nashwa

One diner who said they were not especially fond of salmon roe was surprised by how well it worked with fruit tomato on bruschetta. Listed on the menu as “Hokkaido Salmon Roe and Fruit Tomato Bruschetta”, the combination of juicy tomato and roe looks tempting as a first small plate or between sips of sake.

Part of nashwa’s appeal is that its drinking snacks go beyond Japanese cuisine. The three-spice vegetable plate brings together pumpkin sabji, shiitake mushrooms stir-fried with mustard and a potato-and-coriander salad. Other dishes offer unexpected pairings, including aged French Clean Pork grilled after marinating in sake lees and miso, and silver cod marinated in Saikyo miso with blue cheese. Some diners have noted that portions are modest, making it well suited to ordering a few plates and sampling them one by one.

One diner recalled a particularly memorable pairing of chilled salted pork with Tamagawa sake served warm. The menu features sake from different parts of Japan, including aged varieties, so another way to enjoy a meal is to choose a dish that catches your eye, ask about it and find a sake to match.

nashwa may also appeal to anyone looking for somewhere to eat or drink quietly on their own. One visitor described sitting at the counter and hearing explanations about the food and sake. For an evening in Akabane, it offers a chance to choose sake alongside small plates that stray from the usual drinking snacks.