One of the delightful things about beer is how well it goes with food. I’ve been known to wax lyrical about pairing it with pizza, cheese, chocolate and various western foods (all of which a beer can be found to match excellently, it seems) but I have to admit that sometimes I neglect Asian cuisines when it comes to my beer.

Beer isn’t quite as well established in Asia as it is in Europe, but there are some exceptions to this. India for instance has some fame with beer, both for the brilliance of a dry lager to match a hot curry and for the pale ale imported to India that whose style now bears its name. Other areas of monsoon Asia seem slower to embrace beer, but Japan has managed to latch on to it quite strongly.

I do quite enjoy Japanese food, so it’s nice that some Japanese restaurants have Japanese beer on tap to go with the food. Recently I had a meal at Kura (on Queen St) and ordered an Asahi. Asahi apparently has a 40% share of the Japanese beer market, so is quite a big player over there.

In terms of flavour, the beer was a dry lager with very little bitterness on the aftertaste. There was perhaps a slight taste of corn (which could in fact be due to inclusion of corn in the malt) but the overall flavour was very smooth. The flavour was certainly not overpowering, which is probably good as not to detract from the delicate flavours of a sashimi platter. A very appropriate and enjoyable beer for the food,  but also a nice light and refreshing beer for a hot summers day. I’d recommend trying it. And if you like it, it’s possible to buy a 3 L can of it.