Unlike what the name implies, JiBiru isn’t a ‘no gaijin beers allowed’ kinda Japanese beer bar. As a matter of fact, the British Fourpure Brewery is one of the breweries on tap with its Port Of Call Session IPA making one of JiBiru’s taps its, well, port of call.

The IPA itself has a mild aroma of earl grey tea, but unfortunately it sort of smells a bit like a wet rag. The taste is a lot better, thankfully, with a mouthful of earl grey, lychee and a restrained hoppiness announcing itself to your tastebuds with every swig. It’s a Session IPA, so it’s a lightweight, easy drinking beer that’s quite highly carbonated and will probably give you gas.

As for JiBiru itself, the service is adequate, and the alfresco seating is quite nice, albeit a bit dark at night. The beers can get very expensive, as I paid close to $15++ for this pint. JiBiru has an early bird rewarding pricing system that tries to get its patrons through the doors early. The earliest bracket sees a pint of beer going for about $10 (depending on the beer in question), before it goes up to $13, and finally $15.

The early bird gets the booze for a reasonable price at JiBiru, and the prudent alcoholic bails early to save his moolah.