Beer and burgers; burgers with beer. Either way, that’s a killer combination, especially when the bar in question features 12 taps of premium microbrews. Factor in a funky little building at the heart of one of Tokyo’s classic carousing districts, and you know already the new Mikkeller Kanda is going to be great.
It’s been three years since the hugely popular Mikkeller flagship bar opened on Shibuya’s love hotel hill, adding its range of distinctive brews to Tokyo’s burgeoning craft beer scene. Now it has a new sister operation on the other side of the city that’s smaller in scale but boasts plenty of character of its own.
Just spitting distance from Kanda Station, it’s a compact, three-story structure set back in a quiet enclave that’s isolated from the brash surrounding nightlife action. Hamilton Shields, Mikkeller’s partner in Japan, says he hadn’t been actively looking to open a second bar, but once he saw the location he knew he had to go for it.