Big Sake Bar @ 302 Beach Rd (The Concourse Skyline)

Big Sake Bar is a contemporary Japanese izakaya'esque place that serves contemporary fusion Japanese, and plenty of sake. The place is located at The Concourse Skyline and is within walking distance from Sultan Gate. Its taxi drop-off point is somewhat disorientating and somehow I ended up at the Concourse instead. Just keep to the same side and walk further towards Sultan Gate and one will see a row of dining places, inclusive of Big Sake Bar.

internal decor of old school Japanese posters

Overall, the place feels a bit smallish but cosy. Be greeted upon entrance and it could accommodate groups of 8 pax as per our party size. On the other end from our table, there is space for another 4 pax.

table for 4

We ordered a bottle of Nabeshima "Pink Label" which is of the Tokubetsu Hanjozo variant. From Saga, Kyushu with ABV 15%. The sake is clear and has a clean dry mouthfeel, with aromas of grain. Tasty and easy to drink.

Nabeshima "Pink Label" 720ml @$88+

Plus, the sake cups were so cute! I liked my deep blue cup with a 3D koi in it.

there's a koi in my sake (cup)

For starters, we got the izakaya favourite of tako wasabi, which was essentially chopped raw octopus with wasabi. For the uninitiated, this dish is rather slimey and strongly flavoured but goes well with the drinks.

tako wasabi, served with seaweed sheets @$8+

たこわさ

Agedashi Tofu @$8+

Nitako @$12+

The agedashi tofu was different from what I'm used to have. The tofu here is thinly sliced before being battered and deep fried. So cool, and looked lovely when plated. Tasted soft too. 

The nitako is said to be boiled octopus in special sauce. However, there were more chopped cucumber and tomatoes in there, than the octopus so I'll skip this one and have the tako wasabi instead.

Tamago Mentaiyaki @$10+

For a dish with a bit more luxury, we opted for the Hotate Foie Gras from the Chef's Special section. Whoa, foie gras and scallop for just $18? Yaassss! Give me more! But alas, we exercised restrained and managed to share this amongst the many of us.

Hotate Foie Gras ホタテのフォアグラ @$18+

What's a Japanese meal without sashimi? Why, it is an incomplete one! And hence, we had the Hirame Uni Sashimi. Seems like this is not in its online menu though.

Hirame Uni Sashimi @$40+

Hirame is a type of flounder and sliced thinly for sashimi with an almost translucent flesh. Clean, firm and slightly bouncy chew and has a mild flavour. Paired with creamy uni for an immediate elevated contrast in texture as well as flavour!

For the non-drinkers, we had green tea in jugs as well. Its price is based on per head. But one could have unlimited refills.

green tea @$2+ per head

But what about our main dish? The highlights at Big Sake Bar would be its kushiyaki, I'd think. Large chunks of meat on skewers? A resounding yes! For the kushiyaki platter, one could opt for either 6 or the 9 sticks with different pricing. However, it would be an omakase style where the chef decides on the items to be served.

Kushiyaki platter - 9 kinds of grilled skewers 串焼き @$30+ per plate

For our 9 sticks platter, there were about 7 meat skewers and two vegetables. My favourites (surprisingly comprised of vegetable skewers!) were the shitake mushrooms, brinjal and the butabara (pork belly) skewers. So good. Expect a heavy hand in seasoning but it all tasted so good with the sake.

Each stick of the butabara 豚バラ is priced at $4.50+ so we had a repeat of those to satisfy the meat cravings.

Speaking of meat cravings, we also had a plate of grilled pork jowl (pork cheek). The texture was kind of firm yet crunchy crisp. Not like a cracker but in the meat-kind of context.

Pork Cheek @$16+

If you prefer something warm and soothing but does not want to load up on the carbs, why not have the Yasai Takiawase. A bowl of comforting stewed vegetable. There were pumpkin, carrot, daikon, brinjal and shitake mushrooms. So good and the awesome taste!

Yasai Takiawase @$9+

By this time, our belly are full and the alcohol kicking in, so to end our night, let's share some delicious warm soup.

soup of the day @$10+

All in all, we spent about $52 per pax for an evening of relaxed vibes, in good company and good food. The food is reasonably priced and at the moment, there is no GST, only 10% service charge.

Thank you Ivan for making the reservation. An enjoyable evening with the boys; Hoong An, Alvin, Hence and the girls; Tracy and Elle.

