| Bar Review |
By Steve Trautlein |
The Full Monty
Enjoy the friendly atmosphere at this inviting Yokohama pub
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| Photos Courtesy of the Full Monty |
The Full Monty is such a warm and welcoming bar that we wish we lived right around the corner. With its cozy interior, gracious proprietor and excellent lineup of food and drinks, this is a pub that embodies the word “local.”
Take, for instance, our experience during a recent visit. Our fellow customers included
a pair of attractive OLs enjoying cocktails and muted conversation. At another table sat a middle-
aged gaijin couple watching the Eric Clapton video that was playing on the bar’s TVs. We later found out that the man had been
a member of the road crew for Cream and other ’60s rock heavyweights. Pretty Japanese women? A Grateful Dead roadie?
If there’s a pub in heaven, the crowd is surely like this.
The same could be said about Clive, the bar’s gregarious owner. Along with his Japanese partner, Clive makes customers feel as if they are childhood friends who have stopped by his tree house. Attentive but not cloying, he’s always ready with a quip or a quick refill—the kind of guy who would give you and your date some privacy just as easily as he’d offer a friendly ear if that date goes sour.
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At The Full Monty, all the food is made to order, and it’s authentic enough to make us miss our favorite pub back home (although, being Americans, we don’t really have a favorite pub back home). A plate of grilled shrimp and chicken skewers (¥1,200) had a nice spicy bite, and would be the perfect complement to a Greek salad (¥990). During our visit, Clive warned us that the meat pie he’d just taken from the oven was misshapen and horrible to look at. We decided to believe our noses rather than our eyes, however, and were rewarded with
a piping-hot pie with a flaky, buttery crust.
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On the drinks menu, pints of Stella Artois, Guinness, Bass and Blackthorn ring in at ¥950. The list of bottled beer ranges from the mundane (Corona, ¥750) to the offbeat (Circle Master, ¥950). A dozen varieties of whiskey and scotch are on offer for under ¥1,000, while the full cocktail menu includes two originals: Bloody Cider (cider and tomato juice, ¥950) and The Full Monty (rum or vodka with banana, mango and cream, ¥1,000).
Located in a quiet Yokohama neighborhood, The Full Monty
is easily recognizable by its ivy-covered facade and Union Jack fluttering in the breeze. And if you step inside, you’ll recognize something even more familiar: the comforting atmosphere of
a well-run and friendly pub.
8-1 Hirodai-Otamachi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama. Tel: 045-491-5635. Open Tue-Sat 6pm-late, Sun 5pm-1am, closed Mon. Nearest stn: Higashi Kanagawa (JR Keihin Tohoku or Yokohama line). http://fullmontyyokohama.com
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Have you heard? Monday, August 4 is Beer Hall Day at The Dubliners’ Irish Pub. What is Beer Hall Day, you might ask? For one day only, pints of draft beer will be sold for just ¥500. At which branch? All six of ’em! And if you can’t wait until then, stop by any of the locations (in Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akasaka, Shinagawa, Toranomon or Ikebukuro) between July 28 and August 3, and for every pint you drink, receive a ¥100 discount ticket redeemable on or after August 5.
It’s easy to grow tired of visiting the same Roppongi watering holes week after week. Opened last month, Zero Bar (1F Roppongi 410 Bldg, 4-10-5 Roppongi, Minato-ku; 03-5775-0100; www.zerobar.jp) promises something fresh—and refreshing. This new champagne bar just steps from the Tokyo Midtown complex offers a selection of over 100 bottles of bubby and wine. The small-ish space is dimly lit, with a wood counter and comfy low-back bar stools and the drinks illuminated under red lights. To find it, look for the number “0” in the bar’s ground-level window.
Up for some live jazz, pops, bossa nova, samba or chanson from leading Japanese musicians? At Boston Dreams (B1 Roppongi Five Bldg, 5-18-20 Roppongi, Minato-ku; 03-3583-3988), just off Gaien-Higashi Dori, you can enjoy three sets of live music (7:40-11pm) six days a week. Stop by during happy hour (5:30-7:30pm) and pay ¥1,000 for two drinks and popcorn, with additional drinks just ¥500. Entry starts at just ¥3,000, but mention Metropolis and get in for half-price. BJM
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