Koshi no Kanbai

Koshi no Kanbai, literally "cold/winter plums of Niigata", is arguably one of the best sake in all of Japan.  It's been long overdue that I posted something about my favourite sake, so here it is folks, my little tribute to Koshi no Kanbai.

That's right folks, 1.8 litres of liquid heaven. 

Koshi no Kanbai next to some of it's "lesser" brethen in the world of booze.

 

I'm in heaven.  

I used to bring a bottle of this stuff back regularly when I was going to Japan every month but it's been a very, very long time since I made a trip over there.  This was my last bottle and was holding on to it like it was a pot of gold.  I ended up bringing it to this year's Annual Iaido Seminar over in Nanaimo and it was shared  and very much appreciated among some sensei from Japan.

Octopus Garden had a bottle of Koshi no Kanbai a few years back, and the going price was about $300 CAD.  I don't think I could bring myself to pay $300, but I'm starting to cave because it's been a while now and I have no idea when I'll be going back to Japan.

Zakkushi

Zakushi first opened up shop on Denman near Robson as a little Japanese BBQ/grill place. It was a noisy little place filled with BBQ smoke and poor poor ventilation. After my first visit, my ears were ringing, my clothes stank of BBQ meat, I had a nice full stomach, and I was probably a little drunk......I loved it! It really reminded me of some of the places I went to when I was in Japan, and the nostalgia really hit me. This was all part of the charm, but some winy customer probably complained to health and safetly official now it's a lot less smokey - in fact, there's no smoke at all.

Since then, they've opened a few more shops and the one I usually go to now is the one on 4th Avenue near Burrard Street. It's a cozy little place, but the problem is, there's very little seating and the place is always full. Still, despite all that, I still like to go there as I don't have to fight through downtown traffice to get there. Sake to go with the snacks....actually, should be the other way around....snacks to go with the sake, but I guess we just don't drink that much...
Tako-wasa, one of my favourite drinking snacks.
Gomae

Bacon-wrapped asparagus and p-toro (pork belly) More P-toro goodness.
Beef carpaccio....I think.
Ahi-tuna salad
Chicken karaage
Grilled shishamo, a nice alternative to the typical deep-fried variety often found in crappy all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurants. This really is one of the ultimate companions to sake or beer.
I think this was black cod.

More p-toro
Tori-kawa

Beef stew - something that tastes like home. Mentaiko kimchi udon.

My friends and I have gone to Zakkushi on numerous occasions, even booked the whole place and had a few birthday parties there. The prices are reasonable for a drinking establishment. I personally don't go there to get full, but it's a defintely a pretty cool place to have a few drinks.