Biajuku Laundry : The Bottom Line
A few years back, when I was 484 Cafe in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, I lamented the fact that Fujisawa was severely lacking in craft beer choices, considering the size of the city. Thankfully, I can say that Fujisawa now has somewhere that I would happily return to and drink time and time again. Like The Office in Ebisu, Tokyo, Biajuku Laundry doesn’t stray from a winning method of craft beer – reasonable prices, tasty food, and a chilled atmosphere. The only downside I can think of is that the food is pricey for what you get, but it is very tasty.
Biajuku Laundry : The Full Write Up
Fujisawa has long been a city of mine that I didn’t really explore when I lived there, but now I no longer live there, I find myself coming back to it more and more – either for drinking with friends or cycling through to get to Enoshima and the local area. It’s also been a place that has seen massive changes and is no longer the place I wandered through aimlessly when drunk at night. It has also seen some more craft beer places open up; however, with Yokohama to the north, and the growing craft beer scene in Chigasaki / Hiratsuka / Tsujido way, it has seen itself dwarfed in terms of number of bars and variety.
Biajuku Laundry, sister bar to The Office in Ebisu, Tokyo, is located about 5 minutes south of Fujisawa station and opened in October 2021. The shop used to be an old Japanese izakaya, and Biajuku Laundry have kept most of the store insides the same, while also keeping the menus as The Office the same. If the menu system looks family then you may also be surprised to find out that the company that runs Biajuku Laundry is called Product of Time and also owns the Craftsman chain of bars.
Biajuku Laundry : Atmosphere & Interior
If you’ve been to The Office, then Biajuku Laundry would not be too much of a surprise for you as the interior follows a similar design – big horsehoe shaped bar, with tables at the back in front of the kitchen. Inside, there is space for around 50 people, either spread around the bar, or at the tables at the back. If you are at the counter, then be warned when you go to the toilet as there is a massive steel beam on the floor that no doubtedly has tripped up a few drunken customers. At the front of the store, there are 8 seats around a small concrete ledge that reaches out onto the street though it’s covered during the colder and wetter times of the year. A nice little addition that helps the beer go down and makes things even more relaxing – worth getting some seats there if you can. The whole place is non-smoking and there is no table charge.
The music was along the trip-hop veins, with some low-key house music also being played over an internal speaker system that wasn’t loud enough to drown out conversations, but enough to be heard in the background. A bit later on in the day, the staff turned on the TVs to some Japanese baseball but left the music on instead.
Biajuku Laundry : Approach to Covid-19
When you walk into Biajuku Laundry, your temperature is taken, and alcohol spray is freely available around the bar. Staff are all wearing masks, and then social distancing is also encouraged between groups of people.
Biajuku Laundry : Beer & Tap Information
There are 12 taps of beer on at Biajuku Laundry, with a split between domestic and imports. The beers come in two sizes: half US Pint (235 ml) with domestic at 620 yen and imports at 720 yen, while US pints (473 ml) at 950 yen for domestic beers and then 1050 yen for imports with all prices inclusive of tax. There are no beer flights nor are there any happy hours. The pours were irregular at best and it was only at the end of drinking, that the staff managed to nail the size of the heads on the beer, in spite of our insistance that we didn’t want as much as they were giving. The staff were understanding and also happy to top the beers up to something a bit more reasonable.
There are also some beer fridges with both cans and bottles to takeaway though make sure you take cash as the store doesn’t take credit cards. They do take PayPay so I was able to get a few drunken purchases for the return home.
The Laundry : Food Information
The food at Biajuku Laundry is based around Japanese izakaya items, so salads, fried food, yakitori, oden, and the such. The food is really delicious though the portion sizes do leave a lot to be desired for. If you do go, I recommend the yakitori as it’s freshly cooked on the charcoal to order, and also the fried chicken – two massive chunks of chicken thigh that were crunchy and juicy. The menus are all in Japanese, so while you can get away with some rudimentary Japanese, there were no English menu options nor English speaking staff. There are some vegetarian options as well, besides the basics of salad.
Biajuku Laundry : Details
- Open : Weekdays 16:00 – 01:00 Weekends 14:00 – 01:00 (L.O Food 00:00 Drink 00:30)
- Closed : N/A
- Happy Hour : N/A
- Phone : 0466-52-8688
- Homepage : N/A
- Social Media : Facebook / Instagram
