Happy World Sake Day!
Akaoni has a wicked name! It literally means “red demon” in Japanese. And it’s located in the wickedly fun area of Sangenjaya!
I didn’t turn into a red demon when I visited, but I got immediately schooled by the waitress when I asked if they had any autumn sake such as akiagari or hiyaoroshi.
“This is a namazake speciality store,” she replied smoothly with a well-practised smile.
Akaoni specialises in unpasteurised sake. This is definitely NOT autumn sake, which is pasteurised once or twice in order to mature it over the summer.
Oh the shame 
I had no idea they were namazake specialists but fortunately… I love namazake 
I wasted no time in ordering some of their house specials (it seems they have direct contracts with some breweries) and I very much liked the Black Moon muroka-namagenshu. Later on, I also enjoyed Fukucho from Hiroshima brewed by a very talented female toji, Miho Imada. 
As for the food… Well, all hungry stomach demons will be really satisfied. Even the otoshi (small dish served at the beginning) made an impression – one was topped with some kind of creamy mushroom paste that I didn’t quite catch the explanation for, but want to eat it again!
We then tucked into three dishes from the seasonal specials menu:
Ginger shoots wrapped in pork…with a gentle amount of gingery kick.
Lotus root, tomato and anago (conger eel) agedashi – deep-fried and lightly stewed. Unami levels were sky-high.
Clay pot cooked rice 
And I was extremely hungry so I was being an extreme lightweight and needed to eat a salmon onigiri too 
(I then got takeout ramen, gyoza and takoyaki and… Yes, I really should be enormously fat! )
Akaoni
Mon – Fri 17:00 – 23:30; Sat 17:00 – 23:30; Sun 17:00 – 23:00
Pheebz Eatz 