Ladybirds is a bottle shop and bar located in Tsukiji. I was slightly intimidated before I went there as they seemed to have a lot of house rules on their Instagram. I’d recommend that you check them before you go. But I shouldn’t have worried as it was a very nice and relaxing place to have a beer. Here’s what you need to know:
- Couple of small counters with about six seats I think, and a couple of standing tables in the middle of the space. You should check the house rules about seating before you visit.
- Six taps of beer mixed 2/3 to 1/3 between imports and domestic craft. Beers served in two sizes, S (250ml) and L (400ml). Prices ranged from ¥950-¥1200 for the small and ¥1250-¥1600 for the L, which seems a little on the high side, but it should be said that most of these taps were imports and even the Japanese selections didn’t include the kind of breweries that usually populate the lower end of the price range of most of the beer lists you see around. I guess the main draw though is the large amount of beers in their fridges. The majority are imports from Scandinavia, the US, Belgium, the UK and probably some other places I’ve forgotten or didn’t notice. (Ladybirds is run by an importer, in case you didn’t know). Maybe about 20 varieties of Japanese craft too though. Corkage is ¥250 for under 500ml and then ¥250 per person for anything over. Which means that if you’re in the mood for splashing out on one of the big and expensive bottles and you drink it by yourself, your corkage fee is going to be very reasonable. All of these beers are of course available for take away too.
- No cover charge, (but don’t forget the corkage if you’re not drinking from the taps), a bit of daytime opening on weekdays (and plenty of it at weekends), but couldn’t find any WiFi. You can bring your own food to consume whilst you’re boozing, but once again, better check those house rules on the Instagram.
As I mentioned above, I was a bit worried about visiting after seeing the rules but I had a really nice time here. I now think it actually really makes sense to have their rules clearly displayed, as there are obviously differences between how different bars work, and if everything is clearly stated there will hopefully be less misunderstandings. The staff were very friendly, it was a nice place to drink and the selection was good. I have to say I’m a bit of a fan of these combined bottle shop and bar places and if this one was in a more convenient place I’m sure I’d be visiting more often. But I will definitely go back when I’m in the area.
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Totopia
Yamorido
Opening Hours:
Tuesday-Friday, 16:00-22:30
Saturday, 12:30-20:30
Sunday, 12:30-20:00
Closed Monday, unless it’s a holiday, in which case they are open with Sunday hours and then the following Tuesday is closed
Location/map:
築地 1-12-12, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Telephone:
03-4400-8868
