Latest reviews from Tokyo
| 68 /100 Gorigori Burger Taproom (Restaurant) NISHIAZABU 1-2-3, MINATO-KU “Visited on a Wednesday evening in February 2020. A modern place located around 20 minutes by foot from my hotel. (ANA Intercontinental) Good English spoken by the friendly lady who served me. Not a must stop in Tokyo but if you are nearby, why not?“ |
| 76 /100 Good Beer Faucets (Bar) SHOTO 1-29-1, SHIBUYA-KU “Visited on a Wednesday afternoon in February 2020. A medium sized place located around 2 minutes walk from Mikkeller. Good service atlhough no English spoken. 40 beers on tap, both domestic and international. I would not hesitate to visit this place again in the future.
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| 72 /100 Mikkeller Tokyo (Bar) DOGENZAKA 2-19-11, SHIBUYA-KU “Visited on a Wednesday afternoon in February 2020. A small place located around 7 minutes walk from the old Mikkeller location. The service was fast and polite but the ambiance of this place was not the best one. But it's still nice to visit a new Mikkeller Bar.“ |
| 76 /100 Øl by Oslo Brewing Co. (Bar) 37-10 UDAGAWACHO, SHIBUYA-KU “Visited early on a Wednesday in February 2020. A rather cozy place that "smelled" Mikkeller. Only a couple of other guests during my visit. Friendly service and with a decent selection. (although I prefer more domestic beers on tap when abroad) It took me one hour to walk to this place from my Hotel. (ANA Intercontinental)“ |
| 64 /100 Two Dogs Taproom (Bar) 3-15-24 ROPPONGI, MINATO-KU “Visited on a Tuesday evening in February 2020. The place was almost empty during my visit and with a rather slow service. The selection was decent and the pizza was tasty. (yes, I did eat pizza in Tokyo)“ |
| 76 /100 BrewDog Roppongi (Bar) 5-3-2 ROPPONGI, MINATO-KU “Visited on a Tuesday afternoon in February 2020. It took me 15 minutes to walk to this place from my hotel (InterContinental ANA). The place was almost empty during my visit so I had a rather long chat with the friendly bartender. The selection was good. Well worth a visit if visiting Roppongi.
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| 86 /100 Craft Beer Server Land (Bar) 2-9 KAGURAZAKA, SHINJUKU-KU “One of the best places to enjoy the Japanese craft beers in Tokyo.
Located at the heart of Tokyo, in the middle of Kagurazaka near Iidabashi Station (JR, Metro).
The entrance is a bit difficult to find as the bar is located in the basement, but once inside, comfortable atmosphere and friendly staff makes you want to stay longer.
They provide 18-21 taps of craft beers, specializing in Japan-made ones. There is also a wide variety of food, mainly pub food but also some homemade dishes from the owner chef's kitchen. I especially recommend the Fish and Chips of Japanese sea eel.
The proprietress who always is in the hall is fluent in English, so guests from abroad can also enjoy a comfortable stay.
* They also run a branch in Akasaka-mitsuke, which has 30 taps and more space.“ |
| 46 /100 SHINAGAWA STATION “Located in a food court so there's plenty of food options.
Service was pretty crappy - they're not geared towards foreigners or very attentive in general. Case in point, they announced a rare beer release on social media and even put out the shelf tags. Upon arriving, I noticed the empty shelves and the long line so naturally I lined up. They would pass out order forms upon request so despite getting there early, I only found out about the form after waiting 30 minutes in line and all the forms being passed out. Would have been easier if they asked the less than 20 people in line who was waiting for the beer and passed out the forms instead. They had the staff available and were able to speak English but apparently, they simply don't bother.
