Today a quick post about what I was surprised to find out seems to be a new iteration of a well known and possibly not particularly loved old chain. Sake-ya Kitami is a really swish looking place under the Odakyu line tracks near Kitami station. Here’s the big reveal – it’s a branch of the Beer Kobo chain! I was kind of shocked when I recently found out that Beer Kobo had opened a ‘brew pub’ in Soshigayaokura. On closer inspection I couldn’t see the brewery though, so maybe it’s just a pub. After I ventured in to Sake-ya without knowing its parentage I was quite surprised to see the Beer Kobo logo on the glassware and am now wondering if Beer Kobo, after presumably running out of Chuo line stations to open pubs at have decided to target the Odakyu line for their next expansion. However, it seems that Sake-ya, whilst being owned by the same company, is a separate chain from the Beer Kobo pubs, maybe offering a slightly swisher experience. But their glassware and website gave them away. Anyway, here’s what you need to know:
- As I said above, it’s a pretty swishy place. Decor is a bit fancy and it’s quite big. Along with the dining and other booze, (champagne happy hour anyone?), this place actually has a brewery, which you can see when you go to the toilets. There’s also a booze shop here, so it seems that they’re branching out a little from the usual Beer Kobo style.
- Ten taps, seven of which were their own. The guests were a Beer Kobo beer that was made at DHC, a Beer Kobo beer made at another Beer Kobo branch and… ermm… Carlsberg. Beers served in two sizes, half, (the usual size, around 250ml), and pint, (presumably a US pint). Prices range from ¥660-¥890 for the half and ¥1100-¥1340 for the pint. As inflation seems to have left me behind a bit recently, I’d suggest that you don’t pay too much attention to my feelings on prices, but they initially seemed reasonable, but on reflection, considering the beer is made on site and it’s Beer Kobo, are perhaps a bit pricy. But the place is pretty fancy so it didn’t seem out of character. They also have a beer flight of their house beers (120ml x 3) for ¥1320. You can’t choose which beers you want though. It’s either 1-3 or 4-6 on the list, which is a bit of a shame.
- No cover charge, plenty of daytime opening and they have WiFi. Oh, and as I kind of mentioned above, they do food too. But you probably worked out that it would be that kind of place from my numerous mentions of it being fancy.
I feel a bit mean for just popping in for one and then writing a blog post, but to be honest, I think I know the Beer Kobo beers pretty well. I haven’t been to a Beer Kobo pub for a long time though, so I can’t say if the fact that Sake-ya had some more modern styles than what you might normally expect at a Beer Kobo pub is unique to Sake-ya, or something that is now common all across the chain. Perhaps the former, given that with the different name there seems to be a desire to set themselves apart from Beer Kobo a bit. But then again it does say Beer Kobo on the glasses, so what am I talking about? I have had some fun times at Beer Kobo places in the past, but the fact that I haven’t been to one for a very long time probably suggests that they aren’t high up on my list of places to go. Sake-ya seems to be appealing to a different demographic and although I don’t think I’m in that demographic either to be honest, but I’m sure plenty of people will enjoy the experience. The next post will be on another place in Kitami which provides a very different experience so I guess it’s a good station to live near to as there’s something for everyone!
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Sake-ya – Kitami
Opening Hours:
Monday-Thursday & Saturday, 11:00-22:30
Friday & Sunday, 11:00-22:00
Location/map:
岩戸北 2-20-1, Komae-shi, Tokyo
Telephone:
03-5761-7725
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