"Chilling in Tokyo" bar and cafe listings for the Omotesando/ Gaienmae area.
Bizuri (Omotesando - Cafe). 5766-5715
Tasteful lighting highlights the sleek design at this sophisticated dining bar. Bizuri serves unusual drinks like shochu mixed with green tea and modern pan-Asian cuisine. Popular with the ladies.
Shibuya 1-6-10. Open 11:50am-11:50pm. Closed Sundays.
A small, friendly little bar that offers lots of live music and art events, including belly dancing.
Shibuya 1-6-3. Open 11:30am-11pm. Closed Sundays.
The smart interior here is a very Tokyo-exotic mix of baked-mud walls, heavy wooden furniture, and organic-looking extra-terrestrial lighting fixtures like something from the set of "Alien". But you're really here for the wine - over 100 different varieties, from all regions of Australia and New Zealand. [See
FULL REVIEW.]
Shibuya 2-9-11, Aoyama City Bldg. B1F. Open 6pm-2am. Closed Sundays.
The front bar area of the popular Aoyama steak house is a worthwhile destination in its own right, with excellent original cocktails, a good wine list with many choices by the glass, a casual food menu and outdoor seating on the patio if you're so inclined.
Marzac (Omotesando - Izakaya). 6418-5063
Charcoal-grilled meaty snacks and good-value wine by the glass are the draw at this casual late-night bar. There's a selection of around ten decently drinkable wines from France, Italy and the New World for just Y500 a glass, along with a big selection by the bottle. The chalkboard menus list plenty of daily specials, along with simple vegetable dishes and grilled lamb, chicken, pork and beef.
If you're in the mood for a luxurious dessert, this gorgeously decorated basement cafe serves "haute couture parfaits" from fresh seasonal fruit (Y1400-) and fruit teas (Y950-). Upstairs is Comme Ca Cafe, the very artistic cake shop on the first floor. Open from noon on weekends.
Minami-Aoyama 5-10-19, Masahiro Aoyama Bldg B1F. Open 2-10pm (LO) daily.
This elegant, very relaxed bar features gigantic fishtanks filled with exotic tropical fish from Okinawa and environs. The menu includes tasty original cocktails and light food items. There's a Y700 per person table charge.
Fancy fresh-fruit martinis are all the rage here, and owner Tomoyuki Kitazoe makes his own herbal and fruit syrups to use in them. The bar itself, located at the Nishi-Azabu end of Kotto-dori, is quite stylish and features an outdoor terrace area.
Minami-Aoyama 7-13-13, Aoyama Jin & IT Bldg 3F. Open 6pm-midnight daily.
The Nezu Museum's cafe looks out onto a beautiful wooded garden - a lovely, serene setting for a cup of coffee or an afternoon snack. The menu offers coffee, matcha latte and desserts as well as light meals - pastas, sandwiches, meat pies and salad Nicoise.
Attached to the Two Rooms Grill, the bar and lounge area offers cocktails and a wide choice of wines from around the world in a lovely setting, with a big outdoor terrace looking out over Harajuku and points north. 10% service charge, but no table charge.
Those with a fondness for cartoon-character dolls and action figures will find a kindred spirit in Yoshitomo Nara, whose paintings and sculptures of devilish children are as disconcerting as they are cute. A joint project with the Graf design firm, A to Z Cafe, with its original artwork, mismatched furniture, and liberal use of worn wood and corrugated iron, is a cool place to spend the afternoon. Those with a fondness for cartoon-character dolls and action figures will find a kindred spirit in Yoshitomo Nara, whose paintings and sculptures of devilish children are as disconcerting as they are cute.
A joint project with the Graf design firm, A to Z Cafe, with its original artwork, mismatched furniture, and liberal use of worn wood and corrugated iron, is a cool place to spend the afternoon. Nara's conceptual home on the range provides an interesting contrast to the fifth-floor view of the teeming metropolis outside.
The cafe offers daily lunch specials starting at Y800, in addition to the extensive menu of wafu-inflected dishes ranging in price from Y315-1000. Mentaiko nori toast makes an unusual salty snack; deep-fried baby squid and crispy rice cakes are almost too cute to eat.
Choose from a selection of coffee drinks or Chinese and Japanese teas to go with tempting desserts like kabocha and coconut cake. Cocktails, beer, shochu, and champagne are also available if you fancy something stronger. Drop in for one of the free artist lectures or just sit around and enjoy the atmosphere: the pretty people drift in and out as softly lilting ambient music floats in the air. [Show more] [Show less] Minami-Aoyama 5-8-3, Equbo Bldg 5F. Open 11:30am-11:30pm (to 4am weekends) daily.
A lot of upscale Aoyama shops seem to have an obligatory cafe area tucked into a corner somewhere, but the combination works especially well at this Copenhagen-based designer flower shop. While the food and drink aren't so very different from a dozen other area cafes, the lovely, plant-filled setting and the lively atmosphere set it apart. A lot of upscale Aoyama shops seem to have an obligatory cafe area tucked into a corner somewhere, but the combination works especially well at this Copenhagen-based designer flower shop. While the food and drink aren't so very different from a dozen other area cafes, the lovely, plant-filled setting and the lively atmosphere set it apart.
