Brewpub Near Me in Harajuku: Baird Beer Taproom's Yakitori Upstairs

Baird Beer's Harajuku Taproom does not open until 5pm on weekdays, so the shoppers drifting off Takeshita Street at lunchtime walk straight past its second-floor windows. The pub sits on the 2F of the No-surrender Building at 1-20-13 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, and since August 2009 it has paired skewers off the grill with beer brewed by one of Japan's best-known craft breweries. For anyone typing brewpub near me between Harajuku Station and Omotesando, it is the most dependable craft pint in the neighbourhood, and the room itself is completely non-smoking.

Baird Brewing was founded in 2000 in Numazu, Shizuoka, by the husband-and-wife team of Bryan and Sayuri Baird, and the company still calls itself a family business. The Tokyo expansion began with Nakameguro in May 2008. Harajuku followed in August 2009 as the second Tokyo taproom, and the company describes it plainly as a Japanese-style pub in the yakitori-izakaya tradition rather than a Western beer hall.

The beer itself is not brewed in Harajuku. Since spring 2014 production has been centred on Baird Brewery Gardens Shuzenji, a three-hectare farm-type brewery on the banks of the Kano River in Izu city, the same river that runs past the original Numazu site. That brewery has its own 20-tap tasting room and an observation corridor over the brewhouse, so think of Harajuku as the city outpost of a countryside brewpub, with kegs trucked in fresh from the Izu Peninsula.

Climb the stairs and the space feels deliberately compact. Baird describes low ceilings and expert wood craftsmanship designed to create a warm, communal room, which in practice means elbows close together at the counter and conversation bouncing off planed timber. It works well for two or three people and less well for a group of eight arriving at 7pm on a Friday, when every seat near the grill tends to be spoken for.

The taprooms run on a written house philosophy, published as the Taproom Manifesto, which treats each pub as the company's home and every customer as an invited guest. Guests in turn are expected to respect the house rules. The company also says it avoids price discounting and paid advertising, so do not expect happy-hour deals or two-for-one pints here; the pitch is consistent quality at a fair price rather than a bargain.

The year-round lineup is the backbone of the taps. Rising Sun Pale Ale at 5.5% is the brisk, hoppy everyday pale the brewery pitches for drinking now, later and tomorrow, and Wabi-Sabi Japan Pale Ale at 6.0% is an herbal, dry hybrid. Kurofune Porter at 6.0% takes its name from the Japanese word for the Black Ships and tastes of chocolate and coffee, while Shimaguni Stout at 5.0% is the brewery's take on a dry Irish stout with a hint of smoke.

Seasonal and limited releases rotate through, and the online shop's current list hints at what to look for: Japan Tale Ale, a tart 5.0% beer brewed with indigenous Japanese ingredients, Saison Sayuri at 6.0%, and The Carpenter's Mikan Ale at 7.0%, built around Japanese citrus. The brewery highlights its use of floor-malted barley, whole flower hops and generous dry hopping, which is why the pale ales smell louder than most Tokyo bottlings.

One honest warning about strength. Bakayaro! Ale at 9.0% and Dark Sky Imperial Stout at 10.0% are excellent, but they are poor choices as a first pour on an empty stomach in a room built for slow grazing. Start with Rising Sun or the 4.5% Single Take Session Ale, order a round of skewers, and save the big beers for the end. If you want to take bottles home, the brewery's own shop lists 330ml bottles of Rising Sun at ¥550 and Suruga Bay Imperial IPA at ¥600.

The kitchen follows the izakaya pattern: traditional and contemporary Japanese small plates alongside yakitori-style grilled meat and vegetable skewers. The format suits beer, because skewers arrive a couple at a time and nobody commits to a large main course. Order salt-seasoned skewers with the pale ales and tare-glazed ones with the porter, and let the plates keep coming in small rounds rather than all at once.

Hours are 5pm to 11pm on weekdays, noon to 11pm on Saturdays and public holidays, and noon to 10pm on Sundays, and the taproom opens every day. Saturday's noon opening is the best bet for a relaxed first round, since a small room like this has far fewer seats than the after-work rush on a weekday evening can fill.

If the stairs are lined with people waiting, do not hover for more than twenty minutes. Baird runs three other taprooms in Tokyo: Nakameguro, which specialises in New Haven-style pizza in a beer-hall room at Nakameguro GT Plaza, plus Takadanobaba and Kichijoji. Nakameguro keeps the same hours as Harajuku and is the easiest switch, about three stops from Meiji-jingumae via Shibuya on the Fukutoshin and Tokyu Toyoko lines.

Use the afternoon well. Meiji Jingu's forested approach starts beside JR Harajuku Station and is the calmest place in the area before dusk. From there, cut through to Togo Shrine with its pond garden, then drop onto Takeshita Street for the crepe stands and costume shops. Cat Street, the pedestrian lane winding toward Shibuya, is better for independent fashion boutiques and vintage clothing than the main drag.

Omotesando's zelkova-lined avenue is the other direction, anchored by Tadao Ando's long, low Omotesando Hills. By around 5pm you have done a full circuit and the taproom doors are opening. Yoyogi Park is the backup for a sunny weekend, as long as you head back toward Jingumae in time for the noon or evening opening.

The phone number is 03-6438-0450, and the taproom also lists an email address, harajuku-tap@bairdbeer.com, on its official page. The address to give a taxi driver is the No-surrender Building, 2F, 1-20-13 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku. The nearest stations are JR Harajuku on the Yamanote line and Meiji-jingumae on the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines, both a short walk away.

All Baird taprooms are non-smoking, a policy the company explains as protecting the aroma of both food and beer. Arrive with an appetite, because the menu is built around small plates, and order beer in more than one size so you can taste several brews in one sitting. Bottles of the same beers are sold through the brewery's online shop if a favourite is worth carrying home.