Editor’s Note – Craft And Romance has now closed. This review is being kept up for posterity’s sake.
Craft And Romance One Paragraph Review
If you’re looking for somewhere with a decent view over Kichijoji, then you’re in luck with Craft And Romance. If you’ve been to Craftsman in Gotanda or Craftsman in Yokohama, then you know what you are getting. The outside (non-smoking) area is conducive to some early drinking when the weather permits. The prices are reasonable enough that the additional tax at the end won’t break the bank. There isn’t a table charge and on the day we went, there was an English-speaking waiter who was determined to explain about everything in English. There was also a Wi-Fi connection as well for those looking to leave comments on BeerTengoku.
Craft And Romance Full Review
It seems that Kichijoji, besides continuously being ranked the most desired place to live in Tokyo, if not Kanto, also seems to be going through the throes of a craft beer boom. I last went to Kichijoji in 2011 and was surprised by the lack of craft beer bars then, but at the time of writing, there were five within walking distance of the station. Craft And Romance is the third in the chain of bars from the Craftsman, after the Gotanda and Sendai branches, with the focus of this branch being Italian food. More of that later…
Craft And Romance is located about five minutes from the south exit of Kichijoji station, which can be reached via the JR Chuo line or the Keio Inokashira Line as well. It’s located on the seventh floor and also has a small seating area outside when weather permits, that has enough spaces for 16 people. Inside is much bigger, with around 20 tables though like the other branches, Craft And Romance seems to have a an issue with space and wants as many people packed in as is possible. The whole bar is non-smoking and there was also a random Wi-Fi signal available as well though it was unsure if it was the building’s Wi-Fi or Craft And Romance. There wasn’t a table charge either at the end of the drinking too. There was music playing in the background – loud enough so you can hear it but not so loud to drown out the conversations.
There are 31 taps at Craft & Romance, with the majority leaning towards domestic craft beer. Like the other two branches we’ve visited, the beers come in two sizes; small which is 250ml for ¥500 and also regular which is 400ml for ¥800. There is also a three beer tasting set for ¥1,050 that gets you three 150ml glasses. None of the prices include tax and the beer serving is iffy at best. Thankfully, the beers were served much better here and were served well with just the right amount of head – though we would like none next time. The beer menu were in Japanese only for the drinks without any English menu available; yet the wine menu beneath was in English and Japanese.
The food is geared towards Italian based cuisine, something that caught me out as I was hoping for some tacos this time, but ended up having nachos instead. There are also some lunch deals going on and if you like their Facebook page and show them, they will give you a small dish of otoshi. Unfortunately, the waiter completely forgot about my order when I did this so ended up getting a couple of hundred yen off of the bill at the end. Strangely though the food menu was in English and in Japanese.
Craft And Romance Details
Open: Monday to Thursday 17:00 – 25:00 Friday and public holidays the day before 17:00 – 27:00 Saturday 11:00 – 27:00 Sundays and public holidays 11:00 – 24:00
Happy Hour: None
Phone: 0422-24-6170
Homepage (in Japanese): http://productoftime.co.jp/about/index.html
SNS: Facebook
How to Get to Craft And Romance
The closest station to Craft And Romance is JR Kichijoji or Keio Kichijoji using the maps below.
[ezcol_1half]Direction from JR Kichijoji
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end]Directions from Keio Kichijoji
[/ezcol_1half_end]
4 comments
Is this bar across the avenue from the Kichioji Don Quijote store?! If so, it just got on the short list of venues to hit the next time I am in greater Tokyo (Hopefully December).
Yeah, that’s the place. Quite a few places now in Kichijoji. A busy commuter area with a surprising amount of places to drink at.
Nice food. At lunch I felt ok taking my toddler, which is a big deal for a beer drinking dad. Good selection of beer and not terrible prices. I was there a while ago and with the sun beating down the place got really HOT. That was my biggest complaint.
I’d rather eat here than at CBM. Enjoying a couple of drinks at both places could be a really fun evening in Kichijoji.
Unfortunately this place closed. I think they are opening a Belgian beer restaurant in the same space.