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Booze From Asia is Classier, More Efficient
Belltown is officially the hottest, sexiest neighborhood in Seattle, yet somehow the vibe is that of a college town where every single student is celebrating their 21st birthday. if you've ever been to Santa Barbara on a Thursday night, you can visualize this.
Amid this sea of hormones and smeared makeup, there's an oasis in the form of Umi Sake House, a relatively quiet, elegant lounge. There's a sushi bar and full kitchen, but the emphasis is on the many different types of sake available by the bottle.
The slightly calmer crowd within is probably due to the prices: The cheapest bottle is $35--and the nectar therein is pretty gross. True tastiness comes with a $150 price tag. The space is nice as well, white and bright inside with a more demure "patio" out back. We use that term liberally, as it's a Seattle-style patio: a room, with skylights. There's also a DJ, but he's spinning backgroundy music, not encouraging people to get up on the floor.
Related:
Umi Sake House [Citysearch]
Sake to Me [Jaunted]
Tags: Sake / Nightlife / → All Tags
Sake to Me
Until recently, sake was seen as old-fashioned and lame in Japan, something for drunk salarymen on trains, but nothing to get excited about. But sake has started to seem coolish again because of a new crop of bars and brands. Some of the bars, such as the tiny Buchi, are increasing demand by hiring women servers to encourage women customers to give the brew a chance.
A popular way to drink sake now is in "one-cups," single serving containers with less commitment and more style than the traditional bottles. Also on the upswing is "shochu," a sake cousin made of distilled barley, sweet potato or cane sugar. Because it originates in the town where the people supposedly live long (inebriated) lives, shochu comes with theoretical health benefits. As one businessman says, "In Kyushu, they drink shochu until 2am, then have a bowl of noodles and head home. By seven, they are back in the office. How do they do it? It must be the shochu."
No wonder you see so many Japanese businessmen sleeping on the train.
[Image via olivelife/Flickr]
Related Stories:
· Tokyo's trendy new bars [Telegraph]
