A curated sanctuary of Japan's finest nihonshu — poured in rituals of silence, precision, and deep time.
At KIRI, we believe the highest form of drinking is listening — to the sake, to the season, to the moment. We do not pour drinks. We conduct quiet ceremonies of attention.
The Japanese concept of ma — the meaningful pause between notes — governs our service rhythm. Silence between pours is as important as the pour itself. We train our staff in the art of unhurried presence.
We seek sake with structural depth — not sweetness for its own sake, but complexity that rewards sustained attention. Each label is selected for its ability to tell a story across 20 minutes in the glass.
Every sake carries the landscape of its origin. Our menu is organized by region, water source, and rice variety — a map of Japan through its most ancient fermented craft. Geography is the first ingredient.
"We built KIRI for people who know the difference between drinking and tasting — and who understand that the greatest sake asks something of you."
Nestled in the Georgian townhouses of Fitzrovia, KIRI seats 28 guests across a single curved counter and four private tatami rooms. The interior — raw plaster, reclaimed hinoki wood, and Japanese river stones — creates a space designed to slow perception.
Temperature control is precise: 14°C in the cellar where 3,000 bottles rest in darkness, 18°C in the tasting rooms where temperature influences every nuance of what you experience in the glass.
Discover Our Space →
You are greeted in silence — no menus, no rush. A brief conversation with your Sakagura guide establishes your palate preferences, the occasion, and how deep you wish to go. This takes as long as it takes.
Your guide selects an opening sake — always something delicate, always cold — to calibrate the session. The first pour is a question: where are you this evening?
Across four to six pours, you travel geographically and stylistically: from clean ginjo to complex yamahai, from chilled to ambient, from new-season to aged koshu. Each transition is deliberate.
Seasonal Japanese food — prepared by our kitchen — is offered between pours. Not to fill the appetite but to extend the conversation between sake and season.
The final pour is always ambient-temperature and weighty — a sake of great age and presence that lingers. The meal is closed with green tea in silence. You leave knowing something you did not before.
KIRI opens with 80 labels and a 14-seat counter in London's Fitzrovia — the first dedicated sake bar in the city.
A small tasting room opens in the Marais, introducing Parisian palates to Yamahai and Kimoto sake traditions.
Direct partnerships established with 12 small-scale kura across Japan — giving KIRI access to exclusive import allocations.
KIRI opens a vertical archive of aged koshu, allowing guests to taste sake across multiple vintages for the first time in Europe.
KIRI operates by reservation only. We accept a maximum of 28 guests per service — ensuring that every table receives the full attention of our Sakagura team.
Private tatami rooms are available for groups of 4–8. The Omakase Sake Experience is available on Friday and Saturday evenings only.