East Tokyo brewpub adventure part 2 (Part 1 here, part 3 here and part 4 here)
The second stop on my east Tokyo brewpub crawl was Beer Vista, not far from Kiyosumi Shirakawa station. The contrast between Beer Vista and Pherment was quite stark! In fact maybe I could just say that if you just read that entry and think about the opposite of the type of clientele, the size and the amount of beers on tap, you probably don’t need to bother reading this post. But as you’re already here, here’s what you need to know:
- Big place with plenty of seats, maybe 20-30 and a standing counter area too. Feels kind of swish. The customers were a mix of local business people and younger, dare I say, more fashionable locals. Whereas Pherment was plain and stripped back, Beer Vista feels very comfortable and even a bit classy (which obviously usually makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, but I managed to cope. What a hero…). There is a big kitchen and the food menu looked interesting. But I was on a mission so I stuck to the beers, which was fine with them. There were a couple of tables outside the bar too. Not sure I’d go as far as to call it a patio, but looks like it would be a nice place to sit in spring or autumn.
- 12 taps, 11 of which were their own beers in a decent variety of styles. I had a sour saison and a Flemish sour. Neither were as sour as I would have expected, but both were very nice. Like an absolute clown, I’ve failed to write down the prices of the half pints, but the pints ranged from ¥1400-¥1500, which is regrettably kind of normal now. At the same time, it was nice that in a classy feeling place they hadn’t jacked up the prices. I said I was a clown for not writing down the half pint prices, but in my defence, I usually take a photo of the menu and on this occasion it was an online menu so I was maybe distracted. So, sorry for being a forget-to-take-a-photo clown. However, I am also a detective clown, and from checking my PayPay transactions I can tell you that my two halves came to ¥1850, so I’m going to guess that they were ¥900 and ¥950. What a long winded way of saying that the prices are about what you’d expect. You scan a QR code and order through the website. There is an English option too if you can’t speak Japanese. Also, the staff seemed to be quite helpful. Not sure if they can speak English, but I would imagine they can. The one guest beer (from a brewery I am struggling to remember… the clown is back again) was significantly more expensive. But I guess you won’t come here to drink guests, will you? If I recall correctly, they also had bottles or cans of their own beers in a fridge at the front of the space. I’m guessing these are to take away, but am not sure.
- No cover charge, some daytime opening during the week and more at the weekend. I couldn’t find WiFi, but I’m guessing that they have it as you have to use the website to order. Ah, and it’s another cashless payment place, but maybe, most people might expect that anyway.
This was a real surprise. I don’t think I had any particular preconceptions about this place, but I definitely wasn’t expecting the fancy feel and the fact that the beers were really nice. Obviously I only had two, but I’m definitely keen to stop by here again next time I’m in the area. After leaving here, I walked to the next pub. It didn’t seem worth going back to the station and taking the train one stop. And after all, I felt like I had to try to burn off some of the calories I was consuming. I’m sure you’re all excited to see the comparisons and contrasts with the next place I visit, right? If you are, please subscribe to our supporter level posts… of course I’m not going to do that. But I am going to badger you for donations in every post from now on. Well, every post till someone tells me to stop doing it. I can’t get a link to work right now, but the button is on the right hand side of the desktop version of the site and if you scroll down on the mobile version, it’s just after the search box. I think it still works… Will try to work out something simpler soon. I’m thirsty. And skint.
Japanese breweries in bottles or cans:
Beer Vista
Opening Hours:
Monday – Friday, 16:00-22:30
Saturday & Sunday, 14:00-22:00
Location/map:
常盤 2-13-17, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Telephone:
03-6659-6657