I’d put off going to Pangaea for a while because from the Tokyo Beer Map it looks like a hassle to get to, and because Pangaea advertises itself as an “Ale and Cigar Freehouse” – and there’s nothing I hate more than cigars. But last Friday night, tempted by the excellent Friday/Saturday nomihodai offer (more on that below) , I decided it was time to pay Pangaea a visit.

Outside the bar looks… interesting:

Outside Pangaea

Inside it’s warmer, and thankfully free from cigar smoke. My impression is that rather than being a cigar bar, the owner of Pangaea has included the word “cigar” in the name in the hope of selling a few of the high margin fire sticks – thankfully it’s not working.

Inside

Beers on tap when I arrived were Sankt Gallen Yokohama XPA handpump, specially dryhopped with Simcoe; Sankt Gallen Shounan Gold handpump; Guinness; Ginga Kogen Weizen; and Chateau Kamiya’s Pilsner. All of these – except the Guinness which stands out like a sore thumb – are guest beers and change as kegs run out; half way through the night the Chateau Kamiya Pilsner run out and was replaced with Yokohama Brewery’s Pilsner.

Standard prices are around 800 – 1000 yen a pint (or glass, in the case of the Weizen), which is pretty good - but Friday and Saturday nights have the offer which attracted me: all you can drink for 3 hours for 3000 yen (2700 yen for the ladies). That’s an outstanding offer.

Ginga Kogen Weizen and Chateau Kamiya Pilsner

Surprisingly though, the place was almost deserted. I can only presume it’s the location or the “cigar” aspect – but I didn’t smell a single cigar all night, and Senzoku is only four stops from Meguro, which means it’s not very hard to get to at all. Seeing the place empty on a Friday night makes me worry about the future of the place.

Food wise, Pangaea is definitely a place to drink rather than have a meal - like a number of other bars, such as Towers in Tokyo. I did have an excellent steamed corn on the cob though, but that was from the specials menu and I presume not available constantly.

Pangaea’s website is here - with map here. Phone number is 03-3782-7699. While the website is in Japanese, the owner does speak some English and is very friendly.

My opinion? I still don’t understand why the “3 hours for 3000 yen” offer is Friday and Saturday nights only, rather than Monday to Thursdays – maybe the bar is busier during the week? I’d certainly be tempted to go midweek if the bar had that offer. In any case, it’s an outstanding deal, and the bar is really down to earth with a friendly owner. The location isn’t that inconvenient to get to – I just wonder whether the bar would have more custom if the word “cigar” was dropped from the name?