BeerNova Urawa : The Bottom Line
BeerNova Urawa would be on our list of places you have to visit in Saitama, if it weren’t for the portion sizes of the beers. That’s a shame as BeerNova Urawa had a fantastic taplist on the day we went, with plenty of different styles of beers for people to choose from. The whole place is non-smoking, and has some wifi, along with it being very family friendly, it has a small outside drinking area – though be warned, unfortunately it is the smoking area for those wanting to smoke.
BeerNova Urawa : The Full Write Up
BeerNova Urawa started out as our first stop on a mini-crawl through the Urawa area though we ended up staying longer than expected due to the next place, Nutori Brewing, being closed due to the owner having contracted Covid-19. A tad annoying but it did mean that we could have more of the beers at BeerNova Urawa – never a bad thing.
BeerNova Urawa opened in January 2019, about a 5 minute walk from Urawa station, famous for the Urawa Reds FC. It is the sisters store to Beer Hunting Urawa in Kita-Urawa, Saitama. BeerNova Urawa is located in what appears to be a small office building, in a small residential area in one of the back streets across from the station, and we actually ended up walking around for bit as, well, I got a bit distracted when we were walking around to find it. Not a problem though as we got there before opening and sat outside on the small deck out front, getting some of the glorious weather and sun on the day.
BeerNova Urawa : Atmosphere & Interior
Walking into BeerNova Urawa, you’re presented with a massive wall of gas meters that – I assume – were carefully adjusted for each of the beers on tap. It probably isn’t true, but one can dream. The inside is airy and spacious, mainly due to the massive bay windows at the front of the store. If you hadn’t had heard of Urawa Reds before coming to BeerNova Urawa, then you’ll leave knowing all about them as it seems that the bar owners are massive fans of the team. Posters and pictures adorn the walls of the bar, and no doubt on game days like yesterday, the bar would be full of fans celebrating a win. I have to say “imagine” as on the day we went, Urawa Reds were playing Gamba Osaka and lost 1-0 to them.
There is space for around 35 people inside, with 9 counter seats and then another 26 or so at the various tables located around the bar. There is no table charge at BeerNova Urawa – another bonus when you think about it – and also some free wifi. At the front of the bar, there is a small outside deck that we were told you can drink at, but it also doubles up as the smoking area – though on the day noone was smoking and there was a family out the front with a beer waiting to come in for lunch.
BeerNova Urawa : Approach to Covid-19
BeerNova Urawa had the strictest approach to Covid-19, which actually became apparent later on in our trip around Saitama to be the norm. You have to have proof of being double vaccinated, or boostered, so no certificate and no entry at all. Moreover, time is limited to two hours, and you also have your temperature taken, before being shown to your selected seating. All the staff had masks on and there were lots of plastic barriers separating groups and solo drinkers alike.
BeerNova Urawa : Beer & Tap Information
As mentioned earlier, when you walk into BeerNova Urawa, the first thing you notice is the bank of gas meters and beer taps on the wall, and I counted around 30 taps of beer. This was split between domestic and imports on the day, with there being a heavy leaning towards domestic beers. There were a good number of different styles on, once again bringing the paradox of choice on what to drink.
The beers mainly came in two sizes: small (200 ml) from 600 yen and regular (355 ml) from 900 yen, with all prices including tax. The prices were not great but the portion servings could have done with being a lot better though the staff did top up the beers and would also give less head if you asked them. With so many beers on tap, it would have been nice if BeerNova Urawa had a beer flight or happy hour, but there was neither so it might take some time to work through the whole list.
BeerNova Urawa : Food Information
There wasn’t the widest amount of food available at BeerNova Urawa, which was rather a surprise considering the size of the kitchen. There were two base burgers available – a classic beef burger and a classic lamb burger with various accoutrements available to adorn the burger, so there is some variation there. Of course, there were some French fries on the menu, along with some mayonnaise (a friend wanted it!). In terms of vegetarian meals though, there was nothing of note besides some eda-mame and basic salad stuff. The menus were all in Japanese though, so you need to be able to read katakana (shudder) and some kanji to get along.
BeerNova Urawa : Details
- Open : Weekdays 17:00 – 23:00 (L.O Food 22:00 Drink 22:30) Weekends 11:30 – 23:00 (L.O Food 22:00 Drink 22:3
- Closed : N/A
- Happy Hour : N/A
- Phone : 048-711-1401
- Homepage (in Japanese) : N/A
- Social Media : Facebook / Instagram
