On The Marks The Bottom Line
On The Marks isn’t your usual place to drink beers but it’s the best choice in Kawasaki for some decent craft beer at the time of writing. The prices are towards the upper end of reasonable, but with tax included and no table charge, they’re bearable – just. The atmosphere at On The Marks is nice and chilled out, with some soothing gentle jazz in the background. On occasions, there may be a DJ playing too but we were told that only occurs for special events. The whole place is non-smoking, both inside and on the terrace outside, though there is a small smoking area located in the hotel part of On The Marks. English is spoken though the English on the menus is limited and there is also WiFi, if you ask them nicely for the password.
Concrete and cold – but has a nice atmosphere.
On The Marks Full Review
Kawasaki, a thriving industrial city with a large drinking scene, is lacking in craft beer bars, with four at the last count. Maybe this is due to the influence of Yokohama to the south and Tokyo to the north. On The Marks combines a hostel with a craft beer bar and grill on the first floor. We’ve been meaning to get here since it opened in September 2015, but Kawasaki has never inspired us to stop off. It’s located about 10 minutes from JR Kawasaki and Keikyu stations.
Inside On The Marks is a wide open venue with the tables nicely spaced out throughout – no bumping shoulders with the person next to you, and the bright airy nature inside is very relaxing. There is space for about 10 people at the counter, where you can watch food being freshly prepared or dotted around is space for 30 or so. If you feel up to the cold weather when I went along, then there is also a small terrace area outside where you eat and drink. On The Marks doesn’t charge you a table charge either and everything is ordered at the table with payment at the end.
There are usually seven taps of craft beer on at On The Marks, with all of them being domestic. The beers come in three sizes – small (235ml) from ¥550 to ¥710, medium (350ml) from ¥740 to ¥930 and large (473ml) from ¥960 to ¥1220. There is also a three-beer tasting set for ¥1080 that gets you any three 120ml-beers on the menu, which is in Japanese but the staff were happy to explain some of the beers briefly in English. There is no happy hour.Thankfully all the prices include tax and the servings are on the decent side.
Unfortunately, we missed the lunch time food serving and were too early for the dinner. Requests for some chips, what else, fell on deaf ears so we were left hungry so make sure you check the food times before you go.
On The Marks Details
Open: Weekdays Lunch 11:30 to 16:00 (L.O Food 14:00 Drink 15:30) Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays lunch 11:30 to 16:00 (L.O Food 15:00 Drink 15:30)
Weekdays and Saturdays 18:00 to 23:00 (L.O Food 22:00 Drink 22:30) Sundays and national holidays 17:00 to 22:00 (L.O Food 21:00 Drink 21:30)
Happy Hour: None
Phone: 044-221-2250
Homepage (in Japanese): http://www.on-the-marks.jp/kawasaki/
Homepage (in English): http://www.on-the-marks.jp/kawasaki/
SNS: Facebook
How to Get to On The Marks
The closest station to On The Marks is JR Kawasaki and Keikyu Kawasaki. On The Marks is about a 10 minute walk from both stations.
[ezcol_1half]Directions from JR Kawasaki
Take the east exit and follow the map below.
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[ezcol_1half_end]Directions from Keikyu-Kawasaki
Take either the west or east exit and follow the map below.
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