Oriental Brewing Higashiyama The Bottom Line
If you’re in the area then it’s worth popping along to Oriental Brewing Higashiyama for either a couple of beers and a light snack to eat, or a longer drinking session. The atmosphere, like many other places in Kanazawa, is chilled and friendly – something that made us stay for just a bit longer than expected. The whole place is non-smoking, has no table charge, and is also family friendly too – perfect for those looking for a place to eat with families after walking around Higashiyama. The only downsides are that because there isn’t much else in the area, Oriental Brewing Higashiyama does get filled up very quickly when open – especially during lunch and that tax isn’t included in the prices. There is also free WiFi and all the menus are bilingual.
Oriental Brewing Higashiyama The Full Review
For a long time, the area of Higashiyama in Kanazawa was barren in terms of craft beer, but in August 2016, Oriental Brewing Higashiyama opened up and was also the first brewpub in Kanazawa. Located about 15 minutes from Kanazawa station, Tanaka-san, owner of Oriental Brewing, came upon the idea of opening up his own brew pub a few years ago while travelling various countries, and noted that Kanazawa lacked what other cities, including some major ones in Japan, had.
Located in an old chaya building, Oriental Brewing Higashiyama kept the exterior of the building – as mandated by Kanazawa city – but go inside and it’s a different story. At the back of the bar is the brewery and you can often see brewers working away on the system for both this store and the branch in Korinbo. There are 12 seats at tables dotted along the wall with 10 counter seats also available for those looking for a quick beer or two. The whole place is non-smoking and there is also no table charge either at Oriental Brewing Higashiyama.
Oriental Brewing Higashiyama has 8 taps of craft beer on, with only in-house beers and domestic beers on tap. Though he travelled to different countries, Tanaka-san believes in serving customers beer in the best condition possible so no imports are available, just local ones from Kanazawa and surrounding prefectures. The beers come in one size of 350ml with in-house beers at ¥700 and some high alcohol and guest beers at ¥800. However, prices do not include any tax so you need to factor that into your bill at the end of your session. Moreover, there is no happy hour or beer tasting flight. But… you can get takeaway beers too!
The food at Oriental Brewing Higashiyama is heavily focussed around pizza, which is hand made in-store, or simple bar snacks. The pizzas are made in a semi-traditional pizza oven, and are made fresh to order. The gyoza come highly recommended but there are vegetarian options too for those worried about eating. All of the food menus are bilingual (English / Japanese) and the bar staff also spoke some English when confirming the orders.
Oriental Brewing Higashiyama Details
Open: Winter Weekdays 15:00 – 22:00 Weekend 11:00 – 22:00 (L.O Food 21:00 Drinks 21:30) / Daily 11:00 – 22:00 (L.O Food 21:00 Drinks 21:30)
Happy Hour: None
Phone: 076-255-6378
Homepage: http://www.orientalbrewing.com/en/higashiyama/