Selection is about 20-30 beers with a balanced selection of all styles. Some rare stuff like Enjoy By from time to time.“ |
| 76 /100 Devil Craft Kanda (Bar) 4-2-3 NIHONBASHI-MUROMACHI CHUO-KU “A seemingly small bar in Kanda. It is tight and cozy quarters but there are 2 floors (and a random table in between the two). They had about 10 house taps and a few guests I believe. The beers were quite good though. The menu is predominantly Chicago style pizza. I ordered one of the monthly special pizzas which was more of a hybrid of Chicago style and pan pizza (it was quite good though). Definitely a good stop for beer and the pizza is pretty good too.“ |
| 78 /100 WIZ Craft Beer and Food (Bar) WATERRAS TOWER, KANDA AWAJICHO 2-CHOME, CHIYODA-KU “Small bar in Kanda. It is in the ground floor of a large building and there is plenty of outdoor seating in an open pavillion. Inside there is bar and table seating. It was quiet and mostly empty on a Sunday late afternoon. They had about 20 taps, mostly Japanese (a couple other imports). There is a food menu but I didn’t get anything. Definitely a solid place to get a variety of Japanese crafts. Not particularly memorable but gets the job done.“ |
| 74 /100 Himalaya Table (Restaurant) 3-5-5 UCHIKANDA, CHIYODA-KU “A fun spot if you’re interested in Nepalese food and craft beer. It’s a small cozy spot. We just walked in and they had a bunch of reserved placards on tables but then they just took one away and let us sit (it wasn’t very busy). The food was delicious. Smaller portions than I’m used to in the US. The momo was very tasty as was my chicken curry. The beer list unfortunately was only in Japanese. Our waiter translated the styles for us but I wasn’t able to tell what the breweries were. Still the beer was good but I’d mostly come here for the food and a beer to drink it down with.“ |
| 80 /100 Hitachino Brewing Lab (Bar) 1-25-4 SUDA-CHO, KANDA, CHIYODA-KU “Cute brewpub in Akihabara. It is pretty small, but there is some outdoor seating and more seating around the corner. They had about 8 of their own taps and then around 10+ bottles including some limited/barrel aged stuff. The tap beers were delicious. They had a small food menu which I didn’t order anything from. An enjoyable spot, pretty good selection - lots of varied styles available.“ |
| 86 /100 Bakushu Club Popeye (Bar) 2-18-7 RYOGOKU, SUMIDA-KU “This place was not as crazy as I was expecting based on previous ratings. Granted I did come during the coronavirus scare but it was a Friday night at 6pm. No wait, plenty of tables open. Bar pretty full. They have 70 taps, mostly Japanese beers, so it’s perfect for travelers. They offer multiple size pours (9 oz, 14 oz and various others). There is a happy hour special where if you order certain beers on the menu you get a free appetizer (half of a plate). Can’t be beat! Service perhaps not super on top of things, but certain very friendly. This is my first place in Tokyo so I don’t have any comparison yet but I’d say it’s worth a visit.“ |
| 78 /100 Ant n Bee (Bar) 5-1-5 ROPPONGI, MINATO-KU “Quit little bar in Roppongi. When I came they had special taps from Kyushu. Mixed international/Japanese customers.“ |
| 66 /100 Tanakaya Liquor Store (Beer Store) 3-4-14 MEJIRO, TOSHIMA-KU “They have everything. Sake, whisky, beer... you name it. Some Japanese craft (about 15 different ones), but there‘s far more import beer. You cannot drink the beers on site. Sterile atmosphere.“ |
| 68 /100 WIZ Craft Beer and Food (Bar) WATERRAS TOWER, KANDA AWAJICHO 2-CHOME, CHIYODA-KU “Decently sized place in what I think is Chiyoda. Either way, its very close to Kanda too. Big tap selection, 24-30 with all of it being Japanese. OK prices. Staff spoke enough English to make it easy. Big kitchen, although I didn't eat here. This, combined with some of the other Kanda stops, makes for a nice pub crawl.“ |
