Tanakaya

drgarage

California

4.74/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $

I went over here based on numerous recommendations during my first visit to Tokyo in late November. I won't do much to add to the texture of other reviewers, so I'll just note some of the ludicrous finds I had (none of which I managed to purchase -- low on time in a cash-only store in a society that hates American ATM cards!).

-- 375s of Cantillon Geuze, Kriek, and Rose, each 800 yen
-- Lost Abbey/Brewdog collab Lost Dog for 2000 yen
-- Brewdog/Mikkeller/Nogne Tokyo Black Horizon blend
-- HotD Bourbon Fred from the Wood 2012 (?!) for an outrageous 3500 yen
-- 50/50 BART 2011 for a totally reasonable (for Tokyo) 1800 yen

Just go. It's like no other bottle shop in the world.

12-31-2012 18:35:38 | More by drgarage

basica

Singapore

4.85/5  rDev +5.7%
quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$$

Easily accessible from Mejiro JR station; turn left and walk for a minute and it a basement shop just beside the MacDonalds.

A beer shop with a nice ambience to aid selection to start with. Next is the amazing selection of over 400 international beers including some rare beers. Staff were also friendly and they know their beers!

Some of the notable beers I bought included the Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam, La Trappe Quadrupel Oak Aged, Lion Stout.

Prices were a little on the pricey side but not so by Japan's standards; I would love to have such a beer store in Singapore.

02-13-2011 03:20:21 | More by basica

Naerhu

Japan

5/5  rDev +8.9%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $

This place, not to easy to find, is your place to go for craft beer in Tokyo. I have never seen anything like it. Its the shop equivalent to Popeeye. The also have bourbon, wine, rum, you name it, they may have the best selection in Tokyo (okay maybe not for wine).

Price are super cheap for Japan(tho not as cheap as the stuff you can find in the US). I do not know how they do it.

There is an amazing selection of Stone Brewing, JW Lees, Dogfishhead, several avery and more. also best selection of Belgians I have ever seen. The take amazing care of their beers, putting them in appropriately lighted and conditioned cabinets.

There selection of Japanese craft is decent, though its a shame that the way these are displayed, in an ice chest, makes it difficult to see what they have.

10-02-2008 12:59:08 | More by Naerhu

mdvatab

Indiana

5/5  rDev +8.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$$

Was fortunate to have an extra couple hours on my last evening in Tokyo during a recent business trip, and dropped by Tanakaya. Having read the comments on BA and other sites, I had been looking forward to this visit from the time I learned I'd be going to Tokyo last Fall.

After walking straight out of Mejiro Station, hang a left on the street that runs in front of the station. Pass Zoka coffee shop on the left, and you will find Tanakaya on the same (left) side of the street a few shops down. Tanakaya is located in a basement shop.

The interior of store is literally that of a liquor/wine/beer cellar. I'd say 1/2 of the store is wine, 1/4 of the store is liquor and 1/4 of the store is beer. The beer is stored behind 8 or so wooden-framed glass doors, and is kept at perfect cellar temperature. 12oz, 11.2oz, and other smaller format bottles are on the top shelves behind each door. Larger format bottles are laid down on their sides. Because the labels on the bigger bottles can be hard to read, and the shelf tags are all in Japanese, it may be necessary to pull out the bottles one at a time to read the labels. The store is well-lit (but no bright lighting) and very clean.

After running through the selection, and having several "Holy Crap!" moments, I ran back to the door to grab a basket. The selection in this place is NUTS! They definitely don't have the biggest selection I've ever seen, but that was fine. The buyer obviously knows what he's doing, and has very carefully selected what he's going to stock.

I was wondering what, exactly I'd find here. Kate? Westy 12? Stormaktsporter? Blabaer? When I asked the beer manager whether they had any of these, he said "they'd sold out". ("So they had these at some point?!?!?", I thought.) While they didn't have these, I was floored at what they did have. Many hard-to-find Belgian, German, British, and American brews. I wound up grabbing as many as I thought I could fit into my luggage-- some awesome finds I'd never seen anywhere in the States.

I give the place 5's across the board. The staff was extremely helpful. The beer manager even went back and grabbed one more bottle of one of the items that appeared to be sold-out. The clerks wrote the names of the brands on the receipt for me, and also gave me directions to where I was headed from Mejiro Station.

My only reservation is with regard to pricing. Most of the beers are imported, the Yen is strong, and I was buying with US dollars that I'd exchanged into Yen. While this is not the fault of the store, be prepared to spend 10,000 to 20,000 Yen (~$130-$260). With only a few bottles, I hit the middle of this range.

Needless to day, I hope I'm back in Tokyo again in another year or two. And when I am, I'll definitely be hitting Tanakaya. Very highly recommended!

01-25-2012 02:53:19 | More by mdvatab