Post by Jim Beer Saurus is a restaurant and bar less than a ten minute walk from the west exit of Ikebukuro station. It seats 60. Ten of the seats are at a counter with green back-lighting. At first glance the interior looks a bit like a club. Then you’ll notice all the craft beer signs and posters….
Post by Mothy Hikawa Brewery is a small place, but in an area that doesn’t have much in the way of craft beer. It’s located less than a ten minute walk from Omiya Station near the Hikawa Shrine and Omiya Park. The interior prominently features, you guessed it, wood. It has counter seating for 15…
Post by James Lodi is a smoke free cafe-bar which is only about 20 seconds from Nakanosakaue station (exit A1). – The counter seats around seven and there is a separate counter/table that can accommodate about four. It was a busy night when I went and there were quite a few standing customers too. This…
THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED Post by James Smith is a modern restaurant/bar. I went at lunch time and was given a lunch menu but no beer menu. The other customers were mainly ladies taking a break from shopping and a few couples. The only other customer on their own was a woman knitting (can’t say…
UPDATE: This place has changed quite a lot. The left-hand side is now a bar/beer stand with lots of taps, around half of which are from Kunitachi Brewery, which I believe is owned by the same company as Sekiya. The rest were all from Japanese craft beer breweries. I think the concept is that…
Post by James This place is basically a cafe that also does good beer, wine and coffee. That said, it has a very nice atmosphere and was surprisingly lively when I popped in. I would certainly go in again when I next find myself in Otsuka. – There is an L-shaped counter which seats about…
Post by James Highlander Inn is the sister shop of a hotel/bar on the Speyside trail hence the Inn in the name. It has one of the best selections of whisky in Japan and all the staff are very knowledgeable when it comes to whisky. They also know their beer. – Beer sizes are half…
Just a quick post today to plead for help again. As you may have heard me complaining recently, it’s taking a lot of time and money to try to keep this site even moderately up to date nowadays. The huge amount of new places that are opening is too much work for just one person,…
Today, a small diversion again, away from beer and bars towards sake and books. I haven’t been able to visit many (actually, maybe ‘any’ would be more accurate…) new places recently due to various constraints. Apologies for this, but it really does take a bit of money and effort and I don’t exactly get anything…
Today, a brief post on another new place, this one opened only last week. There has been a trickle of information regarding this place for the last six months or so but the actual opening seemed to come around quite quickly. I was in the area at the weekend, so took the opportunity to pay…