Beer Cafe Barley

North-east of Hankyu Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi, upstairs at Liberty 2, Barley has been pouring craft beer since February 2005 — it calls itself the oldest beer specialist in western Japan, not counting brewery-run bars. Eleven draft lines served at three different temperatures, and beer is the only alcohol on the menu.

It opens at 1pm on weekdays and noon at weekends, so it's an easy daytime trip out from Kobe. Small place: seven counter seats and a few tables, no smoking even outside the door.