Big Sake Bar

Address: 302 Beach Rd, #01-02, Singapore 199600

Website: https://www.bigsakebar.com

Contact: 62912700, 96567105

Business Hours:

Mondays to Saturdays - 5:00pm - 12midnight

Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays

[Media Invite] KANPAI! The Day of Sake 2018 日本酒の日 KANPAI!イベント2018

1 October is also known as 'World Sake Day' or 'Sake Day'. This is an annual event held in the celebration of sake (酒), a well-beloved alcoholic beverage. One of my favourite in fact. Was invited by the good folks at Grand Copthorne Waterfront to join in the KANPAI! event in celebration of Sake Day.

Had fun tasting the sake and shochu from the different breweries and prefectures, and of course, enjoyed the delicious food available from Grissini. This year's food theme for the KANPAI event was local favourites. There were buffet style small plates of chicken rice, roast pork, Singapore laksa, rojak, satay and various kuehs such as ang ku kueh (紅龜粿) and kueh dadar.

The first sake tasted was the Daiginjo Tokugawa Ieyasu (named after the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, and one of the three unifiers of Japan). The Tokugawa clan crest is printed on the box.

Tokugawa Ieyasu Daiginjo (Maruishi Jozo) - 徳川 家康 大吟醸

Daiginjo Tokugawa Ieyasu

The taste was a balanced sweet with a smooth mouthfeel. Lovely!

sake set

Next up, was Apple Chan. Cute, right? I believe this was the first time am trying a Nama Sake (生酒) which is said to be the freshest sake because it did not underwent any pasteurization. A Tokubetsu Junmai (特別純米) is a high quality sake. Apple Chan (Ringochan) tasted light, dry and slightly fruity. It was almost as if the sake was imbued with the fragrance of green apple.

AZAKURA RINGOCHAN TOKUBETSUJUNMAI NAMA (秋田酒こまち) and DAINA TOKUBETSU JUNMAI 13 GENSHU (山田錦)

Let's move away a little while from the delicious sake to sample the food from Grissini's kitchen. There were live stations for Singapore Laksa, Satay and Chicken Rice.

Singapore Laksa - one for you and one for me

Satay

Steamed Chicken Rice with Roast Pork

Peking Duck

With food in the belly, it was then time to sample more drinks! This time round, shochu. Shochu is distilled while sake is fermented. Shochu can be distilled from rice, sweet potato, buckwheat (soba) or brown sugar. I've tried all except the ones distilled from soba.

Shochu (焼酎)

Be forewarned that shochu has higher alcoholic content than sake and wine but weaker than whisky. One could have it neat, on the rocks, with water or mixed with oolong tea or fruit juice or mixed with soda and other flavours such as yuzu/ume.

these two were pretty potent (the one on the left strongest!)

can't resist

so many to try

And at the appointed hour, everyone raised their glasses to toast for a bountiful year ahead! Kanpai!

乾杯

Thank you Gilbert for the invite and Grand Copthorne Waterfront for hosting the event. It was enjoyable and educational as well. Learnt more about sake (and shochu) and still discovering the characteristics of the different types and specialty of the breweries.

510 Sake Bar @ Novena

Located right next to Nickeldime Drafthouse, 510 Sake Bar has finally opened. Visited this place 'coz I told Frank that yes, will be visiting when his sake bar is opened. Congratulations!

This place is just a few months old, and hence, it is probably still evolving. They got themselves a new chef recently, so looking forward to the creations of Chef Terence, whom had a stint at 2 Michelin-starred restaurant, Quince, in San Francisco.

entrance

types of sake currently available

If you are looking for a place that has sake flight, then you are going to be dissappointed as that option is currently unavailable at this place. It's a pity, really. For sake noobs like myself, I'd appreciate if the sake bar offers a tasting portion option. Currently, a good option to try sake in tasting portions would be at Isetan Westgate where one could try the sake (usually 3 different types are available) for $5 per glass.

sake 日本酒 and shochu 燒酒 menu

At the moment, the smallest serving size of the sake is in 250 ml carafe which typically ranges from $15++ to $35++.

