Love ya, Kyo-ya

I recently went to Kyo-ya (94 East 7th Street, 212-982-4140) and I have to say, it was one of the best Sake-food pairing restaurants I’ve been to in a while. This place rocks.

The first sake we tried was a fantastic Born Muroka Nama Genshu junmai Daiginjo (Fukui Prefecture., SMV +4, Acidity 1.4), which is aged at 0 Degrees C for 1 year. This gives the sake a complexity and depth that is really stunning. I would recommend this sake as a warm up to any Japanese meal. Fantastic.

The next item of note was a really amazing sweet potato tempura. Sounds simple enough, but Kyo-ya rocks it. Scott and I shared a delicate sweet potato with a whisper light tempura crust. on the side, they offered salt and home-made soy sauce. It’s hard to explain how very very different home-made soy sauce can be to someone like me that grew up on the syrupy store bought stuff. Anyway, if you go to Kyo-ya, and you should, be sure to order this dish. Heaven on a plate.

What does one pair with heaven on a plate? Well, I did my best and selected the heavenly Yuki No Bosha Junmai Ginjo Nigori (Akita Prefecture, SMV +1, Acidity 1.4). The touch of creaminess that this nigori offers offset the tempura perfectly. Both Nigori and tempura could be strong flavors, but here, they were so elegantly produced, it. really spoke to me.

The rest of our evening at Kyo-ya was a swirl of delicious tastes and flavors all mixed liberally with good sake. If you are looking for a special occasion restaurant or for a special reason to treat yourself, please run, don’t walk to Kyo-ya. If you see me there, I’ll be the guy with the three orders of Sweet Potato tempura in front of me.