Mixing wine and sake with omakase at Shoukouwa

Japanese cuisine is known for natural, subtle flavours from the freshest ingredients – a fact that makes it surprisingly amenable to a variety of alcohol pairings. Sake is the natural choice, but champagne, whisky and wine can all make for successful combinations.

Japanese fine-dining sushi restaurant Shoukouwa at One Fullerton, which recently reopened after renovation, is celebrating this versatility of Japanese food with a top-notch selection of wines and sakes.

The tipples are specially curated by Singapore’s first Master of Wine, Mr Tan Ying Hsien, a former lawyer and one of 419 qualified Masters of Wine globally.

The wines and sakes are respectable, award-winning sips in themselves. But when combined with the hand-crafted omakase dishes by Shoukouwa’s Nagoya-born chef Kazumine Nishida, each elevates the other.

Chef Nishida’s menu at the two-Michelin-starred restaurant sources its ingredients from Tokyo’s iconic Toyosu seafood market to produce a fresh and seasonal menu (from $350++ a person) that varies from day to day.

Alongside this menu, diners can enjoy a mixed wine and sake pairing for $308++, or pair just wines for $348++. A sake-only pairing is $258++. 

The wines include Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc La Crau Domaine Vieux Telegraphe 2021, a woody and balanced white that highlights the fresh, natural flavours of dishes such as Shoukouwa’s Ika (squid) nigiri sushi – finely diced squid pressed together with rice. 

Highlights in the sake selection include the Katsuyama Ken Junmai Ginjo, which won the sake category in the 2019 edition of the International Wine Challenge. It boasts a crisp, smooth profile that complements Chef Nishida’s kasugo (baby seabream) nigiri.

Where: Shoukouwa Sushi Restaurant, 02-02...