Got myself a Kubota Senju Tokubetsu Honjozo (特別本醸造酒) from Niigata. The honjozo is made from rice, water and koji (mold) and yeast with a small amount of distilled alcohol added at the end of fermentation. From a person who enjoys junmai daiginjyo (純米大吟醸酒), the honjozo was somewhat at the other end, where flavour intensity was played down. It tasted mild, crisp clean (pure) and has just a slight tinge of sweetness. Good thing was, it gave a good buzz after 3 cups. A carafe yielded about 4 cups of sake.

Chef Terence carefully pouring out the sake

Kubota Senju Tokubetsu Honjozo (特別本醸造酒) @$25++

Expect tapas portions for food. Food menu can be found on the board, or simply ask Chef Terence what's off the menu for that day. For today, he has stashed away some Japanese scotch egg for diners to try. Expect ramen egg (ajitsuke tamago), breaded with panko and deep fried.

food board

 As Chef has worked in Spain prior to his Japan stint in Tokyo, one will likely find some Spanish influenced creation in the menu. Friendly and amicable, it was an enjoyable conversation to have and to share common love of food with one another.

For me, give me some Honey Soyu Glazed Wings that has been confitted in bacon fat. Sitting at the bar allows a clear view on how the food was cooked and plated.

Honey Soyu Glazed Wings @$5++ (half portion)

Wings were gloriously sweet and flavourful on its outerside, but unfortunately, its insides were rather bland.

Baked Scallop with wakame and mentaiko @$12++

The scallop was imported from Hokkaido, diced and baked just about right but not too much, wakame was added in for contrast in texture and lastly, mentaiko sauce was piled on it with a dash of teriyaki as well. I think I'm rather 'purist' in terms of scallops. Still preferred those freshly grilled scallops from Hakodate Morning Market, that was flavoured simply with shoyu and butter. I do enjoy mentaiko dishes but am all for chunkier scallops! Although probably the diced bites allow more sauce to be coated. I think the Kawa Ebi Angel Hair Pasta with seaweed and ikura might be a better choice in terms of value for money.

For sake bar food, am looking forward to more substantial serving portions and probably more meat items such as pork belly and beef. How about consider putting some stir fry vegetables and garlic fried rice into the food menu, perhaps?

Bacchus Wine Shop @ Isetan Westgate

Located at B2 Isetan Westgate, the latest mall at Jurong East.Was walking around at the liquor section of Isetan, and had just sampled some sake. Was contemplating whether to get any but can't decide because it felt kinda risky to get a big bottle then ended up not drinking it.

Suddenly, came across this area that looked like a bar. Hmm, went closer and discovered that they do serve wine, as well as sake. And the best thing is, one can buy the food from Isetan and have it together with the alcohol. Nice.

menu

come early, to get seats

Got myself a seafood chirashi bento from Mikoma @$12 (after 20% discount). And a $5 Taiheizan Tenkou (junmai daiginjo) sake. The seafood bento has one cooked prawn, one raw prawn, one hotate, one slice of smoked/cooked salmon, plenty of shredded crab meat and some ikuras. Has quite a bit of rice too, so ended up with a rather full tummy.

seafood chirashi, sake and some nuts (complimentary from the bar)

The Taiheizan Tenkou Junmai Daiginjoshu (太平山天巧 純米大吟醸酒) sake has 16.5% alcohol and a +2 in sake meter value and a 1.5 acidity.

Junmai Daiginjoshu ranks high in sake world as premium grade with no distilled alcohol added. Brewed using very precise and labour intensive methods.

Liked the taste as it was somewhat sweet. Very light, clear taste and has a peculiar fragrance to it. Easy to drink, but had to drink it slowly since it's pretty high in alcohol content!

Was quite fun to talk to others who were there to chill and drink. Met a wonderful couple, Peter and Dee. Peter had to work unfortunately, so Dee was my companion for the rest of the evening. So, if you're there, do say hi to Dee, an elegant looking lady whom people might mistake her for being a Japanese! Thanks Dee, my evening wasn't so lonely after all.

The patrons at the bar were quite friendly too. After sometime, it felt like everybody's is everybody else's friends.

friendly and hardworking staff, Edmund

Also tried the La Spinetta Moscato (@$10). That was quite yums too. Mellow, fruity, smooth and sweet.

No worries if you don't feel like having sushi with wine. Tierney's cart is just right next to the bar, if you'd like some cold cuts with cheese to go along with the wine. Think I'll probably grab some fried chicken and wakame the next time I'm there. Bar food with wine and sake.

One can also buy the alcohol from the liquor section and have it at Bacchus too. So, cheers!