| 74 /100 Devil Craft Kanda (Bar) 4-2-3 NIHONBASHI-MUROMACHI CHUO-KU “Fairly small place in Kanda. I don't know if they are brewing here, but they are definitely serving their own beer, plus a selection of international beers. Prices are decent, selection was solid. Staff speaks English, which makes things easy. Vibe was good, mix of tourists/locals. I did not eat here, but they do deep dish pizza and it looked pretty good. Worth stopping in.“ |
| 84 /100 Bakushu Club Popeye (Bar) 2-18-7 RYOGOKU, SUMIDA-KU “Ryogoku isn't a hotspot for beer, so you might think about skipping this place. Don't. This place is crazy. If you are with a big group, get there early. Solo or with just one other? Expect a bit of a wait. I went at 6pm on a Saturday and the place was packed. Stuffy as others had mentioned. It's packed because from 3-8pm on Saturdays is "happy hour". About half the beer menu, which numbers more than 70 taps, comes with a free plate of food. These are legit appetizer sized portions. Applies to half pints and full. Beer menu is very solid, tons of Japanese beers I didn't see at the other Tokyo spots. Quite a few US brews and some rare ones at that. Some English speakers, you should be able to manage it. Prices are high, but its Tokyo. Highly recommend.“ |
| 74 /100 Beer Lupulin (Bar) 6-7-7 GINZA, CHUO-KU “A bit hard to find. Seems to only be frequented by Japanese patrons. 6 beers on tap. Friendly atmosphere and staff.“ |
| 80 /100 Watering Hole (Bar) 5-26-5-103 SENDAGAYA, SHIBUYA-KU “Easy to reach. Fairly busy on a friday afternoon. Frequented by both Japanese patrons and foreigners alike. Interesting Japanese taps. Hip young staff. Definitely a location worth visiting, especially since it‘s so easy to get to from Shinjuku station.“ |
| 68 /100 Good Beer Faucets (Bar) SHOTO 1-29-1, SHIBUYA-KU “Modern, hip place. Kinda busy even on a tuesday night. A few unique taps, some bottles, some spirits too.“ |
| 70 /100 CHIYODA-KU 神田須田町1-24-6 “7 of their regular beers on tap, plus 5 limited seasonals. No bottles. Opens sooner than most other bars, which is good. Fairly popular among locals, it seems. Flights of 3 and 10 available. Freshly prepared food, including both Western and Japanese snacks.“ |
| 86 /100 3-38 KANDA SAKUMA-CHO, CHIYODA-KU “Quiet mid-sized bar not far from Akiba station. About 50 beers on tap. Pop and rock blasting through the speakers. Good fish and chips. Friendly staff.“ |
| 90 /100 2-62 SENJU, ADACHI-KU “Nice beer store and bar with a wide selection of local and international beers. You can get a beer from the bottle shop and drink it. Surprised to see some variety of lambic, fresh hops and other hard to find beers. Recommended“ |
| 94 /100 2-15-8 TAISHIDO, SETAGAYA-KU “Small cozy place with a few taps of both local and international beers. Great ambiance and friendly stuff. Great food too. Loved this place, highly recommended“ |
| 68 /100 TDM 1874 Aoyama (Beer Store) 1-4-4 KITAAOYAMA, MINATO-KU “5 taps, one is Super Dry. Mainly a wine shop, but a bar in front swerving TDM beers and a small fridge of their beers and a few guests. Can drink upstairs as well.“ |
| 74 /100 3-2-1 NIHONBASHIMUROMACHI “Opened Fall 2019 in a very modern upscale shopping mall on the ground floor. Spacious and with outdoor seating. This is not targeted at beer geek fans. This brewery is connected with the Craft Beer Market chain which also isn't geared to beer geeks, but has some of the best taplists in Tokyo. They have about 10 of their own beers on tap. Quality was just OK to good, but I went a month after it opened, so happy to go back once and awhile and see if things get better. Prices were good for Tokyo, 600 half pints/900 yen pints. Staff were decent, but nothing special. Food is oddly aimed down market and we were not so impressed (oddly CBM's can have fantastic food). Except for the food, everything is sufficiently OK. Not worth a particular trip at this point - though good stop if you are in the area, but this place has tons of potential. Skip the food.“ |
| 80 /100 3-38 KANDA SAKUMA-CHO, CHIYODA-KU “Stitched together place. Larger selection and same great prices. GO here if in Akihabara.“ |
