Riverside 351 : The Bottom Line
Riverside 351 might be a bit outside of city for most people, but it’s a nice little place – both inside and out – to grab some cold beers and while away the evening. There’s a decent enough selection of beers on tap, and also in cans, to work through so there’s something for everyone here. Just make sure you do eat before coming here as there are just some basic snacks to eat but you can bring your own food along with you.
Riverside 351 : Background
Riverside 351 is a craft-beer taproom and bottle shop located in Matsushima-chō, Takamatsu, operated by Setouchi Brewery, a local brewery known for small-batch, locally focused beer production. The space opened as a brewery site in 2022, and quickly developed into a combined brewery + taproom where visitors can drink freshly brewed beer directly beside the fermentation tanks. The name “Riverside 351” comes from its location beside the Gobō River and its street number 351.
The taproom is located between Matsushima-Nichome station and Oki-Matsushima station on the Kotoden Shido Line – I strongly recommned taking the train and not walking from the centre of Takamatsu – which is what I did in both directions as I was a bit stupid.
Riverside 351 : Atmosphere & Interior
Though Riverside 351 is open during the week, it operates as a bottle shop outside of the bar hours, so the atmosphere varies differently. I went during when the bar as open and as such, had a very different experience overall. As you approach the bar, you’re first greeted by the outside drinking area which is open throughout the week for people to drink some cans at. Inside, there is a horseshoe bar counter with seating for six people and a couple of tables over by the brewery entrance, with space for four people.
While the inside is non-smoking, it’s unfortunate that the outside area is smoking friendly – so you may end up with smoke over your beers. There is no table charge at any part of the bar, and there is also some free WiFi that you can connect to while you’re here.
Riverside 351 : Beer & Tap Information
Riverside 351 has eight taps of craft beer on at all times, and with this being the taproom for Setouchi Brewery, there’s only their beers on tap. However, they do have some limited taproom beers that can’t be found in cans either so there’s often something special on here. The beers come in two sizes : half pint (240 ml) from ¥700 and pints (470 ml) from ¥1,000. On top of this, there is also a three beer flight of three 160 ml beers at ¥1,300.
There is also a happy hour that gets you 10% off the beers from 16:00 – 20:00 on Fridays and also 14:00 – 16:00 on the weekend and national holidays. Finally, if you go when the taproom is closed, they have a couple of fridges for cans that can be drunk at the store, or to takeaway. The bar man mentioned that some people do in fact turn up when the taproom is closed, pick up some cans, and drink them outside on the benches.
Riverside 351 : Food & Menu Information
There are just some basics snacks on at Riverside 351, though you are allowed to bring your own food in – in fact some people had brought in some locally made sushi to eat. I didn’t know about this but it’s a nice touch as I did end up drinking too much and wishing I had some food. The menus are all in Japanese though there is someone who works at Riverside 351 who can speak English – though that’s not a guarantee all the time.
Riverside 351 : Bar Details
- Open : Fridays 16:00 – 20:00 (L.O 19:30) Weekends 14:00 – 20:00 (L.O 19:30)
- Closed : Weekdays but the bottle shop is open from 9:00 – 17:00
- Happy Hour : 10% off beers 16:00 – 20:00 on Fridays /14:00 – 16:00 on the weekend and national holidays.
- Phone : –
- Homepage (in Japanese) : https://setouchi-beer.com/
- Social Media : Instagram
