From bakery to bar - Kimono Wine Bar

Note: Kimono Wine Bar has now moved to Nogizaka – see the Kimono Wine Bar website for more details.  This review is now out of date.

By day it’s a bakery, by night it’s a bar. Kimono Wine Bar is the creation of Lauren Shannon of Fujimamas fame and her husband Chris. When Fujimamas closed in May 2009, Lauren wanted to start her own bar. Seeing the space inside upscale Notting Hill Cakes lie empty in the evenings, she approached the bakery about using the venue for a bar in the evening – they liked the idea and Kimono was born. Every night between 6 and 7pm the venue transforms from bakery to bar, with not a trace of flour left in sight.

When I visited Kimono the bar was still in “soft open” mode – before the official opening party – so final food and drinks menus were still being finalised. But even though Kimono’s full title is Kimono Wine Bar, the bar also includes craft beers. “You can’t have a bar without beer, ” the Shannons told me, “and if you’re going to have beer, you may as well have the good stuff.” Currently that means bottles of Ezo White Crane Bitter and Buckwheat beer (both made by Rogue), Tokyo Ale 3 (by Sankt Gallen), Hitachino Nest Rice Ale and Japanese Classic Ale, and Minamishinsyu Golden Ale – but the final selection is still being determined and is expected to evolve as the bar does.

Craft beer at Kimono

Even still, it’s a good start. The Ezo’s and the Minamishinsyu Golden Ale in particular are fantastic beers – in fact the Golden Ale was so good I had to order a second bottle before leaving! - and Tokyo Ale 3 is only available in a handful of places (though it is the same as Sankt Gallen’s Amber Ale). Prices don’t break the bank either – 735 yen for the Ezo’s is pretty good.

The only “problem” with Kimono is its location. Just off Roppongi-dori, approx halfway between Roppongi station and Shibuya, it takes about 10-15 minutes to walk to Kimono from the subway – a little bit far, although there are plenty of buses between Roppongi and Shibuya. That said, it’s just around the corner from Seijo Iishi supermarket which stocks beers such as Pilsner Urquell, Brooklyn, Anchor, Tokyo Black, Aooni, and sometimes has rare Japanese craft beers – so a trip combining Kimono with Seijo Iishi ain’t a bad idea.

Outside Kimono Wine Bar

Kimono Wine Bar’s website is here. Google street view link is here – there are also a bunch of maps on Kimono’s website. From Roppongi Station, walk along Roppongi-dori towards Roppongi Hills. Keep walking along Roppongi-dori until you get to Seijo Iishi, then take the third left (the first main road). Kimono is a few minutes down on the left – look for the Notting Hill Cakes bakery and the small Kimono board outside or in the window.

Kimono’s phone number is 03-5464-3788. The bar is currently open Tuesday to Friday 7-11pm, Saturday 7 until “late” and one Sunday per month (check the website for details). All the staff speak English and the menu is in English. Kimono is non-smoking (a very good thing – more bars should be encouraged to be non-smoking).

My opinion? It’s too early to say how Kimono will pan out atmosphere wise but I like the Shannon’s approach to choosing beers – and watching Chris shudder when he told me they also have Premium Malts was a great moment (and as Lauren said, it is one of the better Japanese commercial beers and you have to have something for the Japanese business man who only wants commercial beer – even Popeye has Asahi). For me, Kimono is just off a street I pass several time a week, so I’ll be watching to see how the bar develops.