Today, we’re in Shimo Kitazawa again and this time it’s for a place that might be familiar to people who have been drinking in the area before. Kazenori Merry is located in what used to be the old Ushi Tora 1, a couple of doors along from Ushi Tora 2 (the standing bar). It’s run by ex-staff members of Ushi Tora and not a great deal has changed, so you could be forgiven for not really noticing. I’m sure they’ll pick up a few customers who are checking old webpages and think they are going to Ushi Tora. Here are the details.
– Like I said, if you ever went to the old Ushi Tora 1 you’ll know the layout of this place. (You can check here for the post on the old place). A long counter for around ten and seating at tables for around 20. Pretty comfortable feel, (maybe they have spruced it up a little) and the staff were very friendly. It’s no smoking too.
– They have 15 taps of craft beer with it being split maybe 2/3 Japanese and 1/3 imports (all US when I was there). Beer is generally served in two sizes, 270ml and 470ml, but some stronger, sourer or rarer beers are served in smaller sizes. Prices for the Japanese stuff are ¥880 for the small and ¥1180-1380 for the large. Imports are ¥980 for the small and around ¥100 more expensive than the higher end of the Japanese stuff for the large. So, you can see that in their pricing they have another link to the Ushi Tora bars! It’s not the cheapest place, but then again, I guess Ushi Tora wouldn’t be too happy if some of their friends moved in to their old location a couple of doors away from their standing bar and undercut their prices. But yeah, a bit expensive. They also have a selection of sake too if you tire of beer.
Realistically, it’s not that different from the old Ushi Tora place. But it was a nice place to have a drink and the staff kindly suggested that I have a large size instead of a small as there wasn’t much difference in the price, which I thought was good of them. The beer selection is pretty good too. Not sure how often I will go here as the pricing puts me off, but it’s good to have another option in Shimokita. Think there is still a huge gap in the market in this area though for someone like Craft Beer Market to come in with their budget beers and large tap selection. But this place probably has a atmosphere that people will enjoy more than a CBM though.
Japanese breweries seen on tap:
Oni Densetsu
Kyoto
Minoh
Shiga Kogen
Ushi Tora
Sankt Gallen
Yo-Ho
Ise Kadoya
Opening Hours:
Wednesday-Monday, 15:00-24:00
Closed Tuesday and once a month on Monday (Are you feeling lucky…?)
Location/Map:
北沢 2-9-3, 2F, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Telephone:
03-6407-1507