New bar opens in former Nottingham coffee shop

26 October 2020

New bar Yokocho has opened in a former coffee shop in Nottingham.

The bar is an extension to the award-winning Japanese grill house Kushi-ya in Cannon Court, an alleyway off Long Row. Like the restaurant it is down another of the city's alleyways, just a minute's walk away in Hurts Yard in the former Coffee House of Nottingham.

Kushi-ya chefs Simon Carling and Tom Clay had been planning to open a bar before the pandemic.

"It helps us juggle people because our restaurant space is so limited. We can't sit them at the bar any longer and there's no space to keep them so we were having to send them to other bars," said Simon.

Yokocho translates as alleyway and, said Simon: "In Tokyo there are lots of little alleyways like this with street food venues and pubs called yokocho."

Beer, whisky, gin, rum, wine and soft drinks are served - and obviously sake, the popular Japanese beverage made by fermenting rice.

There's ten different kinds to chose, from fruity to crisp and sparking, priced from £4 for 100ml to £36 for 720ml. The more polished the rice, the more expensive the drink.

As for beer, there's Asahi on draught and the fridge is well stocked with Saporro black, Hitachino Nest ales - red rice, white, amber, orange and IPA - and Wild Beer Yokai.