The bento.com
Ultimate Tokyo
Drinks List -
spirits
Tokyo has thou-
sands of bars
with great music
and atmosphere,
romantic views
and interesting
people. Here are
a few that have
also distin-
guished them-
selves with
their impressive
drinks
selections.
Legend:
◇ A good, com-
fortable place
to get started.
◎ An encyclo-
pedic menu, with
the best selec-
tion in town.
# More a restau-
rant than a bar,
but with a good
drinks list.
Scotch whisky
◎ Helmsdale
(Nishi-Azabu).
300 single-malt
whiskies (up to
Y10,000 a shot),
till 8am; they
even serve hag-
gis! 03-3486-
4220. Minami-
Aoyama 7-13-12.
◎ HazelBurn
(Kabukicho). An
impressive line-
up of Scotch
whiskies and
Scottish-style
food. 03-5285-
1470. Kabukicho
1-6-6, Hashimoto
Bldg. B1F.
◇ George's Bar
(Kichijoji). A
traditional
cocktail bar
with good marti-
nis as well as a
respectable
Scotch selec-
tion. 0422-22-
8002. Kichijoji
Honcho 2-19-7.
Tequila
◇ El Paso
(Omotesando).
Filling Tex-Mex
food and a big
tequila selec-
tion. 03-3479-
1995. Kita-Aoya-
ma 3-5-17.
◎ Agave (Rop-
pongi). Hundreds
of tequilas,
served in a
cave-like base-
ment bar. 03-
3497-0229. Rop-
pongi 7-15-10,
Clover Bldg.
B1F.
Grappa
◇# Esperia
(Nishi-Azabu).
There are usual-
ly a few dozen
after-dinner
grappas avail-
able, and more
if the staff has
just come back
from Italy.
Great food, with
lots of inter-
esting cheese
dishes.
03-5485-1771. Nishi-
Azabu 4-11-25.
Aquavit
◇# Stockholm
(Akasaka). 8
different aqua-
vits and a good
Swedish smorgas-
bord. 03-3509-
1677. Nagatacho
2-14-3, Akasaka
Tokyu Plaza 1F.
Schnapps
◇ Kandagasse
(Akihabara). 9
types of German
schnapps, plus
good beer and
food. Accordion
alert: live
music Thu-Sat
nights. 03-3254-
1339. Soto-Kanda
2-4-4 B1F.
Sake
◇ Akaoni (San-
genjaya). Around
100 different
sakes at any
given time, plus
good food. 03-
3410-9918. San-
genjaya 2-15-3.
◇ Sasagin
(Yoyogi-Uehara).
An impressive
selection of
sake and tradi-
tional izakaya-
style food. 03-
5454-3715. Ueha-
ra 1-32-15.
Awamori
◎ Nabi to Kama-
do (Shinjuku).
300 awamori
varieties and
decent food. 03-
5379-1070. My
City 7F.
◎ Awamori (Gin-
za). 150 differ-
ent types of
awamori. 03-
3543-9256.
Ginza 7-17-18.
◇ Aka (Akasa-
ka). Okinawan
fusion cooking
and 22 awamoris
at this late-
night bar/res-
taurant. 03-
5157-0909. Naga-
tacho 2-14-3,
Akasaka Tokyu
Plaza.
Shochu
◎ Tamoiyanse
(Shibuya). 50
kinds of shochu
from Miyazaki/
Kagoshima, in-
cluding types
made from sweet
potatoes, bar-
ley, corn, rice
and sugar cane,
plus excellent
southern Kyushu
cooking. 03-
3461-4333. Shin-
sen 10-10.
Glossary
Shochu - dis-
tilled spirits
usually made
from sweet pota-
toes, tradition-
ally popular in
Kyushu.
Awamori - dis-
tilled liquor
from Okinawa.
Aquavit - fla-
vored liquor
distilled from
grain and served
ice-cold, popu-
lar in Scandina-
via.
Grappa - brandy
distilled from
grapes, popular
in Italy.
See also: wine
and beer places.
More bar list-
ings
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