Post by Mothy
From the outside Nutori looks like any number of old izakayas that one can find in a city like Kawaguchi, or really any city in Japan. The inside as well doesn’t really stand out. Seats made of old crates are set up at a few tables, and there’s a small counter space. What makes it worth writing about for this beer blog is that they are brewing their own beer on the premises.
It’s a little tough to assess new places during the pandemic in some ways. When I visited there were 3 tables, and spaces marked out for 4 people at the counter. But there was enough empty space that I imagine when places go back to trying to pack in as much of a crowd as they can they will add another table or two and allow for three or four more people at the counter. They were also using some space to sell local produce. I don’t know if that’s a permanent feature or not.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. The staff (owners?) of the place were friendly even though my Japanese is terrible, which is a must for me if I’m going to frequent a place because my Japanese is not going to be not terrible any time soon. Plus, it’s just in general a sign that the people running a place are good people. They also had a bookshelf in the corner. I only briefly looked the books over, but most of them seemed to be about either food or beer. I didn’t try the food this time, but it looked like their specialty is pork-based foods. One customer was eating a soup that looked pretty good.
Now, the beer. They had 3 of their own beers on tap plus a tap of Sapporo. They had the taps to do several more, but didn’t have them on when I was there. They haven’t been brewing for long, and to be honest their beer tasted like they haven’t been brewing long. However, thanks to the overall vibe of the place I’ll be going back to check them out again, and hopefully their beer will rise to the potential of the izakaya.
They had 3 sizes 170 ml, 300 ml, and 500 ml priced 420, 700, 1000 yen respectively. Strangely, they also offered 10 ml tastes for 18 yen. Seems weird to charge for a taste and even weirder to charge 18 yen for it. Maybe that’s just me though.
Japanese breweries seen on tap:
Nutori
Opening Hours:
Monday & Thursday, 15:00-23:00
Friday, 15:00-22:00
Saturday & Sunday, 14:00-21:00
Closed, Tuesday & Wednesday
(But there are various hours online, so please check their social media if you’re reading this in COVID times)
Location/Map:
川口 6-9-5, Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama
Telephone:
048-437-2822