It’s taken me a while to get round to coming here but it shouldn’t really take long to write this blog post as I could just direct you to the other posts about Beer Kobo brew pubs here and be done with it. These places are not to everyone’s taste, but they definitely serve a purpose and have some loyal customers. Their branches always seem to be reasonably busy and the continuing expansion suggests that they’re doing pretty well. If you’re a loyal reader of this blog you’ve probably read plenty of posts about them before so let’s not beat about the bush and just get on with this. Here’s what you need to know.
– The usual wooden decor and Beer Kobo feel, but this time it’s in the basement food court of a big office building. Seating for around 25 at a variety of tables and there’s also a ‘patio’. Although remember that you’re in the basement inside an office building so it’s not exactly a beer garden or pavement terrace feel.
– 10 taps of beer which is mainly brewed on site. I think they normally have one macro in these places but when I visited the ‘guest’ beer was from the Koenji branch. Beers served in two sizes, which I think we’re 210ml and 410ml. Prices ranged from ¥580-¥680 for the smaller size and ¥950-¥1050 for the larger. Tax is added at the end too. I think these prices reflect the location in two ways, in the sense that it’s in an office building food court and that it’s in Shinjuku. I’m pretty sure the other branches aren’t as expensive. They have a nomihodai (drink all you can for a set time) if you arrive before 19:00. If you’re up for some fast boozing you can save some money as it’s ¥1000 for 30 minutes or ¥1500 for 60 minutes. They also sell beer to take away. It costs ¥780 and represents a 25% discount apparently. I’ll leave it to you to work out the maths.
– No smoking, daytime opening wifi and no cover charge. Oh, and I should probably mention it does the usual Beer Kobo style food if you need something to eat.
So there you have it, a branch that is much like the other branches but is a little more expensive. It’s could be a bit tricky to find this place, whether you’re coming from Nishishinjuku station underground or from Shinjuku at street level. My best advice is to use the map below, find the Nomura building and go down to the B2 floor and wander around till you spot it. If drinking with a load of business men is your thing, this is the Beer Kobo branch for you. If you’re looking for a more enjoyable experience I’d probably recommend one of the others.
Japanese breweries seen on tap:
Beer Kobo Shinjuku
Koenji Bakushu Kobo
Opening Hours:
Monday – Saturday, 11:30-14:30, 17:00-22:30
Closed Sunday & holidays
Location/Map:
西新宿1-26-2 新宿野村ビ ル B2F, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Telephone:
03-6258-0885
Looking at its location amongst Shinjuku; when international, English-speaking visitors venture to Tokyo, particularly if they have status in a hotel chain's frequent guest program, the usual area selection is in Shinjuku. (I see Hilton, Hyatt, et alia.)
As such, I can easily foresee this bar being the meetup venue for a cadré of travellers. Other bars and pubs in the vicinity are at a loss for not having English-language menus.
Is there a map of the underground passageways in west Shinjuku? It looks like there is a direct route to | from the Toei Tocho-Mae station and here.
I enjoy subterranean passageways. We have a system like this in downtown Chicago known as the Pedway. But, it is generally only open weekday business hours.