Shinshu Osake Mura

Shinshu Osake Mura is a sake and craft beer bar and shop on the ground floor of the Shimbashi Ekimae Building, one of the area's oldest office blocks. It specialises in drinks from Nagano, known by its old name Shinshu, and bills itself as a Local Sake Museum. BeerTengoku and Tokyo Cheapo both flag it as one of the best-value places to drink in central Tokyo.

This is a place to taste widely, not to settle in for the night. There are no seats and the room gets crowded, but the trade-off is a rotating wall of regional sake at prices that undercut almost everywhere else in the city.

It is a hole-in-the-wall that doubles as a bottle shop, so part of the space is shelving and part is standing room at the counter. Tokyo Cheapo describes it as packed in the evenings, with people happy to stand shoulder to shoulder. The tanuki statue out front is the landmark to aim for.

Thirty to forty sakes are poured at any time, including seasonal and limited-edition bottles, most at 300 or 500 yen for a 110ml pour, which BeerTengoku notes is a serious Tokyo bargain. There are also more than a dozen Japanese craft beers in bottles and cans plus one or two on tap, starting around 240 yen. The enthusiastic bartender will steer you if you can manage a little Japanese.

Order a flight of small pours rather than one big drink. The point here is range, so try a regional junmai, a seasonal special and a Nagano craft beer side by side.

A Shimbashi after-work crowd of office workers and sake enthusiasts, busiest in the early evening. It is a salaryman district, so expect a friendly, slightly boisterous standing-bar energy rather than anything hushed.

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