Namazake
I was visiting my favorite yakitori when one of the (Japanese) waitresses, who is used to me, suggested rather meaningfully that I order a glass of namazake. There was a limited supply, and it was very tasty and she thought I would like it. We were all a little bit skeptical; one glass cost $8. But then, after ordering the namazake, which is a kind of unfiltered sake, our waitress filled the glass so full, it spilled into the specially designed coaster/bowl you see pictured below. Essentially, we had two glasses for the price of one! Hooray!
Funnily enough, my boyfriend switched to beer partway through the meal, while my talented-writer-friend Vanessa and I ordered more sake. Later, the waitress told me that namazake is a somewhat feminine drink because it is so sweet. “Men usually switch to beer after the first cup,” she said.
Male or female, if you can get your taste-buds around some namazake, I suggest you try it. It’s a nice way to get through the cold winter months!
I thought Namazake was usually cloudy - e.g. this picture at my blog
PS Tried tacking back to this post without apparent success hence the comment
January 9th, 2006 at 2:27 amWhen I sampled a few sakes at a shop in Niigata station, the salesperson remarked that women tend to like nigorizake because it’s sweeter. Despite the sweetness, I kind of like the unfiltered stuff as well, but I ended up with a slightly more karakuchi variety that was very good in its own right.
One of our favorite restaurants in Ashikaga has quite a sake list, and they always serve it in topped-off glass inside a wooden shaku.
Germans have a little ditty about wine after beer being just fine, but beer after wine being not so fine. I feel kind of similar about sake and beer.
January 9th, 2006 at 6:10 pm