Chunk Meat Izakaya Nikubee Shinjuku Gyoen Branch

Nikubee Shinjuku Gyoen Branch is a bit of an unusual spot. As the name suggests, it's an izakaya specializing in chunk meat, but they've also started brewing their own craft beer.

This kind of setup has been becoming more common lately. Restaurants get their own brewing license and make beers themselves to pair with their food. Here, they serve an original beer called "Shinjuku Pilsner" on tap.

Here's the thing: it's 299 yen a glass. For craft beer, that's a pretty aggressive price. You can really see their intention to let people enjoy craft beer casually while digging into plenty of meat.

Yeah, their main offerings are chunk meats grilled over binchotan charcoal, plus items like charcoal-grilled beef tongue and horse sashimi, so the meat lineup is impressive. I think they keep the price low on purpose because the beer is meant to be paired with that meat.

It's just a 1-minute walk from the station. Swing by after work and knock back a Shinjuku Pilsner with some binchotan-grilled chunk meat. As a casual craft beer experience, I think this is a really great place to start.