Copa

February 19, 2008
Went here for dinner with TimE, our illustrious beer guide in much of Japan. It is a bit of a trek to get there, but VERY well worth it. Owner was incredibly kind. Love the window seating. The focus here is squarely on Belgium. Great ambiance and pretty impressive bottle selection, not just for Japan but for anywhere. Food was pretty damn tasty, especially the daikon salad (don’t miss it). The entrance, which is up a short flight of stairs leading from the sidewalk, features a bunch of large format vintage Duvel bottles as you ascend. Know that this is a sign of things to come because once you enter they’ve got some great beer swag here. Fun beer eye-candy. Perhaps the best part of all is the beers you CAN’T DRINK. In the back room (of course there had to be a “back room” for this part) lies the double top secret Spinal Tap “Don’t even look at it” cooler. It is filled with pure vintage heaven. But like I said, don’t even look at it. Alexander, Westy... Note: I rated 10 out of 15 for selection because I am comparing to all beer bars in the world. If it was just Japan, it would be a 13. If I could drink from the back room cooler, it would be a 15.

October 12, 2007 [ Updated March 3, 2008 ]
Note: The original Copa is at Aobodai Station. Map http://www.beercopa.com/map.html Never been to Machida location, but sounds similar to Aobodai location. My rating is for Aobodai location. 4-6 micros on tap. Several hundred beers in two fridges at the back. Whatever they say they have on the menu is not reflective of what they actually have. They really don’t know what they have. The far fridge is special and basically you can’t drink anything out ot it. I went with a friend who knows the owner and we were allowed to drink out of it, things like OSA 2000, 2001 Westy 12s, etc. He had no idea what was in there. Prices are for beer high considering it is out in the burbs, but food quality is very good and reasonable. In fact a non-beer loving friend said he would come back just for the food. Overall this could squeeze into the top five in Tokyo, though more import than domestic focused. Worth a stop if in the area.

July 7, 2007
Wow. A great Beligan bar in southern Tokyo, near my wife’s parent’s house. 120 bottles of belgian beers, and 30 bottles from other places in the world. They even sell Westy 12’s (albiet $40/bottle). The staff is very knowledgable. The manager, Yokomizo san, has tried every beer in the store, and brews himself. He even offered me a special tasting, next time I come. 7 beers on tap: Baird IPA (excellent), Chimay Blue, Hoegarden , Kirin Heartland, Leffe, Kirin black. To get there take Odakyu line from Shinjuku to Machida (about 30 minutes: $3). It’s basically halfway between the south and east exits. Take south exit (a small stairway that’s hard to find). Turn left out of the south exit and walk beside the station for 10-20 meters and turn right (at the music store). You’ll see it on the left, with a Duvel sign. There are a few Chinese girls on the corner offering massages or something. http://www.bento.com/brews76.html has an article on Copa. Similar quality to Popeye’s (more bottles and less taps), but the nightlife is dead around Popeye’s, but is great around Copa, and there are two other good beer bars nearby, and a decent beer store. Either this or Popeye’s a must visit for Tokyo