Raising a Glass to Tradition and Innovation this World Sake Day

Two of London’s most distinctive dining destinations, Los Mochis and JUNO Omakase, invite the city to experience sake in ways both rarefied and revelatory.

There are drinks that make a night memorable, and then there are those that transport you. Sake — Japan’s centuries-old rice wine — is firmly in the latter camp. Its delicate balance of umami, fruit and fragrance has long been misunderstood outside its homeland, but on 1st October, World Sake Day, Londoners have the chance to see the drink in a new light. Two restaurants are leading the charge: Notting Hill’s cult Japanese-Mexican addresses, Los Mochis and JUNO Omakase. Together, they’re turning October into a month-long toast to sake’s quiet sophistication.

At Los Mochis, the mood is one of bold discovery. Known for weaving together Japanese technique with Mexican vibrancy, the restaurant is launching the Toko Sake Experience — a journey into some of the rarest bottles on European soil. Central to this is the Toko Fukuro-Tsuri Ultralux Junmai Daiginjo, a sake so exclusive that Los Mochis holds the sole rights to pour it this side of Tokyo. Its flavour profile is striking: lychee, wild strawberry, grapefruit — delicate fruit notes that dance with the restaurant’s Icelandic sea trout tartare, pulling its freshness into sharper focus.

But this is not a one-note affair. The line-up includes Toko’s Genshu Dewanosato Junmai Ginjo, all ripe apple and rounded texture, a natural companion to octopus teriyaki. There’s also a banana-tinged expression that meets its match in Los Mochis’ trailer park chicken taco — proving sake has a versatility few spirits can claim. Guests can order each by the glass or carafe, but the flight, served in elegant 125ml pours, is the clearest path to understanding the breadth of flavour on offer. At £70 per person, the Toko Sake Experience feels less like a tasting and more like initiation into a secret society.

Even the cocktail list is getting the sake treatment. The new Melon Crush blends Kay Sake with Patrón El Alto tequila, lemon, green melon, agave and mint. The result is bright, citrus-driven, and refreshingly modern — the sort of drink that straddles aperitif and dessert with equal poise.

If Los Mochis is a celebration of variety, JUNO Omakase, tucked away in a six-seat counter in Notting Hill, is about immersion. Executive Head Chef Leonard Tanyag has curated a 15-course tasting menu where every dish — from truffle kampachi to wagyu nigiri crowned with caviar — is elevated by an expertly chosen sake. Here, World Sake Day is not a moment, but a meditation.

Take the Hakkaisan Snow Aged Junmai Daiginjo, matured for three years in naturally refrigerated snow houses in Uonuma. It’s round, supple, and astonishingly smooth, the sort of sake that could silence a room. Or Hoyo’s ‘Genji’ Junmai, brewed for over three centuries with a delicacy that borders on reverence. Then there’s Shindo Uragasanryu Fuka Junmai, crafted from rice grown by the brewery itself in Yamagata. Rare and expressive, it pairs with JUNO’s wagyu nigiri in a way that lingers long after the bite has gone.

The intimacy of JUNO Omakase makes the experience something rare in London dining. With only two sittings a night, it’s less about watching a chef at work and more about being personally guided through an epicurean ceremony. At £230 for the full 15 courses, this is not simply dinner — it’s a pilgrimage into the possibilities of sake.

World Sake Day may last only twenty-four hours, but thanks to Los Mochis and JUNO Omakase, Londoners can keep raising their glass well into October. Together they prove that sake is not just a drink, but a culture, one that feels right at home in the capital’s most innovative dining rooms. This month, the invitation is simple: step away from the familiar, take a seat at the counter or in the dining room, and discover what the Japanese have known for centuries — the beauty of rice, water and time in perfect harmony.