Marylebone yakitori spot Junsei to host month-long sake pairing with sommelier Masayo San

Junsei, Aman Lakhiani’s yakitori restaurant in Marylebone, is hosting a month-long collaboration with London-based sake sommelier Masayo San this August, timed to coincide with National Sake Week. The partnership will see the specialist curate a pairing menu intended to complement the kitchen’s charcoal-grilled skewers and small plates.

Junsei’s menu is built around yakitori, with skewers making use of the whole bird alongside vegetarian options including potato, tofu and negi. The restaurant also serves a small plates selection that includes crab croquettes, ox tongue and grilled scallops, as well as clay-pot donabe dishes of dashi-simmered rice served with beef short rib, trout or confit duck. The pairings have been chosen with these dishes in mind, spanning the sweeter, savoury and umami-heavy registers that grilled chicken and charcoal cooking tend to produce.

Masayo San has selected a range of bottles sourced from breweries across Japan. They will appear on Junsei’s specials board, rather than as a separate fixed menu, allowing diners to match individual bottles to dishes across the carte. A sommelier and educator based in London, Masayo San has previously curated sake programmes for restaurants including Osteria Angelina, and works to introduce long-established Japanese breweries to the British restaurant trade. She holds the Japan Sommelier Association’s Wine Expert qualification.

National Sake Week, which falls in August, has become a fixture in the calendar for Japanese restaurants and specialist shops in the UK, where interest in the drink has grown steadily over the past decade. Imports to Britain have risen as more restaurants list it by the glass and pair it with food beyond conventional Japanese menus. Junsei’s August offering could be an ideal way to explore the world of sake.

Food Desk

Masayo San’s residency takes place from 5^th until 30^th August 2026 at Junsei, 132 Seymour Place, London W1H 1NS. For further information or to book a table, visit the restaurant’s website here.