| 56 /100 1-9-2 OTEMACHI, CHIYODA-KU “Least fun place ever to drink but decent selection. Good for a power lunch. That is all.“ |
| 72 /100 2-18-3 YOYOGI, SHIBUYA-KU “Visited on Sunday afternoon (busy) and Monday evening (very quiet) Small brewery tap down past Brussels Beer Project. 11 YYG beers on tap and 3 guest beers from 2SP Brewing in Philadelphia. Excellent YYG Shinjuku Pale Ale and black IPA. About 7 cans including Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch at 1450 yen. Small terrace outside. Very friendly staff and prompt service at bar.“ |
| 76 /100 Frigo (Bar) SHINJUKU-SHIMAZU BLD. B1F, 2-11-20, YOYOGI, SHIBUY “Visited on a Sunday evening while Japan were playing Scotland in the Rugby World Cup. Atmosphere brilliant as Japan won. Very good selection of Belgian bottled beers but also Pohjala and O'Hara Irish. 1560 yen for Duvel Triple Hop seems expensive but not bad compared to 1000 yen for small draught Pilsner Urquel. Service was excellent and very friendly.“ |
| 72 /100 2-10-15 KICHIJŌJI MINAMICHŌ “New place just opened in May 2019. About 5 minute walk from Kichijoji station. Holds about 15-20 people max. Food portions are small but priced accordingly. Full range of Baird on tap, plus a few seasonals in bottles. Great craft beer prices, especially with the nombei card (10 pints for price of 12).“ |
| 62 /100 CHIYODA-KU 神田須田町1-24-6 “Lineup of about 10 farily standard Yona Yona beers. Prices OK, but then again these are sold in cans you can buy almost anywhere for 300 yen. Often sold out, but the barley wine Hare No Hi is something worthwhile. Food menu is decent, and a good range of sausages. It was packed on a Thursday night.“ |
| 80 /100 Devil Craft Gotanda (Bar) 2-7-8 NISHIGOTANDA. SHINAGAWA-KU “Very convenient, just across the street from Gotanda station. Similar to the Hammatsucho as it is all one floor, but nice big windows overlooking the city. Twelve DC taps and six or seven imports, plus cider. Most pints (US size) 1,000-1,100. Pizzas are great, and good value too. A large will satsify a couple hungry men.“ |
| 70 /100 2-CHOME 2-13 CHIYODA “Nice restaurant style brewery. Of course, great service. Had 6 of their own beers on tap and a few guests. The food menu looked geared toward western stuff, especially some variation of Spanish and Cajun. Also, oysters. The prices were very fair, and it was fairly busy. Overall, not a bad place. The beer was just OK.“ |
| 80 /100 2-9-1 KANDATSUKASAMACHI, CHIYODA-KU “Nice place. Open feel, busy on a Friday night. Lots of people getting pissed. Great service. The tap list is obviously awesome. Didn't eat, but the food looked good. The star here is the beer. Gets busy if you have a large group it might be tough.“ |
| 78 /100 Towa (Bar) UENO 6-11-12, TAITO-KU “Stopped in here with the fam on a rainy Sunday in July. Very good service, staff took away the stroller and although the place isn't laid out like its kid friendly, its very very kid friendly. 15 taps that showed a nice cross section of breweries, but I felt it was a bit randomly chosen. Feel it is always good, but never great - at least for someone who lives in Japan. Only Japanese craft beers. They also have a pretty deep sake list as well - the theme is sake and beer. The food is Japanese and the Soba was fantastic. My wife (Japanese) was very surprised by the quality. Prices for half pints are a bit high and food was a tad high, but quality was good. Service was good. Location is excellent. Won't be a regular, but wouldn't hesitate to stop by again, especially if I am with the family.“ |
| 82 /100 2-11-15 KANDA-JIMBOCHO, CHIYODA-KU “This is a great place. Pretty close to the station. Not a big place, of course great service. Had some nice food, I only had some small plates. Solid, very good beer menu. Focused on a lot of IPAs and mostly Japanese beers. Excellent overall. Would fit in anywhere in Portland.“ |
