Craftsman Yokohama

Update #2: this place has improved a great deal since they first opened. The beer list is now consistently interesting with good to great selection of Japanese and US beers at reasonable prices. The staff are more knowledgeable and the food, while not amazing, is very good - especially if you are coming in for a late bite.

Maybe we went there on a bad night, but I don’t quite get what people see in this place. The selection was not great; certainly large but with very few things of interest and a heavy reliance on cheap kegs. Food was nice, but they aren’t very good for vegetarians. No possibility to remove meat from the quesadillas and many dishes that had no mention of meat in the name had that secret bonus meat thing that seems common in Japan. I was in Saizeriya this afternoon and they were far more obliging with removing meat from their menu and they are a huge chain. I’ve heard the other branches might be better but I’m not so keen to check them out now. Oh, and also, the pouring was terrible. I don’t usually moan about these things but our order of two pints of the same beer came with one glass about 4/5 full and the other 3/5 full. Other beers were coming out from the bar with over 50% head. The staff were all very friendly, but I think they’re out of their depth. (hence the low score). Nice feel to the place meant that atmosphere wise it was a nice evening, but given that I couldn’t find enough interesting stuff to make up a three beer sampler, I think they need to make quite a few improvements to keep people happy.

A newish beer bar and restaurant down the road from Thrash Zone. It was totally packed on my visit, I guess being the new kid on the craft beer block a lot of folks are keen to check it out. I managed to squeeze the last seat at the bar and service was attentive during my time here. The beer selection is decent and split across different styles - 30 taps in total. Good food menu, I ordered the horse meat tartare washed back with a Wild Beer Co Saison. It was all good. I’d return to give this place another crack next time I’m in town.

Very good food, for starters. Good selection of taps, maybe not quite great. Taps prices fair. Great bottle list but they are stupidly expensive, so I can’t imagine ever buying one, especially since they are all available elsewhere in Japan. Like it, though. Really enjoyed the food.