We have eaten pizza. We have seen Everything Everything. But surely the night is not done yet; surely there is more to be said and done. And so Zac and I pop our heads into The Golden Crane, a new Japanese sake and cocktail bar that has opened very quietly on Orchard Street - so quietly that even I, a man who make it his business to hear about openings of places like this and who also walks down that street at least once a week, had not noticed.
Happily, this lack of effective marketing means that there is in fact space for us. I vaguely, as we walked past it pre-gig suggested that I might get a sake, but of course in the end I cop out.
Instead, a Praying Mantis is on the menu for me, a cocktail whose description mentions chocolate twice and peppermint once, so of course it is. It’s a combination of two different wormwood liquers - one chocolate, one pepermint - with cream and some smoked chocolate. It’s the odd thing of being both exactly what it says on the tin, whilst the tin is written in ancient Aramaic. It is viscous and creamy, the peppermint notes overpowering the chocolate, certainly still a sting to it that you often don’t get in similar drinks. It feels like an end of the evening kind of cocktail - I wouldn’t want to move onto others from it, from an aftertaste/aftertexture point of view, but it hit the spot nicely.
Zac has a Japanese Old Fashioned, which is a night and day contrast to mine - lighter, refreshing, thinner. An incredibly satisfying burn.
I know this shouldn’t make a difference, but the bill came in a box with an origami crane and I love that some poor member of bar staff is having to fold dozens of those a night just for that little touch. It’s a sign of good things.