Scotch & Branch スコッチアンドブランチ（whisky, cocktail,ウイスキー, カクテル） — Restaurant in Kyoto

TL;DR: A masterfully decorated speak-easy, hidden behind an impressive specialty whiskey store. Their whiskey collection will blow your mind and their cocktails are delicious.

We finally managed to visit this bar on our last day in Kyoto and all of us were glad we made it (our first attempt to visit was interrupted by a very rude typhoon).

THE STAFF The staff were exceptionally friendly and welcoming to us that don't speak Japanese. We had a great time chatting away and sharing notes on good tourism spots in Japan for us and in England for them. The staff are very knowledgeable about Japan and its brewery/distillery history, they're more than happy to share that knowledge and explain what flavours each prefecture is famous for should you be as interested as we were.

THE SET MENU Their set cocktail menu has a heavy focus on whiskey, as to be expected, but they do have a range of cocktails so that there's something for everyone to enjoy. The presentation of drinks is second only to how good they taste.

WHISKEY COLLECTION The whiskey menu is very comprehensive and they have a range of bottles both domestic and foreign. They can boast some very rare bottles in their collection you'll likely never get a chance to try elsewhere.

FLEXIBLE Should no cocktails on their set menu interest you, don't be afraid to ask the very talented staff if they have the ingredients to make a cocktail of...

A top notch whiskey tasting experience. This bar was like a home away from home for me during my start in Kyoto. All the staff were so lovely and helpful, from the owner Hide to his right hand man Nori to the barbacks. Their cocktails are on point, inventive,and delicious. But we came here for the whiskey, and they had that in spades. We sampled many of the finest of Japan and Scotland. They had a well curated selection of the finest. Not as extensive as the Whiskey Library in Tokyo, but they had the best and the rarest. With the help of the staff, we found some lovely Japanese whiskeys and got to sample many hard to find Scotch whiskeys. They're a bit hard to find on the first try. You have to go into the building and go into the red phone booth. Once you're in, you're family. A place I hope to return to...

Shockingly bad service. Visited Tuesday 3rd December evening and had a seriously sick staff member openly coughing straight into his hands multiple times every minute and then touching everything in the bar including what he handed to customers. The drink we had was fair, but the staff member (not making the drinks) left us so disgusted we left after only one drink and went upstairs to a different fantastic cocktail bar where we spent a considerable amount of money. We came down with sickness the very next day and had a throat infection the rest of our trip in Kyoto. Other customers also walked out after seeing this guy. Don't be fooled by the hidden door phone box gimmick, think of your health. To the manager - train your staff in basic hospitality hygiene or fire this guy he shouldn't be anywhere near a...