Today another interestingly named place. With the Craft Beer Scissors bars, the name hinted at the business owner’s profession. I hope that is not the case with Beer Bomb. I also hope for their sake that the company that makes Tabasco doesn’t notice them borrowing and amending their logo slightly. I have to say though, that I love Tabasco and enjoyed drinking out of a glass with a version of that logo on it. Here’s what you what you need to now about Beer Bomb, just a little to the northwest of Shinjuku station.
- Pretty small place with the tables crammed in. Seats at tables for about 18 with over half of this at a central communal table. Counter for maybe six more. The usual kind of decor you’d expect in a craft beer bar with the concrete and wood thing going on, but felt pretty comfortable. Clientele seemed quite young!
- 18 taps, 16 of craft with around 2/3 of them being Japanese stuff. Interesting mix of breweries. Beer served in two sizes half (260ml) and pint (480ml). Halves ranged from ¥590 to ¥1090, pints from ¥990 to ¥1790, so there’s some good value if you look for it, but there are also some pretty expensive beers too (mainly the imports, naturally). Beer flight available where you can choose 3x200ml of any beer except for the expensive imports for ¥1490. Some bottles and cans available too. I should make it clear that tax is added later on all of these prices. It doesn’t make a massive difference at the lower end of the prices, but the ¥1790 pint will actually cost you ¥1970! Which is pretty expensive! They seem to post their tap list on their Facebook daily which is very welcome!
- Nice selection of pub food available. A little bit of daytime opening at the weekend. Couldn’t find WiFi. Unfortunately though there is a ¥350 cover charge too.
Beer Bomb was a fun kind of place and I quite enjoyed having a couple to beers and a little bit of food there. It’s definitely not somewhere if you are looking for a bargain though. The prices seem pretty normal, but then you add tax and they seem a bit expensive, and then you remember the cover charge and probably would do best to stop thinking about anything financially related to avoid upsetting yourself. I don’t really understand why places show their prices without tax. Although probably the reason is that it makes their prices look better. To be fair to Beer Bomb, they list the price with tax afterwards in brackets and in a smaller font, but the truth is, I missed that when I was writing down the prices in the section above, and I’m guessing that is the point really. Places in Shinjuku do tend to be quite expensive though. And places everywhere have been upping their prices recently. I’m not sure where it is going to stop. Clearly there will be a level where people won’t pay and start drinking other things in other places. It’s probably another thing that I can blame on NE IPAs, as we were constantly told they are a bit more expensive as they cost more to make. But then other beers prices crept up to the same level. Beer Bomb seems to be an independent place, which for me always means I’ll give them a bit of leeway on prices. And it was a fun place to visit with friendly service. There aren’t a great deal of good places in Shinjuku so Beer Bomb definitely stands out in that respect. The prices will keep me from being a regular, but the experience was nice enough for me to pop in again from time to time when I see there’s something I want to drink on.
Japanese breweries seen on tap:
Daisen
Izu No Kuni
Hideji
Tokyo Aleworks
Nara
DD4D
Hop Kotan
Be Easy
Oni Densetsu
Opening Hours:
Monday-Friday, 17:00-00:00
Saturday & Sunday, 15:00-00:00
(But please check their social media if you’re reading this in COVID times)
Location/Map:
西新宿 7-13-5 第12山京ビル 1F, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Map shows the route from the East exit of Shinjuku JR station