Often touted as Tokyo¡¯s apex of cool, Koenji is a maze of narrow mixed-use streets, where the city¡¯s trendsetters, en route to hip cafes, cross paths with pensioners browsing cheap vegetables and various knickknacks.
Koenji is a neighborhood that seemingly has it all, or at least something for everyone. This extends to the area¡¯s beer bars, from British alehouses to local brewpubs and maid cafes.
My day starts with a late lunch at El Pato, which dishes up authentic American diner fare and has two taps dedicated to Nagano Prefecture¡¯s Shiga Kogen Beer and a small but well curated bottle list sporting American west coast brews, including several from San Francisco-based Anchor Brewing, which occupies a hallowed place in the story of American beer. Anchor, which can trace its history back to the 1849 gold rush, played a key role in jump-starting the revival of craft beer in the U.S. in the 1980s. Its flagship brew, Anchor Steam, is the standard-bearer of a distinctly American style of beer.
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