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Four stores in Kumamoto and two in Tokyo. Choose an area to see each one.
ESQUINA means "street corner" in Portuguese. Spread over two floors, 2F and 3F, its windows look out on Kumamoto Castle through the changing seasons. It is a full bar, with champagne by the glass alongside cocktails, whisky and brandy. It is also well suited to after-parties of 10 to 40 guests — weddings, year-end and new-year parties, class reunions and more. Private hire is available.
Look for the rusted cat-shaped sign. An authentic counter bar lined with around 300 bottles, mostly Scotch whisky. Their single malt is filled into casks at the bar and left to mature further, deepening in flavour with time — a dram worth trying at least once. Since opening in 1997 it has also been a popular spot for draught Guinness, the Irish stout.
Open the door of 八 (Hachi) and a broad framed window brings the magnificent branches of a camphor tree more than 100 years old into view. By day it is a café serving fragrant house-roasted coffee, Chinese tea and matcha. By night it is a bar with not only Western spirits but a carefully chosen selection of sake and shochu. Settle in and spend an unhurried evening.
寿や (Toshiya), on Nishi-Ginza Street, is a soba izakaya built around sake and shochu. Step through the entrance and a broad, solid counter cut from a single plank runs deep into the room. There is also a tatami room for four to eight guests, ideal for a small gathering. Alongside our own hand-cut soba, the menu offers premium basashi (horse sashimi), house-made karashi renkon (mustard-stuffed lotus root) and Tokyo-style oden. A fine place to begin the evening.
Near the residential streets of Shoto in Shibuya, on the ground floor of a building — yet with only a small cat's-face sign hanging on a white wall, it is easy to walk straight past. Through the glass you can see the main counter, a small table for two behind it, and a raised tatami area at the back. Everything is compact, and the little Japanese-style room is somehow wonderfully comfortable.
In front of NHK's west gate, a short walk from 猫八 (Nekohachi). We opened 寅や (Toraya) with the good old Japanese izakaya in mind. Good sake with Kumamoto premium basashi (horse sashimi), yakitori, oden, simmered dishes and hand-cut soba, plus small Edo-style plates. A cheerful tavern to brighten Japan's future.