Seppuku

A couple of months back, I caught up with Dave for a pint or two in town and suggested Yamamori Izakaya as a venue. I've written about this pub a couple of times in the past and I'm a big fan: there's a combination of quirkiness, cosiness, excellent food and unusual beers from Kiuchi, imported directly by the owners.

I arrived first and, as always, ordered a pint of Nipponia. I'm rather fond of this strong, loud-and-proud single hop Sorachi Ace pale ale. The barman had it half poured when one of his colleagues pointed out "We don't do Nipponia by the pint any more; that'll be the last one". Oh. Well, after handing over my €6 I was determined to enjoy it. And I did. When Dave arrived he got his Nipponia in one of the dinky handled glasses they use for the Kiuchi bottles. They're a decent sized measure, I'd guess about 400ml, but a) we're not supposed to be guessing: there's a legal obligation to say what the measure is, and b) it was €5 a glass, so a bit of a jump in price, taken pro-rata. Poor form, and it left a bitter taste that had nothing to do with the sackloads of Sorachi Ace.

A barman came to the table later to take another round. As well as making scary noises about how difficult it was to get hold of any Nipponia at all, he was quite keen we try their new draught tap, Kirin. I was reluctant, but Dave insisted and he's bigger than me. I didn't check but I assume this is Kirin Ichiban, a beer I'm sure I've had before but don't have any notes on. It's horrendous: thin, gassy as hell, and with a nasty banana off-flavour erasing the cleanness that makes even boring Asian lager worthwhile.

There's still an O'Hara's IPA tap in the Izakaya, but this visit left my enthusiasm for the place severely sapped. For quirky and Asian there's always Indie Dhaba instead.