Happy Hour International

Re’Cue
Rub shoulders with Japan's smart-set in this temple to chic in the Far East. Thanks to it's dark interior, artfully dimmed by table-top lamps, and a labyrinthine layout, it's all-too-easy to get lost. But who cares when you can sip on sake, or nurse a mighty beniotome to clear even the most jaded of palettes in readiness for a wooden bowl of tofu…

Bar Bourbon Street
One has to admire a bar that aims to offer a 'taste of New Orleans in Tokyo.' But this quirky, cozy bar with its homely, accessible atmosphere really pulls it off. Ideal for those feeling a tad lost in translation, those who want to slow down and chill out after a spell in the frantic Japanese capital…

Review - Aotea Rangi: Ebisu
Tucked into a quiet Ebisu back street, Aotea Rangi is one of the few places in town where you can experience the charms of genuine New Zealand cuisine. At first glance the small restaurant looks like an Italian trattoria with terrace seating, but once you’re inside the atmosphere seem more like a casual cafe-bar. The lighting is soft and the mood is relaxed. Service is attentive, and the friendly staff are more than ready to help you negotiate the extensive New Zealand wine list….

New - Hakobune: Ginza
Hearth-grilled seafood fresh from northern Honshu is the specialty at this attractive “slow-food” izakaya….

Sake Drinkers’ Food
What are the best foods to nibble on while you’re drinking sake?

10/28, 6-8pm. Ginjo-kyokai sake tasting.
Sake brewmasters from around the country will be offering hundreds of premium sakes for your tasting pleasure at this annual event of the Ginjo Kyokai brewers’ association….

Article - European curries in Tokyo
Tokyo has scores of restaurants serving Japanese curry, but the subgroup devoted to “Oufuu” (European-style) curry have their own special charm. These restaurants typically have French-sounding names and classic 1970s Japanese coffeeshop decor - heavy wooden tables; white stucco walls hung with paintings; artistic knickknacks everywhere; bebop-era jazz playing in the background. The curries themselves are a mix of European and Indian influences - basically the roux incorporate Indian spices simmered in a European-style stew base, each shop with its own special recipe….

Sake Drinkers’ Food
What are the best foods to nibble on while you’re drinking sake?

Feature - restaurant locator by distance
Our exclusive restaurant locator by distance will help you find the nearest restaurant, cafe and bar listings within a specified distance of your home or office. There are also preset maps for dozens of Tokyo landmarks.

Review - BiOcafe: Shibuya
Organic coffee and tea, breads made with 100% natural yeast, and a completely smoke-free environment - Bio Cafe provides body and mind a bit of respite in junk-food-glutted Shibuya. With its soft-spoken staff and walls that fade from fuchsia to pearly pink, this quiet little cafe along Spain-zaka attracts a stylish, almost exclusively female crowd.

Bandol
Stylish, yet unpretentious, Bandol's wine list makes for impressive reading. Vintages from France, Italy, Spain and the New World rub shoulders with an extensive cocktail menu on which you can find old favourites along with more unusual concoctions like 'Ontology' and 'Fantasy'…

New - Meal Muji: Shinjuku
Stylishly modern and surprisingly spacious, Meal Muji makes a pleasant retreat from the crowds of Shinjuku’s shopping district. The decor is bright and cheerful, with ubiquitous sleek blond wood furnishings set off by clay-colored stucco walls and lots of greenery.

Taming lions with laughter
“I’ll be OK,” I reassured myself before walking into the lion cage. Textbook secured under one arm, I walked in with confidence and closed the door behind me. The door made that definitive “click.” Just 50 minutes, I told myself. Fifty minutes of screaming commands at the top of my lungs, 50 minutes of cracking my lion tamer’s whip. I’d be OK. Then I remembered Siegfried and Roy. They weren’t always OK, and they were magic! You never know when a cat will lunge.

Read the full story

Re’Cue
Rub shoulders with Japan's smart-set in this temple to chic in the Far East. Thanks to it's dark interior, artfully dimmed by table-top lamps, and a labyrinthine layout, it's all-too-easy to get lost. But who cares when you can sip on sake, or nurse a mighty beniotome to clear even the most jaded of palettes in readiness for a wooden bowl of tofu…

Bar Bourbon Street
One has to admire a bar that aims to offer a 'taste of New Orleans in Tokyo.' But this quirky, cozy bar with its homely, accessible atmosphere really pulls it off. Ideal for those feeling a tad lost in translation, those who want to slow down and chill out after a spell in the frantic Japanese capital…

Review - Aotea Rangi: Ebisu
Tucked into a quiet Ebisu back street, Aotea Rangi is one of the few places in town where you can experience the charms of genuine New Zealand cuisine. At first glance the small restaurant looks like an Italian trattoria with terrace seating, but once you’re inside the atmosphere seem more like a casual cafe-bar. The lighting is soft and the mood is relaxed. Service is attentive, and the friendly staff are more than ready to help you negotiate the extensive New Zealand wine list….

Sake Drinkers’ Food
What are the best foods to nibble on while you’re drinking sake?

Review - Touzan - Kyoto
Ceramics, sake bottles and patterned tiles embellish the minimalist modern Japanese design at Touzan. Private tatami rooms have been reinterpreted as dining alcoves created by suspended blinds, while the main dining area looks out onto a wide Japanese rock garden. On the Grand Menu, perennial favourites like tempura, nishin soba and Kobe beef sit alongside more exotic fare like seared sea cucumber entrails….

10/28, 6-8pm. Ginjo-kyokai sake tasting.
Sake brewmasters from around the country will be offering hundreds of premium sakes for your tasting pleasure at this annual event of the Ginjo Kyokai brewers’ association….

New - Aquavit: Gaienmae
Modern Scandinavian cuisine and spiffy Swedish design from internationally renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson, known for his highly acclaimed Aquavit and Riingo restaurants in New York City….

Taming lions with laughter
“I’ll be OK,” I reassured myself before walking into the lion cage. Textbook secured under one arm, I walked in with confidence and closed the door behind me. The door made that definitive “click.” Just 50 minutes, I told myself. Fifty minutes of screaming commands at the top of my lungs, 50 minutes of cracking my lion tamer’s whip. I’d be OK. Then I remembered Siegfried and Roy. They weren’t always OK, and they were magic! You never know when a cat will lunge.

Read the full story

Bar Bourbon Street
One has to admire a bar that aims to offer a 'taste of New Orleans in Tokyo.' But this quirky, cozy bar with its homely, accessible atmosphere really pulls it off. Ideal for those feeling a tad lost in translation, those who want to slow down and chill out after a spell in the frantic Japanese capital…

Standing Bar S
Sorry, chaps, Standing Bar S is a bar for ladies only. More like the interior of a Mariko Mori installation than a watering-hole, the aesthetic is sleekly minimal, tempered here and there by strategically placed potted plants. As the name suggests, it is a standing-room only affair…

Taming lions with laughter
“I’ll be OK,” I reassured myself before walking into the lion cage. Textbook secured under one arm, I walked in with confidence and closed the door behind me. The door made that definitive “click.” Just 50 minutes, I told myself. Fifty minutes of screaming commands at the top of my lungs, 50 minutes of cracking my lion tamer’s whip. I’d be OK. Then I remembered Siegfried and Roy. They weren’t always OK, and they were magic! You never know when a cat will lunge.

Read the full story

New - Meal Muji: Shinjuku
Stylishly modern and surprisingly spacious, Meal Muji makes a pleasant retreat from the crowds of Shinjuku’s shopping district. The decor is bright and cheerful, with ubiquitous sleek blond wood furnishings set off by clay-colored stucco walls and lots of greenery.