Post by James
Grau Craft Beer Bar has just opened about 9 minutes from Fujimino station. For anyone who’s never heard of Fujimino, it is about 30 minutes from Ikebukuro on the Tobu Tojo line. A bit of a trek for most people.
The bar looks good both inside and out. The street in front of Grau is quite busy and sees a fair amount of traffic but if you go out the back door there is a quiet Sando (temple street). It’s an interesting contrast and I liked the atmosphere it creates.
The interior is clean and modern. There is an L-shaped counter that seats about 7 and a fair bit of floor space that will probably have some tables later.
There are 5 taps and all were domestic when I was in. Cranc Brewing, Distant Shores, Black Tide, Vertere and Two Rabbits Brewing. Pints ranged from ¥1,200 to ¥1,500. Definitely not cheap but, apart from the chains, there are few places to enjoy cheap craft beers and bars in the suburbs often have to be a bit more expensive as they don’t get as many customers. There were also a few bottles of imported craft beers.
There is a small but nice food menu but this is mostly (he gets help some days) a one man operation so the food has to be easy to prepare. The friendly owner lives only a few minutes away on foot so this bar really has a local feel to it. I must say I rather liked Grau and really hope it does well. If you live in the area, you should definitely check Grau out. That said, If you don’t live on the Tobu line you’d probably have to have a reason to trek this far out. A train pub crawl that took you to Beer Glass Hopper in Mizuhodai and then onto Half Yard and Shiki Beer in Shiki on your way back to Ikebukuro would be a nice night out.
There was no cover charge and no WiFi. Anyway, a nice bar that will mostly appeal to those who live locally.
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Cranc
Distant Shores
Black Tide
Vertere
Two Rabbits
Opening Hours:
Monday, Wednesday-Friday, 17:00-21:00
Saturday, Sunday, 15:00-21:00
Closed Tuesday
But please check their website or social media. Due to COVID, hours are all over the place right now
Location/map:
苗間372-9, Fujimino-shi, Saitama-ken
I work not too far from there. Sounds like a good place. I'll have to give it a try once the state of emergency ends.