Drinking Out, Tokyo

CODE
Mega club in Shinjyuku Toho Kaikan. 3 huge dance floor and DJ booth.
A z z l o
For fetish lovers. Bar with art exhibitions and transformation salon. 13:00-22:00, Opens 7days a week. e-mail address:VYC00243@niftyserve.or.jp
33 56 92 67 / 21 Sakamachi, Shinjyukuku
Bar Aoyama
Opens 7 days a week. Not for dance lovers, but nice place. 34 98 44 15 / 4-5-9 Shibuya.
Bar isn't it?
Bar filled with people from around the world. Located colse to sq.bldg. 3 chome Roppongi, Minatoku
B l u e
Jazz and Afro music. 1500 yen for 1 drink. Closes a little earlieer than other clubs. (usually 3am or so) 37 97 15 91 / 6-2-9 Minami Aoyama, Minatoku
C a v e
Two dance floors and a bar space.
37 80 07 15
Catalyst
This place used to be MC1000. Various music are played. Relax! 52 72 42 72
Club Asia
Asian music and dance tracks with Internet connected machines. 3,000yen with 2 drinks, girls don't have to pay entrance fee.
54 58 59 63 / 1-8 Maruyamacho, Shibuyaku
Club Jamaica
Reggae club as the name shows. 2500 yen with 2 drinks. Opens on Tursday, Friday, and Saturday. 34 07 88 44 / 4-16-14 Nishi Azabu, Minatoku
Delight
Garage and House. Men only on Saturdays, and women only on 3rd Thursdays.
33 52 62 97 / 2-14-6 Shinjyuku, Shinjyuku
Ex. Geoid
Very deep place. On Wednesday, admission fee is free for women. After hours on Saturdays. 34 79 81 61
Grass
Hip hop, soul, raggae and more.
34 97 03 03 / 3-25-12 Jingumae, Shibuyaku
Kamado
It's a bar not a club except for Saturdays. On weekdays, it's a bar with Japanese food. Every Saturdays, soul and blues party.
34 78 49 56 / B1 2-9-11 Jingumae, Shibuyaku
K i s s
1st and 2nd floors are cafe, and 3rd and 4th are bar with a small dance floor. Entrance fee for 3rd and 4th floors is 2000yen with 2 drinks. Located on 246, between Apollo and Omotesando cross.



Dress Code:
L o o p
A small and cozy place. 2,500yen with 2 drinks 37 97 99 33 / 2-1-13 Shibuya
Maniac Love
House, Trance , ambient and more. Hi-quality sound equipments as Master Blaster speakers. After hours on Sunday morning.
34 06 11 66 / 5-10-6 Minami Aoyama, Minatoku
M i l k
Opened on October 13, 1995. Eros and Rock.
54 58 28 26 / B1 1-13-3 Ebisu Nishi, Shibuyaku
M i x
Soul, funk, raggae, etc. Friendly staff and drinks tastes good. 'My favourite is Long Island Ice Tea' 2500 yen with 2 drinks. Closed on Sundays. 37 97 13 13
M u s e
Used to be called BCBG. 2,500yen with 2 drinks. 34 01 69 69 / 4-1-5 Minami Aoyama
Nyabingi
DJ's bar in shimokitazawa. All genre of music as reggae, hip-hop, house... Usually 2000yen with 2 drinks.
54 78 16 42 / 2-37-2 Kitazawa, Setagayaku
Pylon
Opens on Fridays and Saturdays. 2,500 with 2 drinks. Soul, funk, raggae, and more.
34 78 18 70 / 3-5-11 Kita Aoyama
The Room
Small club in Shibuya for people who're into jazz. 34 61 71 67
Rowdy
2,500 with 2 drinks. Garage and House. Every Friday, girls are invided for free!
ABIC bldg 8F, Roppongi, Minatoku/ 34 05 44 94
Velvet
Used be 'Jungle Bass'. Confortable place for dancing. Various events and music.
54 11 41 36
Yellow
Huge one. Many DJ's around the world play there. Usually 3500 yen with 2 drinks.
34 79 06 90 /1-10-11 Nishi Azabu, Minatoku
Shinkukan
Soul, Reggae and anything. If you like Mix, you'll like this place, too. 2500 yen with 2 drinks. Closed on sundays.
34 78 49 46 / 4-4-14 Jingumae, Shibuyaku
Vagabond Off
This place is often used for off-line parties.
54 13 75 233F, 3-3-11 Kita Aoyama, Minatoku
Web
Tiny place, but crowded with young boyz and girlz. 34 22 14 05 / 3-30-10 Ikejiri
3 2 8
Very old place where you can meet friendly staff and various people. Soul, Reggae and more. you'll see a red arrow from Nishi-Azabu Cross.

Now it can get rather pricey when drinking in Tokyo and so it worth checking out the times of the Happy Hours in the local bars. If you’re lucky you should be able to do a crawl to take advantage of the discounts available.

Gaspanic was one of the bars we frequented. It was a bar that had rather strange signs all over the place, one of which said "Everybody must be drinking to stay inside Gaspanic". Now I don't know whether or not the locals just come in any hang about not drinking, but we certainly needed no excuse for constant drinking!

Dress Code: Casual

Hi All: I have been living in Roppongi (means 6 trees) for the last 5 months and have discoved a number of good clubs. Nothing really starts happening until 10:30/11PM

Roppongi Map

First rule, NEVER go with a Nigerian to a "Gentalmens Club". If you want that kind of stuff go to either 7th Heaven or Tantra or leave Roppongi and go to Shinjuku.

