Should I have the wine or sake pairing?

Going to n/naka here in Los Angeles and can’t decide whether to have the wine pairing or sake pairing. Obviously this is a wine forum, so people may skew towards wine but I would love to hear thoughts on which to go with and why?

I love wine, I am fairly unfamiliar with sake.

Here are their ‘sample menus’ and ‘sample wine and sake list’
http://n-naka.com/menus/

Much if this will depend on what you think of the wine selections. I don’t think the wines chosen are very good, nor a good match for the food but if you can’t wait to drink Argentine Cab and Napa Sav Blanc, don’t let me stop you.
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The sake chosen are good examples from excellent breweries so if you have any interest at all, this is a good opportunity to learn more. it’s not in the pairing, but do ask to try the Tedorigawa Iki Na Onna which they have by the glass. I’m a big fan of the brewery.

I have a WSET Level 3 in Sake and have extensive experience pairing it with food, so please feel free to ask any questions you like.

Thanks Paul! I think it’s a great chance for me to learn about sake! Thank you for recommending that particular sake! I know so little about sake I don’t even know what to ask! lol.

Okay, here’s a question: can you recommend any online resources to give me the basics about sake? Like winefolly.com for sake?

I too agree with Paul, and leaning towards sake being a better choice for pairing. I personally feel the sake pairing should go along well with the fish/seafood focused meal leading on towards the dessert which sounds amazing. Also try the Kokuryu, Junmai Ginjo too if you get the chance it’s really good, one of my go to producers. Enjoy your meal there!

Barry,

I write a monthly sake offer focused on education. You can sign up for it here Sake

Here’s a link to the first offer that gives some background on rice polishing. Feb Offer - Google Docs

Here’s a great video of my friend Monica decoding a menu Watch: How to Read a Sake Menu - Eater

And lastly, I have a sake focused Instagram: @namazakepaul Namazake Paul Imports (@namazakepaul) • Instagram photos and videos

agreed, but if this were sushi, I’d choose wines. As a general rule I like
-wine with sushi
-sake with cooked Japanese dishes and Western approaches to fish/green veg/cheese/dairy/egg
-wine or sake with other western food

Whatever you decide. Food and service is the best in LA

That’s great to hear! So you prefer it to Providence?

If I want to be consistently disappointed by food at that price level, I like to go to Providence. [snort.gif]

When @CFu @John_Liotta and I went to Hayato last week, the proprietor/chef poured some Kokuryu Junmai Ginjo ‘Black Dragon’ for us as a palate cleanser between two of the many, many courses - both John and I were quite impressed, asked about it. I went to Hi Time to buy some, definitely outperforms it’s classification, to me, thinking it must be Junmai Daiginjo. Brought one bottle to our favorite local sushi restaurant last night and happily shared with the chef/owners.

I only saw 4 bottles at Hi-Time and I bought 3 of them :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Daiginjo doesn’t mean a sake is “higher level” or, crudely, better. Not at all. It’s just a polish rate category. Higher polish can change the flavor profile, among other things, but it doesn’t make it deeper, richer, more complex to throw out a few wine words for “better.” To some of us, higher polish is actually less interesting a lot of the time. In wine terms, Ginjo and Daiginjo are not like 1er cru and grand cru, so outperforming its designation doesn’t make any sense unless what you mean is that it was more clean, minty and melony (my broad brushstrokes for Daiginjo profile) than you expected.

Edited to add: Thinking about it more, the sweetness levels in Riesling might be a better analogy, though not perfect, for polish levels in sake. Auslese isn’t better than, or a superior classification to, spatlese. It’s just a set of technical differences that results in a different style of wine. A different experience. A different pairing tool.

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