Midtown BBQ Yokohama The Bottom Line
Midtown BBQ Yokohama brings a new challenger to the Kannai / Sakuragicho / Bashamichi area for some craft beer and BBQ meats, and along with a decent range of beers on tap, means you’ll come for the BBQ and stay for the BBQ with some tasty beers as well. The whole place is non-smoking, has no table charge, and also offers up doggy bags of BBQ meat to take away – and that last point is important! For those worried about the lack of English on the menu, don’t worry as there are bilingual staff and also bilingual menus. There is also wifi but then with so much meat in front of us, the wifi wasn’t really that important.
Midtown BBQ Yokohama The Full Review
BBQ and beer – they just go so well together that Japan has spawned an entire industry to it. Yakiniku and cold beers are so popular in Japan that every station in Japan (emphasis: me) has a place devoted to it. But American BBQ still lacks behind its other exports to Japan. And perhaps for good reason. Decent American BBQ takes time – how can you replicate a slow 8 hour smoke in 15 mins? Unless you dowse the meat in liquid smoke, you’re not. Midtown BBQ Yokohama, which opened in February 2019, brings American BBQ to Kannai and is the second place in the area, after Baird Bashamichi Taproom, to offer up meats cooked low and slow.
Midtown BBQ Yokohama is located between Kannai station and Nihon-Odori station in a conspicuous area just around the corner from Thrashzone Meatballs. It’s easy to miss with the Midtown BBQ Yokohama being located in the basement of a building but look for it and you shall find it. The building has space for about 60 people inside – all seated mind, with about 10 seats at the counter. But be kind and eat your meats away from the counter and don’t torment the staff working there. The whole place is non-smoking (besides the BBQ smoker in the kitchen) and there is also no table charge either – two things that we like to hear! The atmopshere inside is welcoming and relaxing though don’t worry about the TVs – no sound was coming out of them, but there was some decent 90s and 00s music coming out at a level that was just enough to hear it but not enough to mask conversations.
There are ten taps of craft beer on at Midtown BBQ Yokohama, with a split between domestic and imports, and also a tap of macro lager too – so you can bring your non-craft beer drinking friends along too. The beers come in three sizes: small (240ml) for ¥900, regular (480ml) for ¥1,100 and jumbo (1000ml) for ¥2,100. If you end up doing the party plan, there is also a special nomihodai / drink as much as you want for ¥2,000 extra, but alas, there is no regular nomihodai on the menu. As of May 2019, Midtown BBQ have also started doing growlers of beer to take away which cost an initial ¥2,500, with ¥1,000 being towards the cost of the growler and the ¥1,500 being the cost for 1 litre of beer.
The food – wow – let’s just say you may end up needing a doggy bag because the portions are huge. I had been warned about them before I went so forgo any food at the previous place I visited and was waiting to eat here. And I was not disappointed. The portions are enough for one (very) hungry person, or they can be shared. The menus are bilingual if you ask for one, and all the prices include tax too. Next time I go, I’m going for the big boy plate and plan on bringing back some for the next day. Unsurprisingly, vegetarian choices are limited but there are some salads and a few sides you can pick from.
Midtown BBQ Yokohama Details
Open: Weekdays 11:30 – 14:00 / 17:00 – 22:00 Weekends 11:30 – 22:00
Closed: Mondays
Happy Hour: None
Phone: 045-298-6584
Homepage: https://www.midtown-bbq.com/yokohama
Social Media: Facebook
How to Get to Midtown BBQ Yokohama
[ezcol_1half]Directions from Kannai Station
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[ezcol_1half_end]Directions from Nihon Odori
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2 comments
Little update. They started doing growlers around a week ago.
Thanks for that. Need to already make some edits to this review. 😀