Brewin’ Bar Monde is a place that has been open for quite a while but has gone under the radar of most beer lovers it seems. However, it has recently caught the attention of a few people, including myself, because it has started brewing. Brewpubs are still a bit of a rarity in Tokyo, and I have an unwritten policy which I think I usually stick too, (please correct me if I’m wrong…) that if a place is a brewpub, it is worth a write up on here. It seems that recently there seem to have been a spate of brewpubs that don’t actually brew yet. I can confirm that Brewin’ Bar Monde is definitely brewing. Whether or not this is a good thing, I’m not so sure. But anyway, here’s what you need to know.
– Basement bar situated on a side street between Shinbashi and Ginza. This is not an area well known for its abundance of craft beer places. There is a counter for seven and tables for around 25 more. The decor is kind of what you would expect in Ginza. Much more traditional bar style rather than the wood and concrete we’ve got used to recently. Slightly bizarrely, it opens in the daytime but after lunch, which is a first for me.
– Eight taps of craft beer, half of which were their own creations. Beer is served in three sizes, half, US pint and UK pint. Pricing is high, possibly as you’d expect for the area, but a little bit painful all the same. Their own beers are, from smallest to largest, ¥800, ¥1200 and ¥1500. There’s also a flight of all four of their beers for ¥2000, but there wasn’t any sign of how big the servings might be. Guest beers are mostly from the usual Japanese craft breweries and cost ¥1000, ¥1400 and ¥1800. So I guess you can see that we’re talking possibly one of the most expensive places on this blog. Tax is added at the end too, so it’s even pricier than it looks above.
– During the daytime there’s no cover charge, but after 17:00 you can add another ¥500 per person to your total. Those costs just keep going up! Also it’s a smoking place. We were fortunate to visit in the daytime when the place was empty, so avoided the cover charge and any smokiness, but I guess these could both be something that puts people off. They do have wifi though!
So a place which I have some reservations on including. I guess their rent is high, but the prices are just crazy. If you are desperate to try their beers, I suggest that you go when you won’t have to pay the cover and I might also suggest that you give them a little while as it seemed they were still getting to grips with brewing. Given that they’ve been around for a while it seems that they are not just riding the craft beer bandwagon. At the same time, the fact that they’ve been around for a while but have gone under most people’s radars does speak for itself a little.
Japanese breweries available on tap:
Brewin’ Bar Monde
Ushitora
Fujizakura
Preston
Obihiro
Opening Hours:
Monday-Saturday, 14:00-23:00
Closed Sunday & holidays
Telephone:
03-3574-7004
Links:
Facebook
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