I had a great time visiting Viajero. This was for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a nice place with a fun atmosphere and good prices. Secondly it was the culmination of my self-enforced challenge to have a Japanese craft beer in every ‘shi’, ‘machi’ and ‘mura’ of Tokyo. I’m glad I saved it till last rather than finish the challenge drinking a Captain Crow in a Family Mart car park which is what I had to do in one of the less equipped for drinking areas I visited. The real end to the challenge will be when I go to drink Japanese craft beer on one of the islands that are also part of Tokyo, so I’ll post a bit more about the whole ‘project’ when I’ve done that. But nevertheless, I’m definitely feeling quite a sense of satisfaction at the moment. Anyway, here’s what you need to know about Viajero.
- As far as I know this is the only craft beer bar in Kodaira. And given that Kodaira is surrounded by some other areas with very little beer in them, this place is a godsend. Very small, just a counter for seven and tucked away underneath an apartment building a little bit back from the road. Quite atmospheric with subdued lighting and there’s also something for the trainspotters as the back of the bar has a window which shows the delights of the Seibu Haijima and Kokubunji lines.
- Eight taps of Japanese craft (as far as I can remember) all of which were identically priced. I can’t remember the price for the small size, (Instagram suggests ¥750), but the medium was ¥950 and the pint was ¥1300, so pretty good. And when you consider some of the breweries that were on tap, great prices. lots of other booze too, with plenty of bottles of spirits behind the counter. I didn’t investigate them.
- Cover charge for which you get a snack. Totally fair enough when your bar only has seven seats, I think. Didn’t find WiFi. And no daytime opening. But, the food was well priced, delicious and the portions were big!
I expected to enjoy my visit here mainly due to the circumstances, but I was surprised how much of a great time I had. The master was very friendly and had lots of interesting things to talk about. Looking at the beers they’ve had on tap in the past on social media posts, it seems that there is always a decent variety of stuff available here. It’s not particularly easy for us to get to from home but I think we’ll definitely be going back. It was that much fun! I don’t know how busy it normally gets but the master did mention that it usually isn’t as busy at the weekends and I guess if you don’t live in the area, that’s probably when you’re going to be visiting. If you’re looking for somewhere to go that has real character, is a labour of love and offers something a little bit different, I’d definitely recommend you visit.
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Baird
Uchu
Ogna
Kyoto
Distant Shores
Horsehead Labs
Coedo
Sankt Gallen
Opening Hours:
Monday-Saturday, 18:00-23:00
Closed Sunday
(It’s worth adding here that it looks like he adjusts the opening hours on google maps. They are closed this week and that’s reflected on there, so maybe that’s the best place to go to confirm)
Location/map:
小川西町 4-7-9 裕季ビル1階, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo
Telephone:
090-4384-4747