Gold’n Bub The Bottom Line
The Bub is moving on up, with a fancier albeit slightly less cosy and intimate atmosphere. But they’re working their socks off to make a bunch of varied ales, and the food is as fantastic and inventive as always. They remain an important part of the craft beer landscape of Kanagawa.
Gold’n Bub The Full Review
New Location!
There was much consternation and gnashing of teeth at BeerTengoku Castle when Gold’n Bub made the move from Tsujido to Chigasaki in mid-2016. Joe had gotten a job that would see him walk past the bar every day on the way home, and now they were moving! We always knew it would happen eventually, of course- bar owner Pancho had always planned to open his own brewery as some point. But it still hurt, damn it!
During the move, incidentally, they set up a pop-up shop in an oyster bar in Tsujido, running the kegs over from Bar Pancho by bicycle when they ran dry. They opened at 3pm daily, so you know that Joe was down there as soon as he got off work.
Gold’n Bub’s new bar- brewpub now, actually- can be found a stone’s throw from the south exit of Chigasaki station. It’s off the main road with an empty lot next to it, so there’s no risk of things being shut down because of noise complaints (which was a problem in the Tsujido location whenever they hosted events).
The cosy, hipstery decor has gone upmarket, and the interior looks a lot more professional. There’s a lot of polished brass fittings and Edison bulbs about. The open shopfront remains, with the bar on the left and tables at the back for groups. You can have a good look at the brewery, named Barbaric Works, through a window at the back. Ask politely and you might even be allowed back there, if they’re not busy. One problem, though, is that the combination of prefab concrete, corrugated iron, bricks and tiles make the bar deafeningly loud when it starts to fill up. It’s also a lot brighter than the old Bub; I prefer my bars a bit more gloomy- or, at least, not as dazzling as a doctor’s surgery. I feel like I’ve arrived too early and they haven’t had a chance to set the mood yet every time I go there.
Ryota remains as the chef, and is still making miracles in the kitchen. They recently managed to procure a whole boar, hunted down in Izu. Bartender Mai left in 2015, but a couple of new faces have joined the team to work in the bar and brewery.
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The food is as good as ever.
The ten taps now consist of half house beers and half domestic craft selections- the house beers are generally cheaper, as you would imagine. In-house beers are US half pints for ¥500 and US pints for ¥900 and guest beers are ¥600 and ¥1000 for the same size with prices inclusive of tax. Barbaric Works have made nine beers so far:
- Inspire, a 5.2% saison
- Black Sunday, a 4.7% stout
- Jamaica no Yoru, a 6.4% American IPA
- Whistle Song, a 5% witbier
- High Times, a 6.6% IPA
- Blonde, a 5.2% blonde ale
- Vamos!!, a 4.6% session ale
- Yuzu, a 5.2% fruit ale
- Drum Roll, a 5.9% pale ale
The bar is still smoker-friendly, and there’s now three levels of party plan for food. There’s no all-you-can-drink, however.
Gold’n Bub Details
Open: Monday to Saturday 17:00 to 02:00 (L.O 01:30)
Close: Sunday
Happy Hour: None
Phone: 0467-67-7916
Homepage (in Japanese): http://ameblo.jp/goldn-bub/
SNS: Facebook
How to Get to Gold’n Bub
The closest station to Gold’n Bub is JR Chigasaki that is located on the Tokaido Line and also the Sagami line, though that is a local country line through the countryside with one or two trains an hour. It’s about a five minute walk from the south exit.