Godenya
We saved the best for last. Goshima Shinya, affectionately known as Goshi-san by his regulars, chef and sake master at Godenya, closed up his Tokyo shop (also named Godenya) in 2016 to show Hong Kong what his country has to offer. Obsessed with discovering the secret of minute differences between taste and the sensations they deliver, Goshi-san has been working on the various possibilities of matching sakes with fine foods since he was just 20 years old. After training at a sake brewery, Goshi-san published his university graduation thesis, A Study of Overseas Consumption of Sake, which became the most cited article on the topic of “sake globalisation”.
We have never met a man so meticulously dedicated to sake, nor one with such a fine palate. There are only seven seats at the bar inside this nondescript restaurant, and reservations can only be made after acquiring a top-secret password on their site. Even when you visit, you may very well miss the covert door tucked into an alley that’s actually above its listed address. There is only a single sake pairing dinner menu, the contents of which are hyper-seasonal and combine the best of Japanese haute cuisine and technique as well as some familiar Cantonese ingredients.
Each course is minimal, delectable, and served with a sake in a different container and cup that is tasted and temperature-controlled by Goshi-san himself. The highlights of our visit were the strong starter of Botan-ebi, Scallops, Ikura, Yuba, and Seed of Grass that was served with the 2018–2019 Iseno Shiroki (Mie) Junmai Nama Sparkling at 10 degrees Celsius exactly, and the simple Pumpkin, Century Egg, and Beetroot dish that was paired with the Monsoon (Shiga) Junmai Kijoshu 2018–2019 served at precisely 40 degrees Celsius.
We were left full, drunk, and in awe of Godenya, clutching our daily printed menus in both English and Japanese, and a simple map of Japan that listed the origins of the breweries and ingredients used in that night’s experience.
Godenya, 128 Wellington Street, Central