Alpha Beta Coffee club was kindly suggested to me by a reader of this blog. He said it was fast becoming his go to place to drink. Bizarrely, considering I pass through the station twice a day, three or four times a week, I have never actually been to Jiyugaoka, so this was an all round exciting experience for me. Well, maybe that’s overdoing it a little, but I had a nice time here, sitting on the roof terrace enjoying a happy hour pint on my way to the football. As you have probably guessed from the name of the place, it’s fair to say that beer is not the main focus of this establishment, but it is an important part of their business it seems. Here’s what you need to know.
– On the 3rd floor of a fairly unlikely looking office-type building. Open, bright and airy with plenty of seating. The decor is modern and the whole place feels kind of trendy and brand-spanking-new. The main focus is a large communal table in the middle of the cafe. There is also a nice patio/roof terrace with lots of bench seating round the outside. It was a very pleasant place to sit on a not too hot summer’s day.
– Five taps of craft beer, dominated by US imports. On the day I visited, they were all US imports in fact, but they did have a Kyoto beer listed as coming next. There is also a small fridge of bottles and cans with probably round about 20 different beers in stock. Beer is served in two sizes, pint (US) and glass (who knows… but probably around 225-250ml judging by the price. If anyone can tell me, please do). All beers were priced the same, ¥1200 and ¥650, so not the cheapest. However, they have a happy hour from Monday to Friday from 18:00-21:00 when the prices are ¥950 and ¥500 (very nice!).
– Obviously, given that it’s a cafe it’s open during the daytime. In fact it’s open from 08:00, but not sure how many people drink beer at that time. The shop itself is no smoking, they have wifi and there is no cover charge. Think they allow smoking on the terrace though. Well, at least someone was smoking on the terrace when I was there.
This is a nice option for daytime drinking in an area that is woefully under-represented on my map at the moment. Whilst the taplist isn’t so exciting, being made up of beers that are seen around in plenty of other places, there does always seems to be something nice on. The happy hour prices make it an inviting destination and I’m sure that the design and feel, and the scarcity of options locally mean it will be popular at other times too.
Japanese breweries recently seen on tap:
Kyoto (sometimes, but mainly imports)
Opening Hours:
Monday-Friday, 08:00-23:00
Saturday, 09:00-23:00
Sunday, 09:00-21:00
Location/map:
ミルシェ自由が丘 3F, 自由が丘 2-10-4, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Telephone:
03-5726-8433