Five Trees : The Bottom Line
It’s not often that I feel like I have wasted my time going somewhere, but I did with Five Trees and I have zero interest in returning to Five Trees again. The beers were pretty bad – like some old school homebrew experiment – and in spite of there being 8 taps, it was just 3 in-house beers on the day I went. At least the bar space is quite nice for events and the such. Five Trees is non-smoking, is family friendly, and has free WiFi, so there are some things good about it – just not the beers or food.
Five Trees : Background
Five Trees is a microbrewery pub in Gohongi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, hence the name “Five Trees”. It’s owned by the Toshin Corporation, who have also added the Toshin Showroom which is stocked with original items such as gateposts and posts, as well as material samples that can be seen, touched, and compared as well as Yard Works, which is a trusted partner for greening projects. In order to respond to orders from shops, public facilities, offices, and residences all over Japan, the Toshin Corporation turned a corner of FIVE TREES into a collaborative space.
Five Trees, which opened in July 2019, is located near Gakugei-Daigdaku on the Toyku Toyoko Line, and is around an eight minute walk / 400 metres from this station. The head brewer, Obuchi-san, used to work at Thrashzone Brewery for a couple of years, and this is evident with the staff on the day wearing Thrashzone tshirts alongside the Five Trees brand of tshirts. At the time of writing, Five Trees was just about to celebrate its fourth anniversary.
Five Trees : Atmosphere & Interior
As you walk along the road / yokocho to Five Trees, you’re immediately greeted by swathes of green plants hanging from the ceiling, and in pots outside the bar. It was actually rather refreshing to see a bar put so much effort into its outside apperance as more often than not, bars will just have a board with their name on it, and some other basic signage. In spite of the greenery outside though, inside was rather minimalist and sparse, which was quite disappointing considering. While there is a sense of space and openness inside, it was also rather wasted – but am I not an interior designer, just someone who likes a good couple of beers.
Inside Five Trees, there is space for around 15 people at various tables, high tables, and some counter seats, though there is plenty of room for standing customers. There are also 6 seats outside at some tables, though you are right next to the main road, and the speed at which some of the cars come along, I thought it was not the wisest thing to do. The whole space is non-smoking, is both family and pet friendly, but more importantly, has no table charge and some free Wifi.
Five Trees : Beer & Tap Information
In spite of there being 8 taps for craft beer at the wall, there were only 3 taps on during the time I was at Five Trees, and it was the three house beers. I opted to get two halves, rather than two pints, with the small (240 ml) being 700 yen, and the pint size (470 ml) being 1,000 yen. And I’m glad I did because the beers were pretty bad and did not match to the styles that they were supposed to be. The session IPA was insipid and bland, while the double IPA was a buttery bomb mess that was just unpalatable. I could understand if the brewery was new, and in that case I wouldn’t be writing this, but having been open for four years now, surely someone must have said something.
There was a small fridge at the back of the bar with some cans and bottles available to drink in, or takeaway, but after these two beers, I had no further desire to try and more of their beers. I didn’t notice any happy hour or beer flights on my visit to Five Trees.
Five Trees : Food Information
There isn’t any besides some nuts for 100 yen and no, you can’t take your own food with you.
Five Trees : Bar Information
- Open : Tue to Fri 17:00 – 21:00 / Saturday 14:00 – 21:00 / Sunday 14:00-20:00
- Closed : Mondays
- Happy Hour : –
- Phone : 03-3715-6082
- Homepage (in Japanese) : https://fivetrees.tokyo/
- Social Media : Facebook / Instagram
