Grillman The Bottom Line
I would have liked to have stayed at Grillman for longer, alas, the dinner was waiting for me. However, the chilled cozy atmosphere here stuck with me – the friendliness of the staff, the cool breeze coming in, the quirky beer glasses used, and a decent selection of beer on tap too. The main downside to Grillman would be the price for the size of beer you’re getting here. It’s not cheap as the prices do not include tax either and the quirkily sized beer glasses don’t help matters. The whole place is non-smoking, has no table charge, and also some free WiFi too. There is a limited English menu so you may need someone to navigate around some of the tougher phrases on the menus.
Grillman The Full Review
Grillman, or to give it its full name of Japan Craft Beer and Wine Grillman, opened up as part of the first wave of new craft beer in Nagoya, back in May 2012, and they had just celebrated their 7th anniversary – a shame as the bar came highly recommended by some drinkers in the area.
Grillman is located right smack dab in the middle of four subway stations in Nagoya and could be Nagoya’s most accessible bar with each station less than a 10 minute walk away. The bar is also in what appeared to be a busy international student area – on the day we went there, there were numerous ethnicities walking around. For someone from the UK, this is the norm, yet in Japan, it’s the exception. A colourful metropolitan area or just a one-off event? There is space inside Grillman for about 30 people, all dotted around various tables inside and the whole place is non-smoking as well. If the weather is good, make sure you get some seats by the windows as when they’re open, a nice breeze comes in, cooling you down. Grillman also has free WiFi too, with the details posted on posters around the bar.
There are 10 taps on at Grillman, with the majority, if not all, of them being domestic craft beer. The beers come in two sizes: 260ml for ¥650 to ¥800, while 420ml for ¥1,000 to ¥1,200 with prices that do not include tax – who knew Nagoya could be so expensive. The quirky glasses don’t really help matters either as there did appear to be different amounts of beer in the glasses but maybe that was just my tired eyes after drinking on the shinkansen. There were no beer flight options, nor any option to take beers away. However, there was an extensive selection of bottled domestic cider in bottles, with a few options on tap too. The beers were well served, though the glasses could have done with a bit of a clean – if that sort of thing irks you.
The food at Grillman is focussed on hamburgers and grilled steaks – something that after a big bento on the train was not necessary. The pictures we saw did look like a decent size but the main issue was that all of the menus were pretty much Japanese only. We were offered an English menu; however, it was very limited in comparison to the Japanese one but there is that option. Moreover, as the focus at Grillman is meat, then vegetarians and vegans are out of luck so you best eat elsewhere.
Grillman Details
Open: Weekdays 15:00 – 23:00 (L.O Food 22:00 Drinks 22:30) Saturdays 11:30 – 22:00 (L.O Food 21:00 Drinks 21:30)
Closed: Sundays
Happy Hour: N/A
Phone: 052-204-2914
Homepage (in Japanese): N/A
Social Media: Facebook
How to Get to Grillman
The closest stations to Grillman are Fushimi [Higashiyama Line (Station number: H09) Tsurumai Line (Station number: T07)] and Marunouchi [Tsurumai Line (Station number: T06) Sakura-dōri Line (Station number: S04)].
[ezcol_1half]Directions from Fushimi Station
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[ezcol_1half_end]Directions from Marunouchi Station
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