Bar Bookshelff — Restaurant in Tokyo

I truly dislike giving negative reviews, especially for small businesses, but I felt compelled to share my experience. Upon arriving, we found they had no menu and offered only three drink options: a "chocolate cake" drink, a "whiskey sour" that had only sugar and lemon juice, and an old-fashioned that my husband ordered that had odd garnishes like a lime and lemon wedge which is not typical of the drink.. almost like he just chucked in whatever was available in his fridge. I opted not to order due to the limited choices. When my husbands drink arrived we were surprised to be told it was unacceptable for me to try his drink and that we weren’t aloud to only order one drink because there were two of us. This is understandable if the place was packed but the place was empty. This made us feel very awkward and unwelcome. To our surprise, a 1000 JPY "seating fee" was added to our bill, not disclosed beforehand. The bartender stated that the seating fee should have been 2000 JPY but gave us a discount because I seemed unhappy and didn’t order a drink. The total cost for one mediocre drink and poor service was 2500 JPY. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this establishment and highly recommend going...

My husband and I stumbled upon this place on our last night in Tokyo, we got there right at opening so we were the only people there and it was truly magic. We love to read and this was literally heaven if heaven was a bar. Dai the bartender (and owner) has created a beautiful haven for people who love cocktails and books. He made us delicious gin and tonics and we chatted about our favorite books for well over an hour. He literally has everything you can think of - any topic you bring up, he has a book that goes with it. You can tell this man is passionate about his craft and about literature. It was such a magical evening and we will definitely be returning here on our next trip to Tokyo. I've already told my friends about this place. He told us it gets quite busy on the weekends so I'd recommend coming here early so you can get a seat and have the time...

This bar was truly something special. There’s no menu — instead, the bartender thoughtfully asked us about our preferred flavour notes and crafted drinks tailored to exactly what we described. The result wasn’t just a cocktail, but a completely personalised experience that felt genuinely one of a kind.

What really set it apart was his warmth and depth of knowledge. He shared some fascinating books with us — one on Japanese culture, and another on cocktail making — which added such a rich and unexpected layer to the evening. It wasn’t just about the drinks; it was about connection, curiosity, and craftsmanship.

We’ve been to plenty of bars back home in Australia and abroad, but this felt far more intimate and personal than anything we've experienced before. It was the kind of night that stays with you. If we weren’t flying out tomorrow, we’d...