A trip to the Japanese capital would not be complete without sampling the famed national tipple, and there are few more stylish places to get intimately acquainted with sake than at Dassai Bar 23.
Diminutive though it may be, the tucked away Tokyo Square Garden bolthole is an elegant study in sophisticated beverage appreciation, with just eight bar-stool perches surrounding the cedarwood counter, and a subtle tile and pale wood fitout ensuring there is no distraction from the stars of the show.
The concise, highly-curated selection of six grades of premium sake, along with two varieties of its patent bubbly nigori-shu, hails from remote Yamaguchi micro-brewery Asahi Shuzo and is designed for sipping and savouring, so order from the light bites menu (including a simply unmissable Karasumi salt-cured mullet roe) and settle in for an education.
Dassai Bar 23, B/1 Tokyo Square Garden, 3-1-1 Kyobashi , Chuo-ku, Tokyo. +81 3 5542 1623, dassaibar23.com
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