The Aldgate

October 19, 2008 [ Updated December 13, 2008 ]
Love the decor at this place...even good for a date..so you can slyly drink some great beer! particularly fantastic when they have some good guest beers..highly recommended

February 19, 2008
The Aldgate is right in the middle of the madness that is Shibuya, about a 5 minute walk (or less) from the world’s busiest pedestrian intersection. As an American traveler looking for the authentic Japanese beer bar experience, I didn’t really get that here at first. It’s pretty much a straight up English Pub type place, or so I thought. I see a lot of those in Portland, Seattle, and San Francisico, where I do most of my beer bar drinking, but I came to Japan for something different. And thankfully, since the Japanese brewers are into making British style pales, ESB’s and the like, it was a pleasant surprise to find them fairly well represented on tap here. I like. Prices were pretty good, and yes, the chalk boards are hilarious. The Algate is a good introductory Japanese beer place to dip your toes in the water if you’re a little freaked out about the language barrier. Then you can get serious and go to Ushi-Tora after that.

September 9, 2007 [ Updated November 7, 2007 ]
English style pub in the heart of Shibuya. Real nice beer selection, mostly Japanese micros, with some imports thrown in the mix, as well. Has a couple hand pumped casks also. Staff seemed to know their beer, and spoke english fairly well. Great place to watch a rugby match and have a beer.

August 29, 2007
Check out my article for comments and pics about this good ji-biru bar: http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer-News/Article-686.htm

April 9, 2007
Over looked by visitors to Tokyo, but one of my favorite places to hang out AND is the CHEAPEST place in town for micros. Between 15-20 taps, split between micros and imports. The owner rotates about four beers at a time and brings in micro seasonals. The owner renames many of the beers, ie. Aldgate Ale, but if you ask him nicely, he will tell you who makes the beer so it won’t be a mystery. The chips are really good here. I have never been to England, but Brits tend to comment the atmosphers is pretty authentic. Staff speaks English, which is always nice. Very easy to find. Go to Shibuya station, across the street past main intersection. Keep left of Starbucks (this is called Center-Gai street). You will eventually pass MacDonals on your left, another 20 meters up on your right and you will see a British Flag on the side of the bldg. Go up to the third floor. (see map on website). Note - at its old location until Sept 2005, the focus was on the 6000 or so British LPs the owner has. If you like Brit rock, this is also a good place to hang out. MANDATORY - go to the washroom while at the pub, it will put a smile on your face to say the least.