24 East 9th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 505-7253
Sakaya, which means “sake shop” in Japanese, is a small, elegantly designed shop in New York City’s East Village. It’s just a few minutes walk from many of the popular izakayas and ramen shops in the neighborhood. The extensive selection of sake (nihon-shu) is curated by a husband and wife team – Hiroko Furukowa & Rick Smith. Their tastes are impeccable and their weekend sake tastings are a “must try” event when in the neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon.
Shochu is almost an afterthought compared to their sake collection, but that’s not really fair since their choices are really outstanding. From classic imo shochus such as Kuro Kirishima or Kaikouzu on up to some of the rare premium shochus available in the US such as Satoh or Iichiko Frasco, there are some very nice choices. They recently took a trip to Kyushu in Japan to visit shochu distilleries and plan to expand their selection, though with limited shelf space a few more options may be the best they can do.
Nevertheless, Sakaya should be a destination for anyone visiting New York who enjoys sake or shochu. There’s no place else quite like it.
Kampai!