sake, great food and wonderfully generous hospitality, here in Melbourne. … Continue reading Tamura Sake Bar- A Haven in Fitzroy
On Thursday morning we had decided to go back into Tokyo with Mum and Ted and make sure they got to the right place at the right time. They were flying out early Friday morning and had decided staying at a hotel near the airport would be easier than staying in Tokyo overnight. We also … Continue reading Tokyo Parental Drop…
