Today, a newly opened place in Kamakura, and this time it actually is newly opened, being only a couple of weeks old when I visited. Yorocco Beer Pub Sasame Za is the new taproom for the Yorocco brewery. Until now, if you wanted to drink plenty of Yorocco beers on tap in the same place you’d have to go to Beach Muffin. But now Yorocco have their own place and it’s a little closer to Tokyo. (Strong emphasis on ‘a little’ there). Situated a couple of stops along the Enoden or a little over ten minutes walk from Kamakura station, this is a small but comfortable place with very nice beers and a few food options to keep you going. Here’s what you need to know:
- As I said above, it’s pretty small, with seating for maybe six and a standing communal table in the middle of the drinking space. The decor is a mix of bare concrete and wood, but it’s not done in the usual way you find lots of craft beer bars doing it. The exposed beams give it an interesting feel and perhaps it was due to an element of intoxication, but I quite enjoyed staring intently at the grain of the wood as I steadily drank nice beers.
- Eight taps of their own beer, four lagers which are poured from Czech style side-pour handles and four taps of ale which included a Belgian pale, a Belgian wit, an IPA and a saison when I was there. Lagers are served in dimpled mugs in two sizes, L and M, which I am guessing are 500ml (¥1300) and 300ml (¥900). Ales are served in one size only which is the usual Yorocco tulip you’d find at Beach Muffin (still don’t know the exact measurement, but I’m still guessing 350-400ml) which costs ¥900. There’s a fridge built into the counter which could perhaps have some of Yorocco’s special bottles at some stage (perhaps… but perhaps they’ll fill it with margarine or something). Order at the counter and pay as you go. That’s how it seemed to work for me and the others there anyway.
- At the moment it’s open every day from 4-10 so I guess that just about counts as daytime opening. They did say that they will occasionally close, so best check their Instagram before you go if you’re making a special trip. They had WiFi. There was no cover charge. The food they had available when I was there was the same kind of fried potatoes that you get at Beach Muffin, (I think they were the same, definitely similar), a chicken schnitzel and sauerkraut. So it’s not really somewhere you’re going to be going for a sit down meal, but they definitely help the beer go down nicely. Wish they had some cheese too though.
I really enjoyed this place. I enjoyed it so much that I found that I had smashed my way through my targeted 5/8 of the menu in about an hour and a half. I was initially shocked by this, but at the same time it was something of a relief, as the train journey home took a long time, so leaving before closing time was a wise idea. The Czech style taps and mugs made the lagers taste even better than usual and I would have loved to have had the time, endurance and money to go for a second lap of the tap list. The lagers were so good that I didn’t even have Cultivator or Skywalker, (two beers by Yorocco that I really like), or even consider the Belgian wit, (which was a seasonal that I’d never tried before). If this place were closer to my home, I’d be here often I think. Even being quite far, I still think I will be a semi-regular customer.
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Yorocco
Opening Hours:
Monday-Friday, 16:00-22:00
Saturday, 12:00-22:00
Sunday, 12:00-21:00
But check before you go as they said they’ll occasionally have days off
Location/map:
笹目町 6-7 202, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken
Telephone:
none
Links:
Instagram