Shizu Bar The Bottom Line
Shizu Bar is a nice little place to sit down, have some tasty food, and a couple of quiet beers before jumping on the shinkansen home. While the tap list might not excite hardened craft beer hunters, there’s something for everyone on the menu at reasonable prices though they do not include tax. The staff were also friendly and courteous and helped to explain the menu though there was no paper ones – strange considering the amount of foreigners in the area. The whole place is non-smoking and there were no table charges. Like most places in Shizuoka it seems, there’s also free WiFi too.
Shizu Bar The Full Review
The final bar on the whistle stop tour around Shizuoka was at Shizu Bar – a bar that prides itself on locally sourced organic vegetables from the Shizuoka area and beyond. The problem was that I didn’t have much time left to get in before I had to leave Shizuoka and I was unsure whether it was going to be open or not at 11am. 11am came around and the bar hadn’t opened. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity (blame the beer in me from Aoi Brewing Cafe for wanting them to hurry up), Shizu Bar opened up at 11:02 in time for me to get some food and beer.
Shizu Bar is located in the JR Shizuoka building, though at the opposite end to Aoi Brewing Cafe, and as such, I do not recommend walking with a suitcase through the building, unless you like rolling over people’s toes with your suitcase. There’s space inside for about 110 people, all seated. The whole place is non-smoking but calling Shizu Bar a bar is kind of a misnomer – it’s more of a sit-down family restaurant style place with craft beer on taps. Shizu Bar also has the added bonus of not charging a table charge and having free WiFi too – why can’t all cities in Japan be like Shizuoka with their application of free WiFi?
Shizu Bar prides itself on having the largest number of craft beer taps in Shizuoka. Not the city. The whole prefecture, though with 17 on tap, I could have sworn that Baird Beer Brewery Gardens Taproom in Shuzenji has about the same, if not more taps? Looks like another visit is on the cards to check it out. The beers come in two sizes: regular (250ml) from ¥680, and large (400ml) from ¥880, making Shizu Bar one of the cheapest places to drink. While the tap list leaves a lot to be desired for those looking for the next rare beer, it’s a dependable list. Shizu Bar also has bottles too for sale, though unfortunately there is no happy hour nor any beer flights going either.
The food at Shizu Bar is all locally grown and uses organic ingredients from Shizuoka; however, most of the menus were in Japanese only – not even the titles of the dishes were in English. The staff were kind enough to try and explain things in English though when I spoke Japanese to them, they laughed and gave up with the English. There are plenty of vegetarian options available too, and if noone in your group speaks or reads Japanese, there are lots of pictures on the regular menus to help navigate a conversation.
Shizu Bar Details
Open: Monday to Saturday 11:00 – 23:00 (L.O Food 22:00 Drink 22:30) Sundays 11:00 – 22:00 (L.O Food 21:00 Drink 21:30)
Happy Hour: None
Homepage (in Japanese): https://shizubar.gorp.jp/
Social Media: Facebook
How to Get to Shizu Bar
The closest station to Shizu Bar is JR Shizuoka. It’s about a two minute walk from the barriers.
