Brunton’s in Ishikawacho, Kanagawa

Brunton’s The Bottom Line

It’s great to see a place styled like Brunton’s, more in tune with its surroundings and with some character, and I wanted to like Brunton’s – but the prices for the beer and food left me feeling a bit like I was paying for the style of the bar, rather than actually for the beers. The laid back atmosphere and being able to people-watch is always a nice feeling. The food is damned tasty as well – Beach Muffin should be looking over its shoulder with the tasty vegetarian and vegan food on offer at Brunton’s. The whole place is non-smoking, has free Wifi, no table charge, and all the prices include tax. Will we go again? More than likely if the prices go down somewhat.

Brunton’s The Full Review

Brunton’s first came to our attention when we received a message from the owners when the bar opened. We’re not ones to attend an opening of a bar for simple views, we’re far too lazy for that and much prefer bars to work out a few issues over a few months. But then we forgot about Brunton’s until a conversation we had with a (vegan) friend about places to eat. Beach Muffin came up and then Brunton’s was mentioned and off we went in the search for some beers and vegan food.

Brunton’s is located just on the outskirts of Yokohama’s Motomachi district – an area more known for its high-level fashion and coffee shops rather than craft beer bars. The bar is located in-between Ishikawacho station and also Motomachi-Chugakai station, probably about 5 minutes from either place. The bar is named Richard Henry Blanton, who came to Japan to establish lighthouses and maintain Yokohama city in the early Meiji era when the country was opened. The whole place is non-smoking, has no table charge, and there is space for about 25 people inside – with 6 people at the counter and the rest dotted around the bar at tables, and also a seated tatami area.

There are six taps of domestic craft beer on at Brunton’s, with a small range of bottled beers too. We can’t ignore the elephant in the room – Brunton’s is pricey for what you get. The beers come in two sizes: small (280ml) from ¥700 to ¥800, and large (473ml) from ¥1,200 to ¥1,400. There are two things to note about the prices – they do include tax and the beers are well-served, so you’re not paying for a lot of foamy, frothy head. There is also a three beer tasting set, which gets you any 3 x 148ml beers for ¥1,200. There is no happy hour on; however, the bar does organise a fair few number of tap takeovers, with a recent one being from Daisen G Beer, based out of Tottori.

As we mentioned earlier, Brunton’s prides itself on having homemade vegan and vegetarian food options on the menu, and it hadn’t been for the pizza at Kokopelli, then I would have ordered some more. The hummus was very tasty, as well as the homemade pitta bread, but it was on the small side for the amount it costs. The menus are both in English and in Japanese, and the owners were more than happy to explain things in English.

Brunton’s Details

Open: Tuesday to Sunday 13:00 – 23:00 (L.O Food 22:00 Drink 22:30)

Closed: Monday unless a National Holiday, then Tuesday is off

Happy Hour: None

Phone: 045-323-9773

Homepage (in Japanese): http://www.bruntons.yokohama/

Social Media: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

How to Get to Brunton’s

The closest stations to Brunton’s are JR Ishikawacho, on the Keihin-Tohoku line, and Motomachi-Chūkagai Station, on the Minatomirai Line.

[ezcol_1half]Directions from JR Ishikawacho
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[ezcol_1half_end]Directions from Motomachi-Chūkagai Station
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