Lunch is served from 10am-3pm, with choices of open-faced Danish smorrebrod and panini sandwiches, big organic salads and fresh fruit juices. A set lunch with a couple of sandwiches, soup, salad and coffee or tea runs around Y1500.
After 3pm is teatime, with a nice selection of freshly made muffins and pastries to accompany your beverage. Tucked away on a quiet side street behind Aoyama-dori, Nomu Cafe is a pleasant spot for an afternoon break when you're in the area. [Show more] [Show less] Minami-Aoyama 5-7-2. Open 10am-8pm daily.
A relaxing, quiet space inside a museum devoted to the whimsical works of sculptor Taro Okamoto.
If the walls of Radio Bar could talk, they'd sing like Chet Baker and laugh like Marlene Dietrich. The indigo interior combines elements of traditional Japanese design with Art Deco ornamentation, and exudes an air of Hollywood in the fifties. The space is seductively dim, conducive to tete-a-tetes and true confessions.If the walls of Radio Bar could talk, they'd sing like Chet Baker and laugh like Marlene Dietrich. The indigo interior combines elements of traditional Japanese design with Art Deco ornamentation, and exudes an air of Hollywood in the fifties. The space is seductively dim, conducive to tete-a-tetes and true confessions.
Radio Bar serves some of the most elegant cocktails in town, expertly mixed by Koji Ozaki and his team of white-tuxedo-attired bartenders. The focus is on the classics, served in antique glassware. Ozaki's martini is crisp and succinct, with a note of vermouth hovering above the gin. The dry Manhattan is a grown-up affair - dark, smooth and not in the least bit cloying.
Original cocktails include the Dean Martin, an unlikely but delicious blend of Campari and Jack Daniels, and the Greta Garbo, a dry martini with a sherry kick. Prices range from Y1,300 to Y2,000, but note that there's a seating charge of Y1,000 per person. [Show more] [Show less] Minami-Aoyama 3-10-34. Open 6pm-1am. Closed Sundays, Mondays.
Nalu (Omotesando - Cafe). 5786-1642
Far off the beaten path, on a backstreet between Omotesando and Gaienmae, Nalu Cafe packs a little something for everyone into a tiny space. It's a smart cafe/art gallery that serves take-out during lunchtime, located above a groovy hair salon in the basement. You could, theoretically, pop in for a drink or a slice of cake while you're waiting for your perm to set downstairs. [See
FULL REVIEW.]
This stylish design-centered cafe offers architecture magazines to browse through while you sip your coffee. They serve a small breakfast buffet (Y1200) from 7-10am.
Office (Gaienmae - Bar). 5786-1052
For those who hate leaving work, this popular DJ bar is decorated like an office, with file cabinets, bookshelves, and copier machine. Different DJs nightly, a young crowd, a full food menu, and a good nighttime view down Aoyama-dori.
Sign (Gaienmae - Cafe). 5474-5040
A convenient Gaienmae meeting spot, with music listening booths as well as a coffee and food menu.
This very stylish Scandinavian-design lounge features immense Austin Powers-style chairs in which you can plot world domination while you sip on unusual aquavit-based cocktails. They also serve home-made aquavit (Scandinavian schnapps) in eye-opening flavors like coconut-espresso and mango-lime-chili. The small food menu includes Swedish nibbles like roast beets with goat cheese (Y1750); and duck confit with lamb ragout (Y2400).
This spacious cafe offers typical cafe fare (pastas, sandwiches) during the day, along with fresh-baked breads and pastries from their in-store bakery. In the evening the menu widens to include grilled meats and fish and other Mediterranean-inspired fare. There's some outdoor terrace seating overlooking the Jingu Gaien promenade.
Shizen (Sendagaya - Cafe). 3746-1334
Perched on top of a very tasteful store selling pottery and plants, this is a stylish cafe during the day and a casual bar at night, with simple but well-prepared food - salads, grilled fish, onigiri, etc.
Breakfast is served from 6am here, either in the vast living-room-style indoor space, the sprawling back garden area, or up front where you can watch foot traffic heading to and from Sendagaya station. In the evenings there's a casual cafe menu plus a range of cocktails, herbal liqueurs, inexpensive wines and microbrew beers from Kona Brewery in Hawaii. Breakfast is served from 6am here, either in the vast living-room-style indoor space, the sprawling back garden area, or up front where you can watch foot traffic heading to and from Sendagaya station. In the evenings there's a casual cafe menu plus a range of cocktails, herbal liqueurs, inexpensive wines and microbrew beers from Kona Brewery in Hawaii.
The morning market menu veers towards the health-conscious end of the spectrum, with fruit and vegetable salads; mixed-grain okayu (rice porridge); granola, banana and yogurt bowls; French toast and lots of juice options. Or you can hit the ground running with one of their gourmet burger platters. The morning market salad (Y1100; served all day long) features exotic vegetables like turnips, beetroots and toasted lotus roots, plus a sausage and a fried egg for good measure.
There's also a take-out window up front where you can pick up burgers, salads and drinks to go. [Show more] [Show less]
Beacon Bar (Omotesando - Bar). 6418-0077
