Did we strike gold or strike out with this rooftop beer garden on top of a Tokyo parking garage?
Our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko was passing through JR Tachikawa Station in Tokyo recently when an advertisement for a beer garden caught his eye. It was only a few minutes' walk from the station's South Exit, but the intriguing thing was that it was located on top of the Sanko Parking Garage. A beer garden on top of a parking garage?! That seemed almost sketchy in a way…
He thought he might be imagining things, but once he got to the garage, there was indeed a giant banner advertising the 'Tachikawa in the Sky Beer Garden.'
He also spotted a few signs on the ground level doubly confirming the fact that beer and yummy things were just an elevator ride away.
The entrance to the garage was very unassuming…
…and if you didn't know, it would be easy to think that this was just an ordinary place to park your car.
However, Ahiruneko followed the signs until he found a somewhat retro-looking elevator and stepped inside.
Next to the rooftop level button was a small visual for the beer garden. What exactly would be waiting for him when the door opened…?
As it turned out, it was indeed a proper beer garden!
The decorations were fairly minimalistic, but he appreciated the combination of J-pop streaming through the speakers punctuated by the timeless tinkling sound of wind chimes.
It was such a clear, beautiful sound whenever the breeze picked up.
This particular day happened to be on the weekend, when the beer garden opened in the early afternoon. Hardly anyone was there at around 2 p.m., likely due to the cloudy weather and possible chance of rain.
Ahiruneko wouldn't let that stop him from enjoying a little bite, though, so he perused the menu to see the different course options. There was a particularly good-looking deal called the 'Cheers! All-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink course.' For 90 minutes, you can have unlimited alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, and five kinds of food, all for only 2,580 yen (US$17) per person.
That was too good to pass up, so he selected that plan and made his way to the central counter to order a draft beer for his first drink. Nothing taste better than that when it's a humid summer day with a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).
He then turned his attention to the food that was part of his all-you-can-eat course. There was karaage…
…French fries…
…salted cabbage…
…and yakisoba. They were all fairly typical Japanese street food offerings that you might find at a summer festival.
There were plenty of additional sauces and seasonings that he could add, too.
All were fairly basic menu items, but he figured that was probably how they kept the cost so low.
By the way, curry was the fifth and final food item included in the deal. The pots containing the curry and rice were located on a self-service table.
Interestingly, while a sign on the stand proclaimed that it was authentic curry rice made by a chef from Bangladesh, Ahiruneko couldn't help but think that it tasted like curry suited for the Japanese palate. There were also some finely chopped pieces of konnyaku (a food derived from the konjac yam) throughout the sauce. Regardless of whether it was indeed made by a Bangladeshi or Japanese chef, it was really good.
Ahiruneko definitely wanted to take advantage of the all-you-can-eat nature of his plan, so he ordered more karaage and yakisoba. He was a little taken aback when the second servings arrived and the portions were even bigger than the first ones! It would be hard to finish, but he'd do his best in the usual SoraNews24 way.
All in all, despite the dubious nature of a beer garden on the rooftop of a parking garage, Ahiruneko considers his find a win. The garden will remain open until September 16 this year, so please stop by if you'll be in the area.
You might also want to check out Ahiruneko's other recent visit to a beer garden–in that case, on top of a mountain.
Beer garden information Tachikawa Tenku Beer Garden / 立川天空ビアガーデン Address: Tokyo-to, Tachikawa-shi, Nishiki-cho 2-1-33, Sanko Parking Garage rooftop 東京都立川市錦町 2-1-33 屋上 三幸立体駐車場 Open: 5 p.m.-10 p.m. (Monday-Thursday), 4 p.m.-10 p.m. (Friday), 1 p.m.-10 p.m. (Saturday-Sunday)
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