This post was written in 2008. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
At the top of the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku there’s a steakhouse called the New York Grill and a bar called the New York Bar. Both are beautifully done and the views are great, but the word is that the New York Grill isn’t that good for the price. The atmosphere’s a bit hectic too. The bar, on the other hand, is pricey but worth a visit.
First off, there’s a 2,000-yen entry fee for the bar. They say it’s a cover charge for the live music. Go late enough and you might not have to pay it, but considering the bar’s opening hours, that’s really steep.
Gimlet
The prices being a bit high I can live with, but the drinks weren’t great either. Shouldn’t a hotel bar have a bartender on the level of the “glass of the gods” from the manga Bartender? I guess I’ve been reading too much manga..
Still, expensive and not so tasty aside, the atmosphere is fantastic.
And the live musicians are really good.
A non-alcoholic cocktail called Goshu
Martini
Well.. this isn’t really the place to talk about taste.
Inside the bar
Actually, I had another reason for wanting to come to this bar besides the fantastic view and atmosphere. I found out when I ate at Kozue: this hotel was where the film Lost in Translation was shot (in Korea it was released as “Can Love Be Translated?”), and there’s a scene where the two leads meet in this very bar. It’s an old film so my memory was hazy, but once I was here I recognised it right away. When I first saw the film I thought it somehow didn’t feel like Tokyo, and it turns out this was the place. I loved that film, so being here I understood a little better how the characters felt back then. I watched it again, and pretty much the whole story takes place inside the hotel ^_^ Tokyo really is a fun city.
The view from the window
I’ll have to come back on a clear day.
One shot on the way back
