How is a particular dish or drink created? By unraveling a restaurant’s signature you reveal the chef's personality and philosophy, their commitment to the ingredients, and even the attitude of the producers. Exploring the story behind the cuisine, the dots that shape Kabutocho turn into lines that connect them.

For the ninth instalment of “Dialogue of Food,” we feature Heiwa Doburoku Kabutocho Brewery, operated by Heiwa Shuzo, a sake brewery from Wakayama Prefecture that has been in business for 97 years. This rare brewery pub features craft beer (brewed specially by a sake brewery), alongside doburoko, a type of sake that continues to ferment right up until the moment you drink it. We sat down with Heiwa Shuzo to get their thoughts on sake, whilst discussing their bespoke menu. 

Heiwa Doburoku Kabutocho Brewery is located on the first floor of KITOKI, an office building with an eye-catching exterior located in Kabutocho. The brewery’s exterior has an organic feel thanks to the abundance of wood and lush greenery that flows from the terrace. An oasis where fresh drinks are served directly from the hand of the brewer in a cozy, yet modern space full of natural materials and warmth.

Perhaps unusual for a bar, Heiwa Doburoku Kabutocho Brewery opens at 1:00 p.m. and although it’s known as a ‘bar’, they also serve light meals at lunch. It’s a great place to take a break between strolls around the city, in between meeting with friends, or as a short stop for a drink before or after dinner. The bar is also known for its wide range of offerings and its slightly unconventional style.

“Of course, the bar is very lively during peak dinner times, but we also have a surprising number of customers who stop by the bar between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Recently, we’ve also had a lot of overseas visitors who come all the way here just to taste the various flavors of doburoku, which can be hard to find anywhere else,” says brewer Yuichiro Iitaka.

Doburoku, the bar’s signature drink, is brewed by hand, day and night in the brewing room located just behind the counter. Unlike sake, which is made from rice alone, doburoku can be flavored with a variety of additional ingredients, such as azuki beans, black beans, or other flavor combinations.

The plain white color of the drink truly expresses the flavor of the main ingredient, “Yamada Nishiki” short grain rice grown in the brand’s own rice fields in Wakayama. The slightly orange-tinged glass (pictured) is doburoku flavored with persimmon and is a seasonal menu item that’s only available during the fall and winter months. It has a firm sweetness, reflecting the flavor characteristics of the fruit. The green-colored glass is basil-flavored, giving a pleasant scent and refreshing flavor profile.

According to Iitaka, “Plain sake is relatively easy to pair with a wide variety of dishes, but since doburoku has a strong sour and sweet flavor profile, I think it’s more suited to curries, kimchi, and fruits. The persimmons in the persimmon-flavored doburoku enhance the sweet and sticky characteristics of the drink, so if you pair it with something like Kinzanji miso (a type of miso paste) and crackers, the rich taste will be enhanced. The basil, on the other hand, works well with other refreshing foods such as shirasu and grated daikon or sansho potato chips, or, even, with smoked nuts. You can enjoy it in a variety of ways, depending on your taste and mood.”

The menu, which includes a variety of dishes served with high-quality sake, features many ingredients from Wakayama Prefecture, where sake brewing has a long history.

Kinzanji miso, a Wakayama specialty, is an “edible” miso characterized by its umami and sweetness that comes from adding vegetables. When combined with the lightness of cream cheese, it creates a balance of flavors, while the rich texture of the two ingredients delight the tastebuds. “Miso has a fermented aroma, so it goes well with doburoku. In addition, grape sansho (Japanese pepper) from “Kanja Sanshoen” in Wakayama Prefecture is added as a topping, adding a gorgeous aroma. In fact, Wakayama Prefecture is the largest producer of sansho in Japan.” The grape sansho, which grows to look like a bunch of grapes on the vine, is known for its strong, yet mellow flavor.

Curry, a spice-filled dish originating from India, pairs very well with doburoku. It has a mild sweetness with a spicy aftertaste. “The curry we serve here uses plain doburoku as an ingredient. The alcohol is cooked off but gives the curry a nice sweetness. To balance the sweetness we use additional ingredients such as soy sauce and garam masala.” The rice is served with vinegar, similar to sushi rice, and creates a harmony of spiciness and acidity, making for a very moreish dish.

“The main ingredient is beef. And instead of ‘Fukujinzuke’ (a relish typically served with Japanese curry), we serve it with ‘Kinokawazuke’, a Wakayama-style pickle,” adds Iitaka. Kinokawa pickles are made from daikon radish produced in Kishu (Wakayama prefecture) and have a rich umami taste with a high sugar content, making it similar to Bettarazuke (a type of pickled daikon popular in Tokyo). The distinctive curry accentuates doburoku’s crisp, fermented umami flavor profile.

In addition to the seasonal doburoku menu, Heiwa Doburoku Kabutocho Brewery often holds collaborative events with other restaurants to develop limited-edition flavors. Past collaborative menus included drinks featuring lemon, mandarin orange, strawberry, and even green peppers from the Seto Inland Sea—so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more in the future.

Norimasa Yamamoto, the fourth-generation president of the company, was also on hand and revealed his plans for the future. “Heiwa Shuzo is preparing to open a new store for this year’s Osaka Expo. It’s directly connected to Namba Station on the Osaka Metro, which is a high-traffic area. We will serve doburoku there as well, but we don’t want it to just be a “second store”. Rather, we want it to be a place where we can showcase the fun elements of sake in a new and interesting way, right in the heart of the city. There’s a strong culture of sake that’s made from rice, it’s an established culture and maybe an area we cannot compete in, especially on a global scale. Instead, I would like to express the craftsmanship of doburoku made here in Kabutocho and Osaka, and create a place where people from all over the world can gather, so that doburoku can become another major part of Japanese culture—even if it’s just a little part.”