Bakushuan Ebisu The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a date place, then Bakushuan Ebisu is really nice place to sit down and have some decent Japanese craft beer and food; however, be prepared to spend some serious cash on doing that. While the prices include tax, they aren’t the cheapest in Tokyo; there isn’t a happy hour, and there is the dreaded table charge to add on as well. The whole place is non-smoking though make sure you go with someone who can read and/or speak Japanese as all the menus were in what appeared to be cursive Japanese – perhaps one step worse than using keigo. If you can handle all of that, then you might just enjoy Bakushuan Ebisu.
Bit blurry as I was a bit drunk. 😀
Bakushuan Ebisu The Full Review
Ebisu isn’t doing too well in the craft beer scene with so far the two places we’ve been too, striking out for being either too expensive or simply just poor. Bakushuan Ebisu is the second in what is advertised as a Japanese sake and food bar, though they also specialise in craft beer as well. The first bar is in Otsuka, with the Ebisu location opening in early 2014. Bakushuan Ebisu is located about five minutes from the West exit of JR Ebisu and Tokyo Metro Ebisu station, on the seventh floor of what appears to be a non-descript building, so make sure you have your eyes wide open.
The inside of Bakushuan Ebisu appeared to be quite dark when we came out of the lift, and I was thinking we’ve walked into a bar that is closed; however, turning around the corner, the bar appeared to be like the living room of someone’s house – a few dining tables with a small counter section, with space in total for about 25 people. There was a balcony area outside, well looked like one, but according to the bar manager, it was closed and left it at that. The whole place is non-smoking, with people having to go downstairs to smoke. However, there is the dreaded table charge of ¥500 to pay but you do get two nice dishes of traditional Japanese food. It’s also highly recommend you book if you want to go as well, as they had trouble fitting in one person on a Saturday at 5pm..
Bakushuan Ebisu is billed as Japanese sake and traditional food izakaya, but don’t let that fool you because as you walk in, right on your left are twelve taps of domestic craft beer. The beers come in three sizes: small (230ml) from ¥550 to ¥850 for stronger beers, medium (370ml) from ¥800 to ¥1200, and large (470ml) from ¥1000 to ¥1350. Thankfully the prices included tax and the beers were served up to the brim of beer – no head in your beer at this place. There isn’t any happy hour at Bakushuan Ebisu nor are there any tasting sets either. The biggest problem though is the menus are in cursive Japanese, and unless you can read that, can be difficult to read some of the more complex descriptions.
The food at Bakushuan Ebisu is all freshly prepared so don’t expect a quick serving of food in front of you. As Bakushuan Ebisu is based around traditional Japanese cuisine, there weren’t chips on the menu; though there was plenty of vegetarian and meat dishes on the menu for people that want them. The fried rice was, we shall say, interesting as it was more gluttonous than expected but still delicious.
Bakushuan Ebisu Details
Open: Monday to Friday 17:00 to 23:00, Saturday 13:00 to 23:00 (L.O Food 22:00, drink 22:30)
Closed: Sunday
Happy Hour: None
Phone: 03-3719-3949
SNS: Facebook
How to Get to Bakushuan Ebisu
Bakushuan Ebisu is located in Ebisu and has two train lines that run through it; the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line and the JR Yamanote Line. The best exit from the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line is exit number 5 while from the Yamanote Line you should take the West exit and turn left out of the barriers.
