Bar High 5, Ginza, and Sushi!

After we got settled into our ridiculous hotel room, we decided to head out to Ginza, which is the sort of place that would happen if someone could figure out how to turn the cyberpunk genre into a sort of air-droppable munition and then carpet-bomb the Champs-Élysées with it.

The first reason to go to Ginza was to have a drink in a basement.

There's a bar called "Bar High 5" which has gathered some attention in the last few years.

They are a tiny establishment in a Ginza basement, with a distinctly 1920s or 30s speakeasy aesthetic and a team of knowledgeable, companionable cocktail wait staff.

The staff will chat with you about what sort of cocktails you like and then ask a few questions and then a very, very, badass looking Asian woman (she's wearing one glove, a black surgical mask, and an understated suit with a bowtie and sporting the sort of haircut that says in her previous life she was a cyborg ninja) will go to work at the end of the bar without saying a word and three minutes later the best possible execution of what you said you were in the mood for just appears in front of you like magic. Do not make eye contact with the bartender. She makes drinks.  What happens to them is of no concern to her, and so you are of no concern to her.  The wait staff are friendly and everyone pretends she is not there.  Your drink will be perfect.

I started to wonder after the second round whether it's just that in all the parallel universes in which that woman has made a mistake, the version from this universe has appeared, and killed her parallel universe self, then returned, wordlessly, to this bar, by sheer force of will.

Anyway.

I started with Nikka Coffee Grain Whiskey which (and I was charmed by this) the staff recommended I drink neat rather than trying to suggest a cocktail for.  It was an excellent start.

After that, I asked for something with a Japanese Whiskey base and gave them a few framing statements. The thing they brought me was Japanese Whiskey, an understated Japanese Blackberry Liqueur with a peaty note to it, and a bit of Ginger.  It might have been the best cocktail I had ever had in my life.

Until 30 minutes later, when we ordered again and my second round arrived--Irish Whiskey based, with lemon, medium dry sherry, and a walnut liqueur.  It was glorious, and the nutty flavor lingered late in each sip, like a patient and attentive concierge or attendant, seeing to an unrealized need just before you've thought to voice it.

The reputation of that bar is well deserved, and worth every Yen, even at the Ginza-appropriate prices we paid.

Afterwards, we had a walk through Ginza.

Remember what I said about it being a sort of cyberpunk Champs-Élysées?  Here's what we stumbled upon, around the corner from our bar.

(it has come to my attention that these videos don't work, and I'm currently in a mountain town with terrible internet. I'll try to fix this problem tomorrow night.)

Oh, and here are the Bulgari and Louis Vuitton storefronts.

And yes, the Bulgari snake is a giant light display capable of animation.

Because of course it is.


Afterwards, we had sushi at a place the staff at Bar High 5 had recommended.  The tuna was so good it occasionally left me speechless.

We returned to our ridiculous hotel at the end of the night, full of sushi and excellent cocktails, well pleased with our lot in life.