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Beer Garden Miami is a pretty famous beer garden in Nagoya in which you can eat over 100 different dishes. It's a tabehoudai and nomihoudai (all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink) for about 150 minutes, and it costs about 38.00 USD. Unlike many beer gardens around the world, beer gardens in Japan are usually found on rooftops of department store buildings. The gardens have a very open, relaxing atmosphere. Beer Garden Miami is on a rooftop of a building over 11 stories high, and is across from Nagoya Station (a very convenient location!).
We could understand why the place was so packed--it was really cool.
The Beer Stations
On the right side of the garden were the beer stations. It was a beautiful sight. Stick in your glass, press a button (even deciding whether or not you want head on the beer), and there you have it. A never-ending beer flow for your entire stay at Miami.
On the left side of the garden was the large selection of food. Some of it, pictured below, was precooked:
Korokke (a croquette), dango, pizza, fried
onigiri (rice ball), edamame and some other
fried foods.
As for the uncooked foods, you can choose what you want before bringing it back to your table to cook at a little grill.
Kanpai! Cheers!
The Beer Stations
On the right side of the garden were the beer stations. It was a beautiful sight. Stick in your glass, press a button (even deciding whether or not you want head on the beer), and there you have it. A never-ending beer flow for your entire stay at Miami.
On the left side of the garden was the large selection of food. Some of it, pictured below, was precooked:
Korokke (a croquette), dango, pizza, fried
onigiri (rice ball), edamame and some other
fried foods.
As for the uncooked foods, you can choose what you want before bringing it back to your table to cook at a little grill.
Kanpai! Cheers!
After our night at the beer garden, our beer excursions were far from over. An Asahi Brewery tour was booked for 3:00 a couple days later.
Asahi makes several products aside from the Asahi-brand beer -- including, but not limited to, soft drinks, whiskey and wines. Additionally, the company has business agreements with companies like Miller and Löwenbräu of Germany.
Malt and Barley
(It says ASAHI in the circles)
Asahi comes in all sizes, from bottles as big as an
arm, to little bitty cans the height of a pointer finger.
I was surprised to learn how much Asahi does with recycling. The uniform pictured above is made from recycled plastic bottles. There were posters lining the walls with pictures made by school children who went on the brewery tour and learned about Asahi's Eco-friendliness. It seems kind of weird that kids would go on a brewery tour, even if they are learning about helping the environment, but maybe it's because Asahi has plants that produce soft drinks, too (although this plant doesn't...).
Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures of a lot of the cool stuff inside the brewery because it was prohibited. However, we let go of our disappointment pretty easily when we were brought the the final stage of the tour: the tasting room!
Joel, Chad, our tour guide and John
VIP status
A rare photo of Chad and Joel captured in their most natural state!
We were allowed 3 free beers, but were
supposed to drink them in 30 minutes!
And then, they offered us a 4th!
And we look forward to seeing you again, Asahi Brewery!
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Last Post Notes
We felt like this adventure could be an excellent adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...except with beer. Year after year of beautiful beer.
Asahi makes several products aside from the Asahi-brand beer -- including, but not limited to, soft drinks, whiskey and wines. Additionally, the company has business agreements with companies like Miller and Löwenbräu of Germany.
Malt and Barley
(It says ASAHI in the circles)
Asahi comes in all sizes, from bottles as big as an
arm, to little bitty cans the height of a pointer finger.
I was surprised to learn how much Asahi does with recycling. The uniform pictured above is made from recycled plastic bottles. There were posters lining the walls with pictures made by school children who went on the brewery tour and learned about Asahi's Eco-friendliness. It seems kind of weird that kids would go on a brewery tour, even if they are learning about helping the environment, but maybe it's because Asahi has plants that produce soft drinks, too (although this plant doesn't...).
Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures of a lot of the cool stuff inside the brewery because it was prohibited. However, we let go of our disappointment pretty easily when we were brought the the final stage of the tour: the tasting room!
Joel, Chad, our tour guide and John
VIP status
Air-puffed cracker snacks
Cheese sticks and beef jerky!
A rare photo of Chad and Joel captured in their most natural state!
Quite possibly Chad's biggest smile since our wedding day ;-)
We were allowed 3 free beers, but were
supposed to drink them in 30 minutes!
And then, they offered us a 4th!
And we look forward to seeing you again, Asahi Brewery!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last Post Notes
1. Tanuki are kind of like red pandas, but their tales are quite a bit different. Maybe you can kind of see in the picture below:
2. The A-Bomb Dome used to be an Industrial Promotion Hall, and it was almost directly under the spot the first bomb hit in Hiroshima during World War II. After the bombing, the structure was still standing. Amazingly, it can be seen today just as it was after the bombings (although today there have been supports added to keep it standing).
2. The A-Bomb Dome used to be an Industrial Promotion Hall, and it was almost directly under the spot the first bomb hit in Hiroshima during World War II. After the bombing, the structure was still standing. Amazingly, it can be seen today just as it was after the bombings (although today there have been supports added to keep it standing).
3. The Pavilion of 1000 mats (Itsukushima Shrine) was built as a place to chant Buddhist sutras for fallen soldiers. "1000 mats" refers to the size of the hall. It was never fully completed, so for some it may seem a little sparse. We thought the simplicity ultimately added to a peaceful atmosphere.
4. Tina and Marco thought this particular izakaya was an old man bar because most of the patrons consisted of old men, the food was a bit cheaper than other izakayas (mostly due to the clientelle), and it closed early. Also, the atmosphere was a bit more casual than some of the styles izakayas geared toward younger crowds tend to have.
5. Tina and Marco maintained as much of their vegan diet as possible while they stayed in Japan. There were some exceptions, as it is nearly impossible to be vegan in Japan, but they returned to their normal diet as soon as they hit the flight home.
4. Tina and Marco thought this particular izakaya was an old man bar because most of the patrons consisted of old men, the food was a bit cheaper than other izakayas (mostly due to the clientelle), and it closed early. Also, the atmosphere was a bit more casual than some of the styles izakayas geared toward younger crowds tend to have.
5. Tina and Marco maintained as much of their vegan diet as possible while they stayed in Japan. There were some exceptions, as it is nearly impossible to be vegan in Japan, but they returned to their normal diet as soon as they hit the flight home.
