It was not so long ago that alfresco dining here meant choosing between a raucous, roof-top beer garden or the cosy, elbow-rubbing confines of a funky pavement yatai. And if oden or ramen and a glass of cheap sake was not quite what you had in mind for a romantic evening out, too bad.
What a difference a decade or so makes. The sidewalk cafe boom, as pioneered by Cafe des pres and finessed by Aux Bacchanales, has irreversibly redefined the way Tokyoites relate to eating out on sultry, summer nights. These days no self-respecting bistro, trattoria or trendy diner dares to hang out its shingle without first installing a clutch of parasol-shaded outside tables or, at the very least open frontage. And you know the axis shift is irreversible when even the burger joints and Pronto coffee shops are getting in on the act.
As far as location goes, however, few places can hold a candle to T.Y. Harbor Brewery. Where else in Tokyo can you sit by the waterside on a summer's evening, sinking a flagon of freshly brewed suds while you watch the sun set over a post-industrial cityscape of skyscrapers, highways and limpid canals?