Fukuoka Now attended the first Sake Sampler Night at Ippudo Stand in Daimyo, Tenjin last May 25 – and wow – it was packed! For just ¥1,500 we could choose between a set of two cups of sake plus two appetizers, or four varieties of sake.
For those who chose the two cups and two appetizers set, the sake included are “Biden Nigori”, sake with a rich yet mild and refreshing aftertaste – also good for drinking on the rocks, and “Ferry-chu”, limited edition raw sake raw sake.
The special appetizers on the day were sliced gokusaba (mackerel on boiled fish paste) straight from the shop of Tateishi Kamaboko, and karinto manju (fried dough cake manju) from Funaki, a handmade sweets specialty shop.
The writing on the box reads “I-ro-ha-ni”, which is a unique counting system taken from a traditional Buddhist Japanese syllabary order.
The four-sake set has a unique sake lineup: “Biden Nigori”, “Ferry-chu”, “Jungin Super Dry” (Jungin cho karakuchi) which goes down smooth but with a sharp taste, and “Biden Shinjo”, sake with a solid, good taste your taste buds will surely love.
Staff assisting guests with sake explanations
We also met sake brewmaster Inoue Tadatsugu of Miinokotobuki that night, who was there to teach people, particularly first-timers, all about sake. Friendly, English-speaking staff made us feel welcome, too. Foreigners who dropped by definitely had a good time!
Feel free to order ramen and other menu items such as onion rings, gyoza, mentaiko rice, Hakata buns and more, too! After polishing off our appetizers, we felt like going for ramen. Ippudo has just the right size in smaller bowls to fill us up. We also ordered more sake and kept the night going before switching to other drinks such as beer and highballs.
Check out the details of the next Sake Sampler Night and make sure to mark it down on your calendar.
• 6/22 (Thu.) (every 4th Thu. of the month)
• 19:00~22:00
• ¥1,500 (2 local sake with 2 paired side dishes, or 4 kinds of sake tasting)
• Ippudo Tenjin Nishi-dori / Ippudo Stand
• 1-12-61 Daimyo, Chuo-ku
• 092-707-3202
• Website
