Brooklyn Parlor in the Marui Annex

Update – April 2010: Brooklyn Lager is now being brewed by Hitachino again, and this time it’s a perfect copy of the original. However in recent visits to Brooklyn Parlor I’ve grown rather annoyed by lack of attention to pouring quality – sometimes beers are served with 2 inch heads; other times they are served with the head all having disappeared, leaving the top inch of the glass empty; other times multiple glasses of the same beer will be at obviously different temperatures (as if some of the beers have been poured in advance and lying around). For a company that is famous for making good quality craft beer, I’m surprised they don’t have any quality control when it comes to dispensing it. Even Kirin City has quality control.

Brooklyn Parlor is a new venture by the owners of Blue Note Japan. Located in the basement of the Marui Annex in Shinjuku – the same building as the Wald9 cinema – the bar is a large relaxed space with sofas and cafe style seating.

Inside Brooklyn Parlor

Two beers are on tap at Brooklyn Parlor – Brooklyn Lager and Hitachino Nest White Ale. At the end of 2009, Brooklyn switched from imported Brooklyn Lager to a version contract brewed by the Kiuchi brewery in Japan under Garrett Oliver’s guidance. However the end result tasted quite different from “real” Brooklyn Lager resulting in Brooklyn deciding to abandon the contract brewed version and rush over more Brooklyn Brooklyn lager.

Draught Brooklyn Lager

The bar also offers an extensive menu. On the opening night I had the blue cheese burger and though it could have had a bit more blue cheese, it was a fair step above the food you usually get in bars – not surprising given that Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn’s head brewer, wrote The Brewmaster’s Table.

Blue cheese burger

Brooklyn Parlor’s website is here. Google street view link is here. To get to the Marui Annex, take the subway to Shinjuku Sanchome (3-chome) and head out of C4. Brooklyn Parlour is directly opposite. Alternatively from Shinjuku JR walk from the East exit along the main street – the one with Don Quijote – for 5-10 minutes. The phone number is 03-6457-7763. There is free wifi at Brooklyn Parlor.

Draught Hitachino Nest White Ale

My opinion? It’s great to have Brooklyn Lager on tap in Japan and Brooklyn Parlor is an excellent space to enjoy it in – and it’s one of the few places you can get good beer and good food together. Shinjuku has relatively few decent bars despite its popularity with shoppers and Brooklyn Parlor is a welcome addition. I hear that in the future Brooklyn Parlor hopes to have more of Garrett Oliver’s beers – personally, I’d love to see Brooklyn’s East India Pale Ale make it over here. Let’s hope it does.