Early Saturday afternoon I’d jumped on the Shinkansen at Toyama Station for the short hop to Kanazawa where I got on the slower Thunderbird for the two and a quarter hour trip to Kyoto.
Usual Japanese efficiency had me arriving in Kyoto right on time and I then headed for the subway for the short ride to Shijo Station where I was staying.
After checking in I decided I’d better find somewhere to have a beer. About 400 metres down the road towards the Kamo River is the Pontocho area which encompasses a huge number of restaurants and bars lining typical narrow Japanese laneways. So I decided to head down there.
The craft beer map pointed me towards BeerBar MIYAMA162 so I set Google maps to direct me. I took me a little while to find the bar – I was originally one street over, but once I worked that out I walked straight past the place but doubled back to find the stairs to the 2nd floor bar.
BeerBar MIYAMA162, Kyoto, Japan
Walking up the stairs I found a nice little bar with seats for maybe 20 people. There was a small group of people drinking at one end of the bar so I was able to grab the only seats with a view of the outside world looking over the Kamo River towards Gion.
The beer selection here is pretty good I must say.
My first beer was a red ale, Aki no Kimagure (Fall on a Whim), was from a local Kyoto brewery and I was impressed.
Next I tried another beer from the same local brewery a stout called Kuroshio no Gotoku. Another exceptionally good beer.
Lastly was another beer from the same brewery, this time a Saison called Ichigo Ichie. Again, superb.
I knew I needed to eat so I decided to call it quits after 3 really decent beers.
I can’t recommend BeerBar MIYAMA162 more highly.