tokyo food file

Park Brewery: craft ale and classy beer snacks

 

 

The classiest beer venue in the city is up and running again. And the timing couldn't be better. Just as Mother Nature — aided by the architects of Tokyo's heat island — turns up the city's thermostat to the mid-30s (Celsius), the Park Hyatt Hotel brings back its popular Park Brewery.  

Every evening, from 6 till 8 pm, the swish Deli on the ground floor of the Park Tower morphs into a beer "garden" offering nomihodai (all you can drink) craft ale accompanied by some excellent nibbles.

This is the fifth summer installment of the Park Brewery, and it features two ales on tap (also available in bottles): the ever popular aromatically hopped Park Brewery Ale; plus this year's special, a refreshingly sharp Citrus Amber Ale. Contract-brewed by Sankt Galen in Kanagawa Pref., these are good honest craft beers in the modern American tradition.

By contrast, this year the food is authentically German. You get an assortment of great cold cuts, such as Weisswurst, Bierwurst and Paprika Lyoner; bits and pieces of pickles and salad veggies; pretzels — the original kind, large and soft, which should perhaps be called by their German name, Brezeln — served with a creamy Bavarian obatzda dipping sauce.

 

Don't arrive too late: even though you can stay till 8 pm, the last entry is at 7. However, to really make it worth the ¥3,800 charge, you should aim to be in line at 6 when it opens.

It is of course wrong to think of the Park Brewery as a beer "garden" in any sense, even though it has outside tables that are most appealing if there is some breeze to dispel the humidity (though the view is hardly inspiring). For most people the place to be is at one of the inside tables. There is standing room if all the bar stools are taken.

Besides the cold cuts that come with the beer, there are plenty of other food items available from the Deli showcases. Here are some we had the other night (not all of them will be available every evening):

 

Park Brewery runs from 1st July (Mon) through 16th Sept (Mon). Daily 6-8 p.m. (last sitting 7 p.m.); ¥3,800 per head (tables not reservable)

More about the Park Hyatt's Deli in an earlier post here…

Happy birthday DevilCraft

Today's the second-year anniversary of DevilCraft, the fiendishly good little craft beer pub in Kanda. I dropped by there to check that everything is still up to scratch.

 

Of course it is. There may be a few more stickers on the beer fridge door…

 

But the beer selection is better than ever. And the pizza is as Chicago as ever…

 

The anniversary beer line-up is pretty awesome — just scroll down to the photo of the blackboard to see the English.

Meanwhile, the countdown is on for the new DevilCraft in Hamamatsucho. You can follow their progress as they kit out the bar on their Facebook page…

And this is what I wrote about them 2 years ago soon after they first opened…

once in a…

Last night we were graced by a Super Moon — though sadly it was visible only very briefly though the overcast.

 

A couple of days earlier we were treated to the arrival of Blue Moon...

 

It was the Japanese launch of the beer of that name and — as you might expect, given that the beer is backed by the massive marketing clout of one of America's heftiest beer companies — the event was a major splash.

It took place in the gorgeous plush surroundings of Anjin, the cafe/bar upstairs at the brilliant Tsutaya complex in Daikanyama — still one of my favourite spaces in the city, a year and a half after it first opened.

 

 

It's a nice beer, with a certain complexity of flavor, courtesy of the coriander and other aromatics, and a smooth mouth feel (as they say in the trade) which comes from the addition of oats to the mash. And it's not as challenging in flavour as the Belgian white beers after which it is modelled. 

I'm not a huge fan of sticking wedges (or even slices) of fruit in my beer. But it looks pretty, and it makes a welcome change from the prevalent (and quite limited) standard selection of Japanese lagers. In short, perfect easy drinking for the summer months.

 

In fact it should win over quite a few more drinkers of mainstream beers to try some new and different tastes. And from there to discover the exciting parallel universe of craft beer.

In that sense, Blue Moon constitutes what those in the business might call a gateway beer: a few sips and before you know it you'll be hooked on the hard stuff... triple IPA.

seasonal brews 3: the Watering Hole big birthday party

 

On Wednesday, we dropped into the ever-welcoming Watering Hole in Yoyogi, to help celebrate the birthdays of owner Emuchiko-san and manager Nontan-san — amazingly they share the same day...

 

 

As always, there were plenty of great brews on the drink menu, starting with these specials, two non-orthodox Pilsners. Brewed by the Nihonkai Club in Ishikawa, they were as hopped up as premium IPAs. Not to everyone's taste, maybe, but most refreshing...

 

Next we turned to a couple of seasonal brews we'd been eying up on the online menu ahead of time… On the right, a Sakura doppelbock, brewed by the folks at Fujizakura Heights. And on the left, Yuzu Pale Ale (W-IPA real ale) from Minoh.

 

I always enjoy the Kata-akari chips (aka fried potatoes) at the Wateringhole, cooked in wedges with the skin on...

What else did we drink? It's hard to remember clearly, but we certainly ended with the Yaho whiskey oak barrel barley wine. Good stuff!

 

Kampai! And happy birthday!!

seasonal brews 2: Tazawako Cherry Beer

And no better way to welcome the blossoms than a brew of Sakura Beer. It's from Tazawako Beer in Akita Pref., and it's made with a yeast that is (somehow) extracted from cherry trees — not clear about the science here, so if anyone can contribute...

 

Bottom line, though, is that it's excellent — and totally seasonal, of course — and so is Craft Beet Market Jimbocho, which is where we supped on it.

As always, there were plenty of good comestibles to go with it. Starting with a nice fresh salad of new-season shungiku (chrysanthemum) greens...

 

…and then the lamb tsukune — actually more like a giant Indian seekh kebab, with plenty of cumin in that jumbo patty.

 

Great stuff — in fact, worth a lingering close-up...

 

What a buzzy fun place it is, Craft Beer Market. Just don't go along expecting a pub. It's not, it's closer to an izakaya in feel. You go for the food as much as the (excellent and well-priced) drink. If the tables are full, you just have to wait — and most nights you won't be the only people on the waiting list.

 

Here's the relevant section of the menu...

 

Here's a link to my piece for CNN... What's changed since then is that as of last month, Craft Beer Market Jimbocho is now open on Saturdays. It's just as popular, though.

And hold your hats for the third Craft Beer Market. Before the summer is out!