| 80 /100 Devil Craft Kanda (Bar) 4-2-3 NIHONBASHI-MUROMACHI CHUO-KU “What a great place. Small, perhaps better said as cozy. Has 8 of their own beers on tap and a few guest taps. Sort of medium depth deep dish pizzas. Not pretentious at all, fun and casual place. I loved the DC beers, they were all clean and flavorful. One of the best in Japan.“ |
| 86 /100 1-8-4 ITABASHI, ITABASHI-KU “One of the hidden gems in the city. I finally made it here one weekend when the wife and kid were out of town and so glad I made it. Atmosphere of standard modern cafe. Heavy metal played at very modest level. Huge taplist of 22 taps, half of which are their own. Flights available which was nice. Prices are at or slightly above average but nothing unreasonable. I came here on a nice June Sunday afternoon and chilled outside on one of the two tables outside. Semi-suburban, so I watched a guy attempting tricks on his bike on the street in front of me. Quality of beer is either the best or near best for a brewpub in Tokyo. That said, American style ales are their thing and they do everything in a very american way (and owned by two Americans). Nothing was bad. A couple beers were just average but everything is well made. Import beer list looked interesting. They also have a fridge with random selection of their own and imported beer. I kinda thought if I had my own place it might not be so dissimilar to this. Can’t say anything negative about this place at all. Not my favorite place in the world but no flaws.“ |
| 72 /100 NIHONBASHITOMIZAWACHO 10-13, CHUO-KU “Sort of cool vibe, laid back slick pizza place. Had only one of their own beers on tap which was served Sake style. I liked that. Might have been brewed at HUB. Had maybe 10 other solid taps. The pizza was good. Medium priced. Easy to find. Solid place, good potential. I'd like to see their own beers shine.“ |
| 80 /100 1-8-4 ITABASHI, ITABASHI-KU “Stopped in for lunch. 25 taps I think, about half their own, the other half, pretty well chosen imports and a couple Japanese craft. Their beers are very good. All cleanly made, in various styles. The IPAs and barley wine really shined. Hamburgers are enormous and delicious. Proper chicken wings at night too. Really good place where I would go often if I lived anywhere nearby. Tasting flights also available, which is a rarity here.“ |
| 92 /100 apart (Bar) 4-18-4 TAISHIDO, #102, SETAGAYA-KU “FINALLY! The Craftheads located in Shibuya before changed its name and location, and this is the one!
For this time, the place is on the street-level, not in the basement, and they serve not only craft beer, but also coffee and sake as well!
The food is slightly different from the one they had in Craftheads - now they are in more Izakaya-style.
The location is quite nice with few min walk from the station without any slops (oh, I miss the slop Craftheads had...).“ |
| 72 /100 BrewDog Roppongi (Bar) 5-3-2 ROPPONGI, MINATO-KU “A sizeable bar, probably with a food, rather than a beer focus. A decent tap selection. Nothing special from Brewdog though, but a few interesting Japanese micros. Friendly staff and working Wi-Fi. Worth the journey especially with the other quality bars close by.“ |
| 80 /100 Watering Hole (Bar) 5-26-5-103 SENDAGAYA, SHIBUYA-KU “A great beer bar not far from Shinjuku station. A short walk away from the central Madness. A sizeable bar with plenty of tables and seats at the bar. An impressive tap selection from Japan and around the world including two hand pull cask ales. Friendly staff and our server spoke perfect English. Working Wi-Fi and no cover charge which puts me off so many other Tokyo bars. The best bar in this vicinity. Reasonably priced flights available.“ |
| 78 /100 Ant n Bee (Bar) 5-1-5 ROPPONGI, MINATO-KU “A great small underground beer bar in Roppongi and not far from the metro station. An old brown bar with lots of wood. Most people sit at the bar as there are not many tables. They have 20 taps of Japanese brewed beers. Friendly staff who clearly love their beers. Prices are not cheap but four sizes are available. Absolutely worth the journey to come here and especially so as there are other attractive bars close by. Reliable Wi-Fi.“ |
