Shinshu Osake Mura One Paragraph Review
Quite simply, if you’re in the Tokyo area and looking for beer, then Shinshu Osake Mura has to be on your list of places to go. It’s cheap, close to the station, non-smoking, includes tax in the price, has a huge variety of beers for sale, open all-day, and has a great atmosphere. Moreover, join the members club and you get 5% off future purchases. The only downside is that it does packed out in the evenings and people might be put out by standing for a long time as there aren’t any seats. What more do you really want from a craft beer bar?
Shinshu Osake Mura Full Review
It has to be said, I’m a huge fan of the Shinshu area, or modern day Nagano and would happily upsticks and move there. Shinshu Osake Mura has been on my list of places to go to for a while now but I’ve always shot past it when visiting other bars in the area. Today was different as I had some time to kill before meeting some friends in Yona Yona Beer Kitchen in Akasuka-mitsuke (they didn’t want to stand up and drink for hours on end). Besides Google Maps getting confused as to where I was, Shinshu Sake Mura is a very easy place to find.
Shinshu Osake Mura is located within Shimbashi Ekimae Building, just across from the main entrance to the Yurikamome Line. Look for the tanuki, Japanese raccoon, statue outside and you’re there. The barman prides himself on having an incredible knowledge of Nagano’s sake distilleries and breweries and even enthused in English about the sake. The bar contains two main sections; with the front of the store the main drinking area, and the back area where you can purchase sake and beer to take home with you.
But I was there to only drink the craft beer from some of Nagano’s famous breweries. Shiga Kogen, Minamishinshu Beer Company, Yo-Ho Brewing, and Oh! La! Ho! were all represented as well as Karuizawa Brewery along with Kisoji Beer too. Prices for beers are some of the cheapest we’ve come across, with bottles going for far less than at some of the online stores we shop at. All of the beers are available in bottles; however, Shinshu Osake Mura does have two taps of craft beer that rotate around. There are no surprise tax hikes either as the prices are displayed on a poster at the till / cash register; however, don’t spend too long deciding as the queue can get very long very quick and you will soon become disliked by others in the bar.
Food at Shinshu Osake Mura consists of a mixture of small otsumami, or snack, style dishes from Nagano, such as pickles and tofu, and also handily located packets around the bar. Packets of salami are displayed alongside breaded cutlets in packets. The food portions are enough for one to snack on and are freshly prepared behind the bar though be careful of those pickles. They were coated in some wasabi-like dressing but thankfully the beer helped cool down the flames.
Shinshu Osake Mura Details
Open: Monday ~ Friday 11:00am to 9:30pm, Saturdays 11:00am to 6:30pm
Closed: Sundays, national holidays and the 2nd and 3rd Saturday of each month.
Phone: 03-3572-5488
Homepage (in Japanese): http://www.nagano-sake.com/vil/index.php
Social Network: Facebook
How to Get to Shinshu Osake Mura
Shinshu Osake Mura can be reached from JR Shimbashi or Shimbashi station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. From the JR station, take the Shiodome exit, and Shimbashi Ekimae building will be right in front of you. From the Tokyo Metro station, take exit A3 and you end up right outside the building and then turn left out of the exit.
[ezcol_1half]From JR Shimbashi Station [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]From Shimbashi Metro Station [/ezcol_1half_end]
1 comment
Id hasten to add that this place isnt a craft beer bar but a nagano prefecture foood and drink satellite place thingy. hence the cost price sake and beer and cheap snacks. also it is frequented wiht japanese gentlemenand a few women and dont go to the place to go looking to have a wild party, so anyone going here please respect the customers, staff and ambience. youll find the japanese who come here a bit wary of foreigners but give them a chance and they will start chatting away or even sing a song or two!