http://m.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/feb/01/top-10-clubs-bars-tokyo?cat=travel...
Tokyo is teeming with dimly lit boozers, chilled-out jazz bars and hip basement clubs. James Hadfield picks his favourite watering holes from across the city
• As featured in our Tokyo city guide
James Hadfield
guardian.co.uk, Wed 1 Feb 2012 12.13 GMT
Bar High Five
Hidetsugu Ueno worked as the head bartender at legendary Ginza cocktail spot Star Bar before opening his own place nearby. The interior at High Five is as drab and functional as the drinks are exquisite, emphasising precise technique (and even more precisely carved ice) over flashy mixology. There's no menu, of course – Ueno and staff pride themselves in being able to tell what customers want to drink – but you'd do well to try their famous White Lady (Beefeater gin, Cointreau and lemon juice). Oh, and one of the hot dogs.
• 26 Polestar Building 4F, 7-2-14 Ginza, Chuo-ku, +81 3 3571 5815, www8.ocn.ne.jp/~highfive
Eleven
Ageing party-goers still remember it as Space Lab Yellow, the legendary nightclub that closed in 2008 when its building was earmarked for demolition. When that demolition didn't happen, the two-floor subterranean space was overhauled and reopened under a new name but many of the same staff. Eleven is a regular stopover for big-name house and techno DJs – Jeff Mills, Carl Craig and Seth Troxler all played there last year – but also hosts the odd dubstep night, as well as a weekly reggae party overseen by Japanese ragamuffins Rub-a-Dub Market. And while it's within easy walking distance of Roppongi, the capital's hotbed of sleazy pickup joints, it tends to draw a classier crowd.
• B1F/B2F Thesaurus Nishi-Azabu, 1-10-11 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, +81 3 5775 6206, go-to-eleven.com
Goodbeer Faucets
The newest addition to Tokyo's blooming craft beer scene is a monster, with more than 40 microbrews on tap, dispensed via a state-of-art draught system that owner Teruya Hori built himself. Expect to find popular imports like BrewDog and Green Flash alongside a well chosen range of Japanese brews, including Hori's own Nide Beer. The prices are pretty reasonable by Tokyo standards, but you'll still be paying upwards of ¥780 (around £7) for a 400ml glass; on the plus side, it's got a location to die for, while the sleek, modern interior – chrome and wood surfaces come with TV screens displaying the day's beer menu – make it somewhere you might actually want to take a date.
• Shibuya Crossroad Building2F, 1-29-1 Shoto, Shibuya-ku, +81 3 3770 5544, goodbeerfaucets.jp. Open daily 5pm-midnight
SuperDeluxe
Established in 2002 as an experimental art and music space, SuperDeluxe has endured far longer than its lofty ideals might have suggested it would. A typical month in this spacious, minimally decorated Roppongi basement might involve butoh dance, abstract electronica, psych rock, art exhibitions and charity fundraisers, but look out for regular events like the monthly Pecha Kucha designer gatherings (which started here) and free Test Tone improv gigs. The kitchen whips up serviceable pizzas and veggie curry, and be sure to sample the Tokyo Ale microbrew served on tap – it's produced just a few miles down the road.
• B1F, 3-1-25 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, +81 3 5412 0515, super-deluxe.com. Open Mon-Sat 6pm-2am
Trump Room
First-time visitors can take a while to get their breath back when they arrive at this hipster playpen, housed in a rundown Shibuya building whose interior has been transformed into a mess of glitterballs, mirrors and stuffed animal heads. Amazingly, the punters sometimes look even more outlandish than the decor, sporting fashions so impractical they border on fancy dress – wigs, bunny ears, military regalia and naked torsos are the norm. Music comes secondary to the preening, but you'll occasionally hear something memorable amid the onslaught of electro and house, including the odd DJ set by touring indie bands such as The Go! Team and Metronomy.
• Hoshi Building 4F, 1-12-14 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, +81 3 3770 2325
Zoetrope
If you're looking for an introduction to Japanese whisky, this intimate, dimly lit boozer is the place to start. Zoetrope has somewhere in the region of 300 bottles behind the bar, ranging from better-known Suntory and Nikka varieties to obscure single-cask offerings that are all but impossible to get hold of anywhere else. Owner Atsushi Horigami's malt obsession is rivalled only by his passion for movies: he screens silent films in the evening, and the bar's eye-shaped logo – not to mention the surrealist paintings hanging on the wall – were created by the late Takeo Kimura, art director of choice for cult director Seijun Suzuki.
• Gaia Building #4 3F, 7-10-14 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, +81 3 3363 0162, homepage2.nifty.com/zoetrope. Open Mon-Sat 7pm-4am
Dommune
Tokyo's answer to the Boiler Room is housed in a dinky basement with space for 50 people, and a Funktion One sound system that's equipped for somewhere far larger. Dommune is open for business most weekday evenings, and its events follow a similar format, starting with an interview or Q&A session before letting the DJs take over – all of it streamed online. Everyone from SBTRKT to Derrick May has played there recently, although you'll need to keep an eye on the Twitter account (@DOMMUNE) for details of who's coming, as spaces tend to get snapped up quickly.
• Sunrise Building B1F, 4-6-5 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, +81 3 6427 4533, dommune.com. Open Sun-Thurs 7pm-midnight
Brooklyn Parlor
Equal parts café, bar and bookshop, this basement retreat is run by the company behind the Tokyo incarnations of Manhattan's Blue Note and Cotton Club – and it shows. As with its sister venues, Brooklyn Parlor is cultural karaoke at its finest: granted, its idealised vision of a typical New York hangout – all brick walls, open-plan seating and shelves crammed with art and design books – may seem contrived, but once you've sunk into one of the expansive sofas and ordered a round of draught Brooklyn Lager, you probably won't be too fussed either way.
• 3-1-26 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, +81 3 6457 7763, brooklynparlor.co.jp. Open 11.30am-11.30pm
Unit
With its killer sound system and eclectic booking policy, this multi-story basement club must be one of the most consistently entertaining nightspots in Tokyo. The main room has space for about 600 people, with a second dancefloor downstairs that feels more like an oversized cupboard, and an all-night cafe that sometimes gets used during bigger events. You'll find a more discerning brand of clubber here than you would at nearby rivals like Womb, and Unit doubles up as a live venue for touring indie bands and local acts.
• Za House Building B1F, 1-34-17 Ebisu-Nishi, Shibuya-ku, +81 3 5459 8630, unit-tokyo.com
Stand S
A cross between a Scandinavian sauna and a neighbourhood bar, Stand S is all blonde wood surfaces and irritatingly good-looking clientele. Its location on the outer rim of Shibuya's entertainment district means that it doesn't get as rammed as some places closer to the station might, while the vibe is downtoearth and the drinks relatively inexpensive. Try one of their trademark Mojito beers (which are a lot better than they sound), washed down with a steady soundtrack of Latin jazz, soul and funk.
• 37-16 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, +81 3 5452 0277, stand-s.blogspot.com. Open 6pm-midnight
For more information go to the Japan National Tourism Organisation's website: jnto.go.jp/eng
• James Hadfield writes for Time Out Tokyo
