Sakagura (still not a) Liveblog!

The following is another one of my "liveblogs," wherein I visit a drinking establishment and record my observations as I become less and less coherent!

Tonight i'm at Sakagura, the best izakaya in all of New York, possibly the east coast. My guest to be got screwed at and is stuck at work, so i'm flying solo tonight. Can I has Sakagura Liveblog? You're damn right I can!

I'm trying a new sake called Dassai, it was recommended to me by a writer (though since she works for the brewer that makes Dassai, so she's not exactly impartial) who interviewed me at the Joy of Sake event last week.

Dassai 50, even the bottle looks cool

Fortunately, it seems that this recommendation was warranted, this is some damn good sake. Very smooth, a hint of fruit, and a clean finish. Just in time for my edemame!

I swear the edemame tasts almost buttery here, how the hell do they do that?

It's always a struggle to get seating here, and i've never seen the place anything less then completely packed, tonight is no exception.

Tonight I'm going with the soba and some Jagadango, since i'm not feeling particularly adventurous. I'll save that for my trip to Tokyo, and then only if im really drunk.

Speaking of... Since the Dassai was so good, i think i'll ask the staff here for a suggestion based on it they're usually very good with that.

The bartender/waitress reccomended Eiko Fuji, a Junmai Ginjo

Eiko Fuji, not the highlight of my night

OK, I've made a wondrous discovery... I do not like Eiko Fuji. Not very smooth and way too damn fruity. That's $13 i'm not getting back. Waitress Fail.

My guest finally confirmed that he can't make it, which is good in a way, since about a minute ago, I gave up and ordered my dinner, Soba is on the way!

Now that's some good soba!

Noting my displeasure with Fuji, the waitress just appeared out of nowhere with a glass and another bottle for me to try. This one came in what looks like an oil can, and goes by the name of Narutotai. Coincidentally, local Sake supplier, Sobaya's proprietor recently recommended the very same bottle a few weeks ago. It's not very smooth, however the flavor is quite good. It went very well with my soba. Waitress Redeemed!

Important Note: Jagadango, which is basically mashed potatoes coated in doughnut batter, then deep fried, and also happens to be my favorite dish at Sakagura, does absolutely nothing to make the Eiko Fuji any better.

That about wraps it up, time to pay the bill and hop the train, ciao!

Maps!

Earlier today I sat down with the lady-friend and made some extensive Izakaya-related additions to Puma's Tokyo Guide. Among them is an izakaya chain called En, which incidentally has a brasserie in New York that I have fond memories of.

In addition, I started compiling Puma's NYC Sake Bar List, a map of izakayas and Sake bars that I've either frequented or have been meaning to frequent. The plan is for each of the entries to eventually have notes regarding my experiences at each location.

Kenka (not at all)Liveblog!

On Saturday night, i found myself at Kenka, a very unusual Izakaya in the East Village on St. Mark's Place. I had a pen and paper with me and decided to record my thoughts as the night went on and as my glasses of sake became empty. This is not a review, not really, but more of a transcript of a live blog of my experience:

Right now I'm sitting in Kenka, easily the strangest Izakaya I've ever seen. It's aggressively Japanese and purposefully so. It reminds me of the Japanese version of the 50's diners which in trying to hard to be everything 50s, prevent themselves from accurately mirroring the source.

The massive, colorful menu features a variety of flamboyant Japanese movie protagonists from a half dozen movies, while the back page sports the gigantic visage of Gamera alongside the bar's bizarre rule set, which includes gems like "Graffiti must be in Japanese" and "masturbation is forbidden!"

The walls are adorned with vintage movie posters and product ads from that era, the tables are warped slabs of wood and the chairs are barely wicker stools which much like the distorted music blazing out of the speakers, it probably there to accentuate the place's "Japanese-ness"

Fortunately, the place isn't all overwhelming kitch, the aforementioned menu is filled with dishes the likes of which I've never even seen in this country. That said, i didn't come here to eat, I'm here to drink, and that's where this place knocks it out of the park. The first six pages of the menu are devoted entirely to alcohol. There's a page for beer, one for cocktails, then two for shochu and two for sake.

The sake section is impressive features a few of my personal favorites, so I went ahead and ordered a glass of Suishin to start me off, the delicious and often elusive Suigei will be next.

The place smells of cotton candy, I see people outside making it at an adjoining stand, i guess that's a way to keep the people waiting entertained.

The food looks delicious and the crowd keeps ordering up dish after dish, perhaps they know something that i don't. I really wish I were hungry right now.

One "Authentic Japanese" thing here that i can do without is the open air front entrance, it's only 75 degrees tonight and this place is already uncomfortably warm.

The distorted music now playing has been identified as "she wears short shorts," I'm convinced that I'm experiencing some sort of fever dream.

Short Shorts was followed up by "if you're happy and you know it," in Japanese.

There's a group of college-age girls at the table in front of me, they look very confused and when they took a look at the menu, their expressions only got worse.

They ordered french fries, I'm guessing the deep fried whole frog turned them off...

I've come full circle on my opinion of this place, it is a kitchy, over the top 50's diner... just the Japanese variation.