Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi : The Bottom Line
You’ve to either be a big fan of Ise Kadoya or have big pockets if you want to go to Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi. What with Craft Beer Bar iBrew Shinbashi and Shinshu Osake Mura just around the corner, you’re better off going there for some cheaper and better beers in all honesty. The only saving grace to Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi is that the food is delicious and it’s close to the station.
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi : The Full Review
It’s been a while since I’ve been out in Shinbashi besides at iBrew or Shinshu Osake Mura – I do really enjoy those places and find it hard to venture out beyond those. I’m not made of money and I do like value for money, something that those two both offer. I’ve also not written about any of the Ise Kadoya Craft Beers bars that have popped up across the city as I had heard mixed things about them – expensive beer for what is supposedly one of the largest craft beer producers in Japan, but also good food.
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi opened in March 2022 and was met with much fanfare due to its location in relation to Shinbashi station. It’s located right in the Ecute complex that also has some some delicatessen stores as well as a coffee shop. The whole area of Shinbashi station has seen a lot of redevelopment and I am guessing that after seeing the Tokyo Aleworks Station Taproom Yurakucho do so well, then perhaps it’s time for another craft beer bar in the arches.
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi : Atmosphere & Interior
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi is a surprisingly large place, in spite of me waiting by the “wrong” entrance for opening. I didn’t realise that the actual entrance to the bar was inside the Ecute complex so I ended up looking like a bit of an idiot waiting for it to “open”. No different than usual really. There’s space for over 60 people inside, either at tables dotted around the bar, or at the counter seats overlooking the kitchen. The whole place is non-smoking and also has no table charge – grateful for that last one as my wallet was not going to be happy. There is also some free WiFi thanks to the Ecute station building.
It was kind of early when I got to Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi , but the place began to fill up quite quickly with a mixture of business people and shoppers popping in for some early drinks. There was some light jazz music playing – loud enough to be heard but not enough to detract from conversations.
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi : Beer & Tap Information
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi only sells beers from Ise Kadoya Brewery and they have 10 taps of their beers. For one of Japan’s largest craft beer producers, the prices were truly crazy for their own taproom. The beers come in two sizes: half (240 ml) from ¥880 and US point (480 ml) from ¥1,320. Someone is clearly having a laugh here as their own in-house beers can be had for much cheaper literally less than a 5 min walk away at iBrew. There wasn’t any offer of a happy hour, nor any beer flights.
But let’s talk about the pours and how bad they were. They were so bad that I had to send the beers back twice to get them topped up. The glasses were US pints yet there was about 4 cms of foam on top, so you’re getting even less beer for your money. When you’re paying ¥1520 for a pint, then there better be minimal head on the beer. The second beer even came with more head than the first because the staff thought I asked for more foam – I didn’t. I actually said “no head”.
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi : Food Information
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi specialises in traditional Japanese cooking, with both kushiage and oden for sale, as well as some side dishes from the Ise area. With the menus being in Japanese only, and none of the staff speaking English, the lack of pictures could dissuade people from ordering but you’re missing out on some great food. However, the poor customer service struck its ugly head yet again when my order was wrong and I had to complain.
Usually, I expect these kinds of problems for a new bar, but Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi has been open for over 6 months at the time of writing, and I was sorely disappointed. There is some vegetarian dishes on the menu though, so that is something positive to say about Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi. The menus also include tax.
Ise Kadoya Craft Beer Shinbashi : Details
- Open : Weekdays 11:00 – 15:00 (L.O. Food 14:30 Drink L.O. 14:30) 16:00 – 23:00 (L.O. Food 22:00 L.O. Drink 22:30) Weekends + Holidays 11:00 – 23:00 (L.O. Food 22:00 L.O. Drink 22:30)
- Closed : N/A
- Happy Hour : N/A
- Phone : 03-6264-5315
- Homepage (in Japanese) : https://isekadoyabeer.jp/shimbashi.html
- Social Media : Instagram
