A quick post today about what I think is the most recent of the iBrew bars to open. I have to admit, until I went here I had the impression that this was the same place as TBE Brewing, which I thought was a bit more expensive iBrew branch. Now I have no idea if it’s connected or not but there seems to be no mention of it on the iBrew website so I guess I was just wrong. Anyway, you know what you’re getting with iBrew. Cheap beers, decent food and recently, lots and lots of taps. I should go to these places more often as there’s always something nice to drink here and the prices are very reasonable. Actually, more than reasonable! As I haven’t been to an iBrew in a little while I can’t be sure if all of them offer what this place does, so instead of doing my usual thing of saying check the other posts for details, I’ll try and give some more info here instead. Still pretty concisely though as I am still a bit lazy about doing these posts. Oh, sorry for another horrible photo, but you know, if I’m taking photos of entrances, I sometimes don’t have much to work with. Here’s what you need to know:
– Decor seems a bit different from other iBrews I have been to. Big heavy looking metal door which suggests you might be about to enter some kind of nightclub. Perhaps the interior suggests that this place used to be something like that. Lots of seats spread around, maybe 30 or 40 and a counter too. We sat in a kind of side area on what seemed like deckchairs. It was more confortable than I’ve made that sound.
– Counting the taps in the photo on their website they seem to have 47! Not sure all of them are always on though but there was a pretty big selection when we were there. Beers are divided into two tiers, ‘Limited Select Beer’ which basically means imported stuff with some more exclusive Japanese stuff and ‘Basic Select Beer’ which is mainly Japanese but with some cheaper imports included too. Taplists are available online so you can check them out before you go. The higher tier is priced ¥690 for 270ml and ¥990 for 470ml. The regular tier is ¥390 for 270ml and ¥690 for 470ml. All prices have tax added on afterwards so be aware of this. The lower tier is really great value. They also do beer flights for both tiers. You can choose either 3, 5 or 10 beers from one of the tiers. The higher tier prices are priced at ¥990 (for 3 beers), ¥1590 (for 5) and ¥2990 (for 10) and the lower one is ¥690, ¥1090 and ¥1990. Not sure about the glass sizes but still seems like pretty good value.
– No cover charge, which is great. WiFi too. And lots of daytime opening! What’s not to like? Beware that they only accept cash though. It’s quite tricky to spend a lot of money here though so you won’t need a load of cash on you unless you’re in for a serious session or very hungry. Pretty sure it’s no smoking as since the change in the law most places are. Not 100% sure what the rules are about that though so I’ll keep mentioning it on these posts as long as I’m unsure. The food is good too, kind of standard pub fare, but I liked it and it’s probably what you want when you’re drinking. At least I do anyway.
So, pretty similar to the other iBrews as far as I can remember but things change quickly so I can’t be sure. The pricing here is pretty great and as I said they always seem to have some interesting stuff on. The fact that this place is in the basement means that it might not be as nice a place to spend a long session in if you’re a fan of looking our the window and watching the world pass by. But it is in Ebisu, so quite a bit further west than most of the branches, so if you are in that area of Tokyo it’s convenient. And it’s very close to the station too. The daytime opening is great. I really should take advantage of this sometime. Guess there’s not much else to say, as anyone who’s been to an iBrew probably knows what to expect. Oh, one last thing. The photo above shows one of the entrances but there is another one the other side of the building. And when you enter go down the stairs for two floors. The middle B1 floor looked pretty desolate on a weekend afternoon but persevere and you’ll reach this weird looking door.
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
West Coast
Romantic Mura
Fujizakura
Ise Kadoya
Zumona
Bear Meets Beer
Sennan
Minami Shinshu
Ushi Tora
Distant Shores
Y Market
Kinshachi
Tazawako
Kyoto
Nomcraft
Tainai Kogen
Opening Hours:
Monday-Friday 13:00-23:30
Saturday, Sunday & holidays, 11:30-23:30
Location/map:
恵比寿南 1-8-1 STM恵比寿ビルB2F, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Telephone:
03-6451-2048
I went to this place a few weeks ago. Not impressed. Hard to find with google directions. On the B2 level, and the place looked abandoned – if there hadn’t been a few loud people inside, would have guessed the place was closed.
Dank interior, kind of industrial/warehouse vibe. The staff seemed unsure of themselves. Asked for a taste before ordering – had to get the manager, who said “No. We don’t do that. Order a flight if you want to taste test.” Kitchen looked really sketchy as well. Beer was fine, but prices have gone up.