Ibaraki Sato Saketen The Bottom Line
Ibaraki Sato Saketen is a nice little standing bar at Tsuchiura Station, and if you’ve got time to kill, with an urge for a beer, then pop along for a couple of beers, but be prepared to pay slightly more than usual for your beer. Of course, as it is a standing bar, there is no table charge but you can not buy beers from the fridges to drink in, in spite of them being cheaper than the beers on tap – a tad annoying. The whole place is non-smoking, and also has free WiFi.
Ibaraki Sato Saketen The Full Review
After cycling around Kasumigaura Bay, which is about 130km in length, of course some beer was very much needed. Like at least two cold beers. Ending at Tsuchiura Station, there wasn’t much in the area; however, on my initial arrival I did notice Ibaraki Sato Saketen; though it was closed.
Located in the Atre building on the west side of Tsuchiura Station on the second floor, the standing bar opened in December 2019, and is primarily aimed at promoting local alcoholic products from the Ibaraki area. This includes nihonshu and shochu, but also craft beer from breweries in the area.
Ibaraki Sato Saketen Atmosphere & Interior
As Ibaraki Sato Saketen is a standing bar, there are no seats available, with everything either being located around the far side of the bar in terms of counter space and tables. There is some free WiFi in Atre that you can connect to, and the whole place is non-smoking. In terms of atmosphere, well, you are drinking in a department store; so there is some cheesy background music being played as you drink – loud enough to be heard, but not so loud it drowns out the conversations.
Ibaraki Sato Saketen Approach to Covid-19
In spite of Ibaraki Sato Saketen being a standing bar, it does have a strict approach to Covid-19 – all the staff were wearing masks on the day we went, with lots of plastic barriers up between the counter and the staff, along with alcohol spray and temperature checks around the bar. Moreover, groups had to be separated by 2 metres from other groups, reducing the amount of people that can stand and drink.
Ibaraki Sato Saketen Taps & Beer Information
Ibaraki Sato Saketen has a strong focus on craft beer, though the only beers when I went were from Hitachino Nest. There were six taps; though only five were being used on the day, with beers coming in two sizes: half US pint (240ml) from ¥600, and US pint (480ml) from ¥1,200. It’s not cheap to drink at Ibaraki Sato Saketen, but the prices do thankfully include tax. There wasn’t any happy hour or beer flights on offer. If you’re thinking “oh, let’s get some beers from the fridges”, then be warned – you can, but you can’t drink them in store, no matter what anyone says. You can not do it. I did it by accident and the manager wasn’t happy about me doing it, because “the beer from the fridges is cheaper than the beer on taps”. However, you can buy those beers to takeaway and drink outside the store – if you so wish.
Ibaraki Sato Saketen Food Information
There are some small snacks available to eat at Ibaraki Sato Saketen – nothing substantial mind but lots of local snacks from the area can be found here. Like the beers, though there are snacks for sale next door, they can not be bought to consume on site. When it comes to the menus though, there is barely any English on the menus, so you may need someone who can read / speak Japanese to help you. The prices do include tax though.
Ibaraki Sato Saketen Details
- Open: Daily 10:00 – 21:00 (L.O 20:30)
- Closed: N/A
- Happy Hour: None
- Phone: 029-862-1310
- Homepage (in Japanese): https://www.sake-ibaraki.com/ibaraki-%E4%BD%90%E8%97%A4%E9%85%92%E5%BA%97/
- Social Media: N/A
How to Get to Ibaraki Sato Saketen
The closest station to Ibaraki Sato Saketen is Tsuchiura Station on the Joban Line. Ibaraki Sato Saketen is located near the west exit, on the second floor of the Atre building.
