Today, what should be a relatively short post. On Thursday, Craft Beer Market opened their third branch, not too far from the Jimbocho one, in Awajicho. I will gloss over the basics as these are fundamentally the same as with the other two branches, so you can check them here if you want. The twist with the Awajicho branch is that this time they are offering Craft Beer and ‘Craft Pizza’.
So, the decor is as expected, lots of wood, high tables etc. There are six seats at a counter, eight tables for two which could easily be pushed together for larger groups and this time a standing area at the bar. Something slightly different is that they appear to be serving pizza and beer for takeaway as well, and although I am not sure how this works in practice, there is a takeaway window which opens onto the street.
With regards to the beers, the pricing and serving sizes are the same as the other branches. Also there are the same number of taps (27 good ones, 3 macro). If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. They did have a few breweries that I haven’t seen on at other CBMs before, but I suspect this is just due to them being new to the chain. I can’t imagine each branch has a different ordering policy. On the night of my visit there were four imports, mostly from Brewdog as far as I can remember. The pizza was pretty nice and was reasonably priced. My large Margherita was ¥1300 and about 12 inches. The smaller one was ¥800. Good to have something to soak up the beer.
So, not much else to say. As usual the service is good, the selection of beers varies, but there is always something good on. Don’t forget that there is a ¥300 service charge. Not sure if this is waived if you are in the standing area, but would probably make sense if it was. These places always seem to be busy, so best arrive right on time, or book ahead. Or in the case of this branch, take your chance and either stand, or get a beer to take away and wander round the back streets of Kanda with. It’s normally at this stage that I say how I would like to have something like this near where I live, so… I would like to have something like this near Yoyogi Uehara (which is still crying out for even a halfway decent beer place). I got exactly what I expected from this place; good beer, good food and good prices.
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Outsider
Coedo
Baeren
Iwatekura
Yo-Ho
Shiga Kogen
Swan Lake
Sankt Gallen
Minamishinshu
Gotemba Kogen
Hideji
Minoh
Brimmer
Baird
Kuninicho
Opening Hours:
Monday-Friday, Lunch 11.30-14.00, Evening 17.00-23.30
Saturday & Sunday closed
Location/map
第1高田ビル1F, 神田司町2-9-1, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Directions:
A few stations you can head for this time, as Shin-Ochanomizu, Ogawamachi and Awajicho stations are all linked, so if you arrive at one of these, head for the Marunouchi line part and this should get you to Awajicho station. From Awajicho station, leave via exit A4, turn back on yourself and turn right at the large junction. Craft Beer Market is on the 4th corner on the right, about 200m down the road. It’s also not too far from Kanda.
Telephone:
03-5577-3046
Links:
Website
Twitter
Ratebeer listing
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