Pubs, Bars and Nightlife

London bars raise a glass to sake with week celebrating rice wine | London Evening Standard

London is to cement its place as the sake capital of Europe with a week dedicated to the Japanese rice wine.

Lizzie Edmonds
London bars raise a glass to sake with week celebrating rice wine | London Evening Standard
London bars raise a glass to sake with week celebrating rice wineGoodness sake: Japanese rice wine is being championed in the capitalquintonwu/Pixabay

London is to cement its place as the sake capital of Europe with a week dedicated to the Japanese rice wine.

From today (Friday February 22), restaurants and bars will be hosting events, tastings and talks that introduce consumers to the drink and its cultural heritage.

More than 40 London restaurants, including SUSHISAMBA, La Fromagerie and Chick ‘n’ Sours, will offer diners the chance to try premium sake brands and run special food pairing menus for the Japanese government-backed event, which ends next Sunday.

It comes as exports of Japanese sake to the UK have grown substantially in recent years — with 297.8 kilolitres, or about £2.27million worth, of sake exported to the UK in 2018.