There are a number of good clubs and bars that are a lot of fun.

Okashii-gaijin-bar (Strange Foreigner Bar):
Most common Japanese folks are usually afraid of these bars. I recommend Geronimo's and Magumbos. The staff are nice and most people are very friendly. Most of my Japanese friends will only go to these places if they are escorted by a an american/brit. My friend Kumi went with me and had a blast but would never go alone.
Kumi-and-Me

Off the beaten path:
There are about 300 bars in a 10 block radius. At one point I was really into exploring and I would go to maybe 10 to 15 bars a night, everynight. Most of them I would just walk in take a quick look and take off. If you want to meet nice mellow Japanese people my favorite bar is called Shake. Emi is the owner and very customer service focused. Everyone who meets Emi, loves Emi. I have made more good friends here than anywhere else! This is NOT a pickup bar. It's a place where local folks go to have a drink and conversation. If you go there, you will meet one of the locals and have an intresting conversation.

Getting there:
Ok, on the map link I provided, you will see the street called Roppongi-don and the hotel Baden. Shake is the next block down and to the right. Basement 1 (B1).
OR
Roppongi station exit #5 --> Down the street 3 blocks (maybe 4 depending on how you count). turn right on un-named street and and the Shake sign is to the right and lit. If you don't clearly see the sign your not in the right place. try walking down one more block or back 1 black. Opens at 8PM Mon-Sat.

Dress Code: Casual

If you are looking for a Gaijin (Western expats) bar, here is the place. It was one of the ist few bars with foreigners clienteles. Many view this place alittle sleezy being perceived as a pick up place.

If you come across a table of Japanese ladies sitting by themselves with a glass of cocktails staring into blank space, they are most likely to be your target. Why? Think about it, if they were just there for drinks, they would have chat among themselves and not focus into the crowd. Obviously those ladies have finished their chat long ago and waiting for their chance now.

Dress Code: No slippers definitely.

Tofuro is one of my all-time favorite Izakaya (Japanese Tapa style pub). Here you can enjoy everything Japanese food has to offer.

The architecture of Tofuro is one of the important aspects of creating that unique atmosphere. Wood screens and wood benches, Irori (open hearth) in the middle cooking fresh fish on the sticks. If you would like more privacy, you can ask for a private room looking down the crowd downstairs.

Food is another important aspect of what makes Tofuro my favorite. Along with regular menu, you will get a piece of paper that has special dishes for the day. Depending on what is fresh that day, or maybe how the chef feels like on that day, you will get something different all the time. Most importantly, whatever dish you choose you are guaranteed to get tasty, fresh food.

Don't be reluctant to ask for a English menu if you are not familiar with the language. Some stuff can also speak very good English and would be very happy to help you choose food.

Favorite Dish:
As I described above, whatever you get would be very nice but especially any kind of law fish (sashimi) is very nice. Look out for what is fresh on the piece of paper that I mentioned.

If you are not too keen on low fish, try their Irori grilled fish or skewered meat (kushiyaki).

They have a killer drink menu as well and my all-time favorite is Ume-shu (plum wine) on the rocks.

These bars are all over Tokyo especially the main areas. They are an imitation English pub chain which is fairly reasonably priced both for drinks and food with a considerable selection of both.
They are good for the new person to tokyo as they provide a familar setting with the staff speaking english and a considerable amount of foreigners going there. If you are there longer than a vacation they do a good loyalty/discount card scheme, the happy hour is well worth it especially the pints of long island ice tea at 1/2 price. You usually get to meet an interesting amount of people and the one in roppongi is one of the cheaper places to drink. My favourite ones in central toky were the ones in Shibuya.

Dress Code: Anything but you got alot of english teachers in them so you may see a lot of people in shirts and ties.

Every itself respecting city has a hardrock cafe. In Tokyo we found one conveniently located in the Ueno station.
The Ueno station is a very complex and big station. The hardrock cafe can be found near the south exit.

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A dinner at any restaurant / Bar Caffe inside the high-rise buidling basically need reservations. Otherwise you need to spend at least 2 hours to wait outside the reataurant.

While having dinner, look at the view to the outside world will make your dinner perfect and unforgetable.

If you find yourself in Shimbashi area just under the JR train line station is a small step in bar. Happy hour is 4PM to 7PM and the beer is 300 yen. The normal beer price is 500 so it is a good savings. The clintel varies depending on the day and the busiest time are Thursday and Friday night. Very small bar and they have a DJ on the weekend.

Dress Code: Casual dress

You MUST visit a typical Japanese pub for the experience. It's very unlike those pubs found in U.S.A., England and the rest of Europe. Another personal observation of mine is that I found many Japanese men (in their office attire) drunk after downing one too many alcohol beverages...staggering around the streets of Tokyo oh...just before midnight or so (to catch the last train out of Tokyo??). Alot of these pubs are filled with MEN, MEN, MEN. And if you DO see a Japanese woman here, most of them have a cigarette on hand and busy puffing away. Hm. Oh, and some joints also have women to sit with you and pander to your every whim and fancy.

Hey wait! Before you pick up that phone to speak with your travel agent, I should clarify that you HAVE to pay for their services! And they don't come cheap. A night out with these women can costs you a cool US$3,000! :-) I kid you not.