Tamaya Craft Beer : The Bottom Line
Sometimes a place comes along that just exceeds your expectations – Tamaya Craft Beer was exactly that for me. If this had been the first bar on our trip around Tachikawa, then I would have left happy. Thought the prices are a little higher than I’d have liked for the food, the taplist was pretty good and the food was even better. Combine this with the atmosphere resembling like a hawker market, then you’re not going to leave this place unhappy. I’ll be coming back again here for sure.
Tamaya Craft Beer : Background
Tamaya Craft Beer opened in December 2021 in the Galera Tachikawa building; a complex hosting a variety of restaurants and bars under one roof. The complex is located less than five minutes walk from Tachikawa station, though you will have to literally walk around the houses. At the time of writing, the most direct route to the bar had been closed off due to construction work.
The bar itself is also part of the Tamaya chain of restaurants, with this being the fourth in the chain. The other stores – an udon restaurant, a charcoal grill restaurant, and another yakitori shop in the Kichijoji area of Tokyo.
Tamaya Craft Beer : Atmosphere & Interior
As you enter Tamaya Craft Beer, you’re whisked into what feels like a hawkere market in Singapore or Malaysia. There’s a plethora of other food shops in the area, with hustle and bustle going on as the staff whisk between areas, carrying beers and trays of food. At Tamaya Craft Beer, there is the option to sit inside or “outside” though the outside is more of a covered area that can be opened up or closed, depending on the time of year and the weather.
There is space for around 200 people inside of Galera Tachikawa, and with this shared space, there is no table charge either, no matter where you sit. The whole place is non-smoking and if you do bring a dog along, then you can sit outside on the deck as you eat and drink away. Finally, there is some free Wi-Fi that can be used.
Tamaya Craft Beer : Beer & Tap Information
Tamaya Craft Beer usually has six taps of craft beer on, with a heavy leaning towards local breweries, such as Tachihi Brewery and Distant Shores Brewing for example. The beers come in three sizes : small (210 ml) from ¥450, medium (330 ml) from ¥900. and finally large (470 ml) from ¥1,080. There is no option for a beer flight, nor any happy hour or all-you-can-drink-plan. A word of warning though, there is plenty of head served on the beer, but you can ask the staff to give you less if you ask them.
Tamaya Craft Beer : Food & Menu Information
Now I love yakitori – I’ve had it in various places and guises in my 20 years of living in Japan. And let me tell you this – Tamaya Craft Beer had some absolutely delicious yakitori on the menu. There are some vegetarian options on the menu as well but the options are not as extensive, or as varied, as the meat options. The menus are in Japanese only, so you may need some help ordering the food, and the prices are not cheap either. That’s perhaps the only downside to this place really. All of the prices do include, so there’s no nasty surprise at the end of your session.
Tamaya Craft Beer : Bar Details
- Open : Daily 12:00 – 23:00 (L.O Food 22:00 Drink 22:30)
- Closed : –
- Happy Hour : –
- Phone : 042-595-7566
- Homepage (in Japanese) : https://tamaya-chanbara.com/tamaya-craftbeer/
- Social Media : Instagram
