Beer Juku Maribana : The Bottom Line
In spite of being a different name to The Office and Biajuku Laundry, Beer Juku Maribana follows exactly the same layout and decor as those two branches, with the only major difference between them being the taplist. The food is exactly the same, the TVs showing football are probably showing the same matches at the same time, and everything is, well the same. Even so much as to have a massive lump of corrugated steel on the floor to for when you head off to the toilet. That being said, Beer Juku Maribana is probably one of the best value bars in the Sangenjaya area. The whole place is non-smoking and has free Wifi as well.
Beer Juku Maribana : The Full Write Up
It’s been a while since I have been out to the Sangenjaya area of Tokyo for drinking, as there really wasn’t much in the area that interested me. Pigalle is in the area, and it’s a quaint little shop for a few beers, but it was never really a shop that beckoned me to go unless I was in vicinity and didn’t feel like waiting 10 minutes to get to Shibuya. Over the last few years though, Sangenjaya has seen a small explosion with craft beer and can now count about 10 bars within a 10 minute radius of the station.
Beer Juku Maribana is one of the newest bars in the area, at the time of writing, and is part of Product of Time’s craft beer bar range, which includes Craftsman and the bars named after rooms of a house as mentioned above. Beer Juku Maribana opened in May 2020 and is located less than 3 minutes walk from Sangenjaya station, on the Den-en-toshi line which runs out of Shibuya station.
Beer Juku Maribana : Atmosphere & Interior
If you have read one of our reviews about The Office or Biajuku Laundry then the interior of Beer Juku Maribana will not come as a surprise to you – which is either a good thing or a bad thing. Very minimalist, with some semblance of an old wash house here, and lots of ramen-esque features going on. There is space for about 50 people inside the very long, and narrow, bar, with a few seats outside on the deck. The whole place is non-smoking and has no table charge either.
Likewise, the ambience of Beer Juku Maribana is the same as the other two places mentioned – with some background music being played that was loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to drown out conversations. Moreover, there were also some TVs playing some local J-League football – again, loud enough to be followed if you’re sat in front of the TV, but not so loud that it drowned out conversations.
Beer Juku Maribana : Approach to Covid-19
On entry into Beer Juku Maribana, there is a temperature checking device, along with alcohol spray. The staff encourage social distancing where possible, and are all wearing masks.
Beer Juku Maribana : Beer & Tap Information
There are 12 taps of beer on at Beer Juku Maribana, 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. However, there is no beer fridge here, so there is no chance to get any takeaway beer. The beers were well served though, with the staff producing beers with minimal amounts of head.
Beer Juku Maribana : Food Information
The food at Beer Juku Maribana 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 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 some English menus, which was a nice surprised considering other branches had none.
Beer Juku Maribana : Details
- Open : Weekdays 16:00 – 01:00 (L.O Food 0:00 Drink 0:30) Weekends + Holidays 14:00 – 01:00 (L.O Food 0:00 Drink 0:30)
- Closed : Mondays
- Happy Hour : N/A
- Phone : 03-5787-5154
- Homepage (in Japanese) : N/A
- Social Media : Facebook / Instagram
