Here are some of our favorite places to drink in Tokyo!
Click on bar name for map & info
Japanese tasting flights: Sake, plum wine & sho-chū
These places offer generous shots of sake, ume-shū (plum wine) and sho-chū (vodka-like drink distilled from sweet potato, barley, buckwheat or brown sugar) in 3-4 sample tasting flights so you can compare the flavors (education always being an excellent excuse for any hour to be happy hour!)
Japan Sake & Sho-chu Information Center
What they serve: 3-4 shot tasting flights of sake, ume-shū and sho-chū
Why we love it: It actually IS run by the government, and the name sounds like some dull prefectural visitor center, but in fact the “information” on offer here is much easier to swallow than most! The tasting flights are generously poured and a real bargain because the government subsidizes this “essential local industry.” They curate their flights so you can learn a lot while you drink, whether it’s how the tastes from different regions compare or how the taste varies, depending on how they’re made.
Train station: Toranomon Hills
What they serve: 3-shot tasting flights of sake
Why we love it: It’s an elegant little standing bar on Kappabashi Street, so you can take a break from buying realistic sushi refrigerator magnets and the world’s sharpest knives to learn what kind of sake goes down easiest.
Train station: Tawaramachi
What they serve: 3-shot tasting flights of sake and sho-chū
Why we love it: This is a warm and welcoming shop with a comfortable place to taste high-quality sake and sho-chū. Their selection is really top notch, and features some of the very best makers in Japan
Train station: Tawaramachi
What they serve: 3-shot tasting flights of sake made in Nagano, one of the premier sake-brewing prefectures of Japan
Why we love it: It’s an amazing bargain because the prefecture subsidizes everything in the shop, and it’s a fun break from sightseeing/shopping right in the middle of Ginza.
Train station: Ginza
Cocktails
What they serve: Insanely creative cocktails made from spirits they infuse with unusual flavors in-house
Why we love it: 1) The cocktails on the menu are all unexpected and delicious, from the gorgonzola martini to a drink that’s a ringer for a fresh tomato, mozzarella and basil salad; 2) Once in your life you have to watch a bartender mix your drink in a smoke-filled skull; 3) They’re delighted to mix a bespoke cocktail just for you, if you tell them what kind of things you like
Train station: Akasaka or Tokyo
What they serve: Science lab themed bar with beer, wine and cocktails
Why we love it: After you don your white coat and take a seat at the bar, all drinks are served in test tubes or flasks (and hot sake comes on its own Bunsen burner).
Train station:
What they serve: Beer, wine and cocktails
Why we love it: Where else can you be surrounded by jellyfish and sharks while you drink?
Train station: Ebisu
Craft Brews
What they serve: Over 40 international craft beers on tap, including some really excellent Japanese selections
Why we love it: There’s no way you’d ever guess there’s a such fabulous beer bar behind such an industrial-looking door just two minutes from Ebisu Station. (Go up the stairs to the second floor landing, and there it is) and the price is really reasonable for the quality of the brews.
Train station: Ebisu
What they serve: The staff does an especially good job of picking craft beers from all over the world, but their own in-house brews are so excellent, we never make it to the rest of the menu
Why we love it: Their beer is super good and super local. Also, the name translates to “Cow Tiger.” (Which the co-founder explained to me is because he was born in the year of the ox and the other partner was born in the year of the tiger.)
Train station: Shimo-kitazawa or the Ushitora beer stand at Miyashita Park in Shibuya
What they serve: 10+ of their own craft beers plus 15-20 more international ones on tap
Why we love it: Their beer is fantastic and so is their deep-dish Chicago-style pizza. The pizza tastes exactly like pizza should, and it’s made with an abundance of high-quality, fresh ingredients.
Train station: Gotanda, Kanda or Hamamatsucho
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If you’d like to browse all the gardens or shrines or individual neighborhoods in Tokyo, links are on The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
And if you’d like to discover super quirky things to do, do a search at Only In Japan
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 