It’s so rare to find a bar with both great beer and sake, but we found one in Bashamichi with McGuffin. This fairly new establishment is warm and friendly, with excellent tapas-style food to pair with your drinks. Whether you’re stopping by for a meal, a snack or just some beverages, we’re confident you’ll be satisfied.
The drink menu is not extensive but offers a decent range of good libations. McGuffin has two draft selections with Heartland (¥500) and Coedo (¥800 glass/¥1100 pint), one of Japan’s best craft breweries. There is also a selection of bottled craft beer from Coedo, Minoh and Hakkaisan (¥750〜).
We’re not sure who said you can’t mix drinking sake and beer together; we do it all the time and love it! A shift of flavor and texture is often a palate pleaser. McGuffin carries a rotating selection of some great sake, including one of our favorites, Tensei (¥500), produced at Kumazawa Shuzo in nearby Shonan. We generally like to get several varieties and share, to experience the surprising variety of flavor that is possible in Japan’s native drink. The staff of McGuffin’s are quite sake-savvy so we let them choose a few for us. The pours were generous for the price.
The small, open kitchen whips up quite a variety of hearty, tapas-style dishes. We recommend the sizzling hot shrimp and mushroom ajillo (¥700) that you can spoon onto bread. But by far, McGuffin’s specialty dish (at least by our tastes) is its thick-cut Iwachu pork ginger (¥1,500) served in juicy chunks with the restaurant’s own sauce. In general, the chef does meat very well, but the menu also features salads and several cold dishes that pair wonderfully with sake.
The place is cozy, with just a few tables and counter seats, but has the illusion of being much larger. One whole wall is a window looking onto a side street. McGuff’s is non-smoking (with a smoking bench outside) so the flavor of the food comes first.