This place recently appeared on my radar when a friend of mine checked in to one of their beers on Untappd. The name was kind of intriguing but until now I hadn’t managed to visit. It’s been open a little while, (almost a year), but I suppose in the usual glacial Tokyo Beer Drinker scheme of things my visit was actually not so long after opening. Situated in Yanaka, a little walk from either Nippori or Sendagi stations, this isn’t an area that I go to very often but it does seem that there are some interesting things going on in this general part of the city so maybe I should go back more often. Anyway, here’s what you need to know:
- Brewpub inside an old sake shop as you can see from that big ball thing hanging outside. And as you can see from my calling it a ‘big ball thing’, sake is not something I know a lot about. Given that it’s inside an old shop the decor is not what you might expect from a new brew pub. A lot of the interior has a traditional Japanese look and the additions have been made in a complimentary style. Downstairs there was seating for about 10 at tables and a small counter. There’s a room upstairs too and I guess it’s a tatami room as people were taking their shoes off to go up there. Apparently the total capacity is 30, so I guess there are a few tables upstairs.
- (I thought seeing as this is a common feature of many places I add I should do a bullet point about food from now on, so here it is). Seemed to have a reasonably sized food menu with unsurprisingly some lamb dishes. The food was definitely more Japanese style than more Western style pub dishes. It’s worth checking their Instagram for some pictures. Obviously the fact that it was Japanese style meant that, as a vegetarian, it wasn’t really going to be my thing, but there were definitely some customers who seemed to be there primarily to eat. Just drinking is fine though.
- Six taps of their own beer, made on site. There were a decent range of styles available and the prices were pretty good. Beers served in two sizes, pint and regular. The pints looked like US pints and I’d say that the regular was probably around 250ml. Prices ranged from ¥700-¥800 for the regular and ¥1100-¥1200 for the pint.
- No cover charge, daytime opening, (but it’s one of those places that opens for lunch and then closes again before reopening in the evening on weekdays, so check the times carefully before you visit) and this time I remembered to check and they do have WiFi! Beware that this is a cashless payment place, but they do accept plenty of different cashless options.
I have to say this was a pleasant surprise. The beers were nice and it’s a pleasant place to spend some time. The staff were very friendly and I was interested to hear where they got the name of the brewery from. It wasn’t really what I was expecting. When you put everything together and have decent beers, good prices and nice traditional surroundings, I’d say this is a place well worth visiting.
Japanese breweries seen on tap here:
Buzzed Lamb
Opening Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday, 12:00-15:00, 16:00-20:00
Friday, 12:00-15:00, 16:00-22:00
Saturday, 12:00-22:00
Sunday, 12:00-20:00
Closed Monday and Tuesday
They publish their monthly opening hours on a calendar on Instagram, so give that a check before you go, just in case
Location/map:
谷中 4-2-39, Taito-ku, Tokyo
From Sendagi
From Nippori
Telephone:
070 2234 6839
Links:
Instagram