Gastropub Gozo The Bottom Line
If you like Hitachino Nest Beer or hamburgers with lots of melted cheese on top, then Gastropub Gozo is the place for you. Else, give it a wide berth to be honest. While the atmosphere is great at Gastropub Gozo – very chilled and relaxed – the smoking policy lets the bar down as well as the limited selection of breweries on tap along with prices not including tax. The food was damned tasty so it might be worth stopping in for a quick refuel if you’re out and about in Shimo-Kitazawa and want some beer and burgers. There is WiFi and no table charge at Gastropub Gozo along with some English on the menu, but vegetarians will be out of luck for food on the whole.
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Gastropub Gozo The Full Review
Many of the places I’ve been drinking at in Shimo-Kitazawa have lacked on the food front – it’s either a second thought or just something that is ignored and replaced with some snacks. Gastropub Gozo popped up after a friend’s recommendation (Thanks Tim!) and off we went as part of the Odakyu Line Crawl. Gastropub Gozo opened up in August 2014 so it’s one of the older craft beer places in the Shimo-Kitazawa area.
Gastropub Gozo is located about a 3 minute walk from Shimo-Kitazawa station – but don’t ask us which exit as the new redevelopment of the station in 2018 got me a bit lost but luckily I had the Craft Beer Map of Japan to help me out. It’s on the second floor of a building with a small painted door so keep your eyes peeled for it. There is space for about 25 people inside, with seats for 5 at the counter and space for another 20 dotted around the bar on what can be best described as kitsch seating. While Gastropub Gozo has no table charge, it does unfortunately allow for smoking across the whole bar, which I only found out when someone decided to light up and ask for an ashtray. A shame really as I really liked the atmosphere with the big open windows along with the light and airy space too. I did notice some WiFi so you can read BeerTengoku while you drink and eat.
The WHOLE tap list at Gastropub Gozo is limited to Hitachino Nest Beer – which is either a good thing or a bad thing. The beers come in two sizes – half pint (283ml) for ¥600 or pint (473ml) for ¥1,000. The prices don’t include tax according to the menu but at the end of the session, my bill was exactly the same as the price as the number of beers and food that I had. Weird… There were no beer flights on offer nor was there a happy hour advertised either.
Gastropub Gozo prides itself on hamburgers – and it isn’t a gastropub. Well, not in the English way of Heston Blumenthal and his molecular gastronomy. There was very little on the menu for vegetarians, so make sure you’ve eaten before hand, unless you like chips – who doesn’t?! Some of the menus had basic English on them, but the descriptions were all in Japanese. The food was good, and the cheese burger had lots and lots of melted cheese – always a good sign.
Gastropub Gozo Details
Open: Tuesday to Friday 18:00- 02:00 (L.O Food 01:00 Drink 01:30) Weekends & Holidays 12:00 – 15:00 (L.O 14:30) 18:00 – 02:00 (L.O Food 01:00 Drink 01:30)
Close: Mondays (Unless national holiday, then closed on Tuesdays)
Happy Hour: None
Phone: 03-6321-6311
Homepage (in Japanese): https://gozo.owst.jp/
SNS: Facebook
How to Get to Gastropub Gozo
The closest station to Gastropub Gozo is Shimo-Kitazawa on the Odakyu Main Line and the Keio Inokashira Line. It’s about a three minute walk.
