The Silver Lining Bottom Line
The Silver Lining is a great bar to go to for friendly staff and comfortable atmosphere. It’s a little off the beaten path in Umeda, but well worth the walk, especially if you’re hungry. While the bar doesn’t have a huge beer selection, what they do have is always good quality. Their food is some of the best and most unique in Japan, and their frequent promotions and events give a good reason to keep coming back even after you’ve sampled everything on the menu.
The Silver Lining The Full Review
The Silver Lining is a fairly new bar, having opened earlier this year. It’s owner, Mike, is an American chef and beer enthusiast who wanted to bring authentic American food to Japan in a place that’s “foreign friendly with a chill vibe.” He created the food menu to introduce food not commonly found at other places in Japan, and handpicks the four Japanese craft beers they have available on tap. It’s a somewhat small place with seating for about five at the bar and 15 at tables. There’s no table charge and it’s a non-smoking venue.
The beer list is fairly small with only four craft beers on tap and they tend to be from small or new Japanese breweries like Two Rabbits, Nomcraft, Yatsugatake, and Kirishima Shuzo. A large craft beer is ¥1250, a regular is ¥890, and you can get a sample glass for ¥390. The bar also has Kirin hard cider and macro beer on tap, and a fairly extensive cocktail list. They typically offer a list of seasonal cocktail specialties, which right now means pumpkin spice drinks, and if you come in during happy hour your first cocktail is free. Promotions, events, and food/drink sets are very common at The Silver Lining. Every Monday is Taco Night, with each chicken, BBQ pork, or veggie taco made on homemade tortillas going for ¥200. Last month they hosted a drunk brunch, with all-you-can-eat pancakes and all-you-can-drink mimosas. The promotions and events typically revolve around food and cocktails, although craft beer set deals are sometimes available as well.
You can’t talk about The Silver Lining without going into depth about their food. This bar has one of the most unique menus in Japan, with almost every item on it being something you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. They have gourmet fries, which come in a variety of flavors including pizza and pulled pork, lasagna skewers, fried mac & cheese croquettes, homemade fermented pickles, and house-made seasonal ice cream sandwiches. While the portions aren’t huge, they’re more than fair for the prices which range from ¥390 to ¥690 per serving. The food items aren’t just unique, they’re high quality and incredibly good. I’ve included a few pictures but I’m a poor photographer and they don’t even come close to doing the food justice. If you end up visiting The Silver Lining you should definitely order something to eat to go with your beer, you won’t be disappointed.
The Silver Lining Details
Open: 18:00-2:00 Monday through Saturday
Closed: Sundays (sometimes open Sundays for events, check the website or social media for availability or to book venue for an event)
Happy Hour: 18:00-20:00 First cocktail is free
Phone: 050-5806-1192
Homepage (in English and Japanese): https://silverliningosaka.com
Social Media: Facebook / Instagram / Untappd
How to Get to The Silver Lining
The closest station to The Silver Lining is Higashi-Umeda on the Tanimachi Line, but the Hankyu-Umeda, JR-Osaka, Hanshin-Umeda, and Midosuji-Umeda stations are all about 2 minutes further out. The bar is about an 11 minute walk from Higashi-Umeda station.
