Wellington Street in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong is home to a series of well-known Fine Dining restaurants, such as VEA, Wing and the relocated Tai Pan Building, all housed in the imposing 198 Building. In contrast, Godenya, who just won a Michelin star last year, has a somewhat unorthodox position. In the 2024 Michelin Guide for Hong Kong and Macau released not long ago, the manager Shin Goshima won the Michelin Sommelier Award in one fell swoop. More than 90 percent of first-time diners to Godenya will have trouble finding the restaurant's entrance – in an alley with garbage trucks parked at the intersection behind Wellington Street's main thoroughfare. If it weren't for a friend who had been to this restaurant before and reminded me to keep an eye on the garbage station, I would have been lost here for a while. Entering the restaurant by following the inconspicuous signboard at the entrance of the restaurant, the restaurant's décor is almost as modest as the store's location. Gray cement walls with simple wooden elements, a small table for 2 people, a small private room, and a Japanese counter that seats 6 people, including 2 seats facing the wall, and that's it.
Simple dining environment, but for sake lovers, none of this matters. The owner, Shinya Goshima, opened a store in Japan and later moved the store to Hong Kong. Although there are many well-known sushi restaurants and kaiseki restaurants in Hong Kong, Godenya is perhaps the only one that specializes in sake pairing. With the subdivision of sake pairing, I was able to make a name for myself until I won a Michelin star and a sommelier award.
- A triangular balance of flavor, temperature and alcohol
Similar to French cuisine with champagne and hors d'oeuvres, today's sake pairings often begin with sparkling sake. The first dish of anglerfish liver is a pair of Ise liquor, which features junmai sake and active cloudy sake. In addition to the refreshing bubbling sensation, the sweetness of this wine is matched with the delicate sweetness of the anglerfish liver.
Anglerfish liver is the most medium cake
The second course of Ise Shijo is made with Matsuba crab, flat shellfish, and peony shrimp as the main ingredients, and is served with some vinegar jelly for a rich flavor layer, and is paired with Toichi Junmai Ginjo sake, a thin cloudy sake. When introducing the characteristics of the wine, Goshima described it as having a sour taste like a green apple. If the tone of the previous sake and dish was sweet, this one is sweet and has a fresh acidity. Whether it's the sweetness of the seafood ingredients and the acidity of the vinegar jelly, or the sweetness of the cloudy sake itself, this tone is well reflected.
Pine leaf crab, flat shellfish and peony shrimp
After the sweetness and sourness of Toichi Junmai Ginjo sake, the theme of the next dish is freshness. Although the soba noodles themselves are a little lacking in texture, the freshness of the mullet roe and the slightly bitter cauliflower stems of the bee dou have greatly improved the layering of the whole dish. This time it was paired with a Kaiyun Junmai sashisa, and it was easy to understand that it was easy to match the umami with the rich flavor of Junmai sake, but after communicating with Goshima Shogun, I found another detail: the overall flavor of this dish is much more aggravated than the previous two, and this Kaiyun Junmai sashi sake has an alcohol content of 17%, which is two degrees higher than the usual sake. The reason why this wine was chosen is not only to match the flavor with the umami of the dish, but also to match the stronger alcohol content with the richer taste, which is also an important reason to pair the wine.
Mullet roe soba noodles
The menu of Kaiyun Junmai Raw Sake Godenya is marked with ingredients and flavors, and the temperature of each sake is indicated. While greeting the guests, Shogun Goshima watches the thermometer and tries a small sip before serving to ensure that the sake is in perfect condition at the right temperature. Of the seven wines on the menu that night, two were boiled to more than 40 degrees Celsius. Like an iced amberjack stew, it is paired with a turtle junmai bottle sake heated to 47°C. In Goshima's opinion, Junmai sake's long aftertaste at the end of the wine is perfect for this kind of warm food.
Ice amberjack boiled things
One of the most impressive details of the night was the seafood staple. A sake-drunk box crab with three kinds of sake, including aged sake, and the rice part is made to resemble a risotto-like texture. Interestingly, the wine that goes with the meal is a 100% polished Kamewan Junmai brown rice sake, which has a richer taste because the rice is not polished, and has some umami and grain aromas in addition to sweetness, which is very reminiscent of the pairing of drunken crab and Shaoxing rice wine.
Drunken box crab
I turned the bottle and looked at the back label, which read: "It is very suitable for drinking cold or hot." The temperature chosen by Goto is 11°C. Wouldn't it be better to pair crab meat with roasted wine, like with warm Shaoxing wine with drunken crab? He explains that if the dish is only crab meat, it would be nice to pair it with a sake. However, another consideration is that when the crab meat is paired with risotto, it has a chewy texture of raw rice, which is more suitable for eating with low-temperature sake. It dawned on me. The day's menu ends with a Phoenix Mida strawberry fruit wine with strawberries, brownies and caramel ice cream.
Phoenix Mitian strawberry fruit wine
Strawberries, brownies and caramel ice cream
- The joy of matching
After a two-and-a-half-hour dinner, the conclusion was exactly what I expected: the food alone was nothing more than the standard of a typical Japanese izakaya, and there was no such thing as a high-priced sake or a very impressive sake when it came to sake. In the end, what struck me was the wonderful pleasure that comes from pairing sake with food, and the ubiquitous details that go into it. Perhaps it is the subtle difference in alcohol content and temperature that is the key to the difference between high and low levels.
-End-
Travel food columnist, from time to time write some travel foraging journals and drunk gibberish.
Halfway idiot, you won't get lost in Latin America, but you will get lost in Guangzhou.
I like good food, and I have eaten more than 100 Michelin restaurants but I don't (basically) gain weight.
Original article classification tags
食游广东 | 食游港澳 | 食游中国
Dining in Japan | Dining in Asia
Dining in Europe | Dining in the Americas
Food Travel Essay | Eat, drink, and gossip
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The records of what I eat, drink and have been doing are here