Just in time for Irish Month (March) a new, genuine "Cash Bar and Kitchen" type of Irish pub has opened its doors to the delight of Tokyoites living and working along the Ogikubo-Kichijoji-Hachioji belt. The interior is authentic Irish down to the bricks, stained glass and antique spinning wheel. Even the restrooms haven' t escaped the final attention to detail.
The Galway basically consists of four sections. You can enjoy "conversation with strangers" at the long bar, or sit with your party in the "small group" zone, reminiscent of a railway salon with seating compartments. Yhen there's the spacious "free mingling" zone with a huge community table and several smaller tables of bar stool height, and, last but not least, a "cozy corner" section with windows facing the illuminated streets below. Since every order is paid in cash on delivery you might very well end up sampling the vistas of all four sections on a single visit, as roaming and table hopping become second nature.
Hungry? Start off with your group or date at one of the seating compartments indulging in any of the forty dishes on the menu, with prices starting at ¥400 for Irish Champ. Fish & Chips comes in at a most reasonable ¥600, with Roast Beef & Baked Eggplant setting the upper limit at ¥900.
After your meal you might feel like propping up the bar to explore the wide range of drinks. There are no less than 88 different ones, including more than 30 of the Emerald Isle itself. Prices start at ¥400 for a Heineken, lift slightly to ¥450 for Guinness and Kilkenny, and stabilize at ¥500 for all cocktails, unless you want to taste the peat of one of the older whiskeys for a reasonable ¥700 or show off by ordering a bottle of house wine (¥1,800). The one exception is a 30ml shot of Midleton Very Rare (¥2,500), a whiskey people don't quibble about. If Black Bush or Irish Mist, Side Car or Fuzzy Navel or any of the other 35 cocktails don’t match your tastes, you are encouraged to request the bartender to mix your very own fave.
Once you get hungry again you can grab a stool, order some more food, and enjoy the buzz of the "mingling" area. And as the evening winds down, you may decide to retire to one of the "cozy" tables over a last pint with some mixed nuts or beef jerky on the side.
Since the crowd is a mix of foreigners and locals you are practically guaranteed to make new friends. And just in case you should get lost, there is road signs giving directions everywhere, which are also good for starting conversations.
Irish beer on tap, Irish food on table. That’s the motto here. And it’s cash every time, so you can keep weaving and mingling and singing the blarney until the wee, small hours.
The Galway
6F Yamagawa Bldg.
4-9 Misaki-cho, Hachioji-shi
Tel: 0426-25-0890
