High Five — Restaurant in Tokyo

This is a great whisky bar. I believe I rated it a year ago, not sure, but I'm sure I gave it five stars. Great staff, and you just have to make sure you listen to their house rules. It's really nothing of a problem, just unique requests from the staff there which is totally acceptable. Overall, it's a great time and a great selection of whisky and customized-to-your-liking-cocktails. But I do have one major gripe and one minor gripe that I think you will want to be aware of. Minor gripe is that it is mostly tourists. I really don't like going to places with many foreigners (I am one myself from the USA), mainly because so many tourists don't even try to learn a bit of Japanese to communicate, and they really don't respect the culture in Japan. If you don't know what I mean by culture, please do some research prior to visiting about how to conduct yourself at restaurants and bars, in public spaces, and in conversation. It will be a much better experience I promise! I prefer a better immersion in the local culture and there are plenty of other nice whisky bars in town for locals (I mean PLENTY). The major gripe I have is that I have been noticing a trend in certain whisky bars with regards to surprising bills, because before I order any whisky, I ALWAYS ask the price (in yen), and I also ask their policy for a half shot. (FYI sometimes a half shot is not half the price...). Keep in mind there is no menu here, so whether you order a whisky or cocktail, you won't know the cost unless you ask, or until you see it on your final bill. Personally, I just do not want to be surprised with expensive whiskies - I want to know before ordering, which is OK to ask for in Japanese culture. So my friend and I had ordered many different whiskies and highballs and we "knew" the prices since we had asked, and when the bill came, we were both surprised that it wasn't close. First, like many bars you will not receive an itemized receipt, but rather a slip on a plate with one total price. We wrote down everything we had as well as the prices we were pretty sure we heard, and it didn't add up (see photo). We asked for an itemized receipt and it took them about 10 minutes to produce one for each of us, which shouldn't be hard, assuming they already had it?? So then when we got it, of course none of the prices seemed correct. (FYI there was a 1000yen cover charge which we knew about, but the 10% tax charge was a surprise to us, were not told of this up front (it's in the final cost in the photo) - this is important because most places include tax in their pricing model). Anyway, after claiming the discrepancy, they took the bills back and took another 5-10 minutes, seemingly to rework the math so it adds up correctly. Added a discount too for some reason to either seem acceptable or to make the math work. Just didn't feel right and we were not comfortable in that situation - it's not the money (my bill was well over 10,000yen as I order some nicer whiskies) but it's the principle of sitting in a "tourist bar", not receiving itemized receipts, and still having prices that do not match.

Again, I loved talking to the staff there, very nice and attentive, but something just isn't correct on the pricing scheme. Both of us left knowing two things: 1. We just cannot come back, it's enough evidence to know something wasn't right and nothing against the staff there - they were excellent but they have to follow business's structure. 2. Unfortunately, I was already diligent in asking prices before ordering, and I guess I just have to write them down each time when I order going forward. Isn't that crazy!? Don't know what else to do. This exact issue happened a couple times in other bars just on this past trip over 3 weeks. Don't let my experience prevent you from going - go and check it out and please form your...

TLDR: Bespoke cocktails crafted to your personal taste in a classy environment.

Vibe: 5/5. Located in the basement of a building in Ginza, Bar High Five embraces the speakeasy vibe. The bar relatively small, with about 10 seats at the antique wood bar that occupies the majority of the space. They have a handful of 2 tops adjacent to the bar which can be pushed together to accommodate larger groups. Decor takes design cues from Old world Japan, using a lot of antique wood, metal and glass which creates quite a cozy environment to enjoy a cocktail or 2. The best seats in the house are belly up to the bar for the mixology show.

Service: 5/5. My party of 2 arrived at High Five around 6pm on a Wednesday night. The bar had a few patrons there, but we had no problem walking right in and being served immediately. The staff at High Five were very welcoming, with everyone we came into contact speaking decent English. The bartenders gave us the full rundown of how the ordering system works and we're able to make some fantastic cocktails. Drinks came out relatively quickly considering the effort that goes into each order as well as the bar being fully occupied. Overall, I couldn't have asked for better service.

Drinks: 5/5. As mentioned before, High Five prides itself on using innovative bartending techniques and ingredients to produce world class cocktails that are tailored to your personal taste buds. There is no official menu, so come prepared to answer the wait staff's barrage of questions on what you are looking for in a drink. We were only able to grab a single round of drinks, but we were very impressed with the ingredient choices and balance that were achieved with our drinks. I told th bartender I wanted a alcohol forward Japanese whiskey based cocktail that was smoky and sour. The end result was a Toki cocktail that uses acorn in house acorn liquor, sherry and smoked bitters that created levels of depth yet remained perfectly balanced with each ail. When it was time to grab the bill, I was pleasantly surprised that each cocktail was around $10-15 which is an absolute deal for the level of craft that went into each one. Overall, I wish I had more time to try a few more cocktails at High Five, but I will certainly be back the next time I find...

Unfortunately, this was the worst cocktail experience I had in Japan. Most of the staff were English-speaking foreigners so you’d think it’d help but they barely asked what we wanted (conversation felt very scripted and formulaic) and seemed like they were guiding us towards a relatively small selection of cocktails they made for everyone. I received a Sakura martini and a yuzu matcha drink; they were fine, but uninspired and nothing to write home about if you’ve been to any international city with a good cocktail scene. Maybe if you’re looking for a twist on a specific classic cocktail, you’d have more success but like at other no-menu spots, I was hoping for more improvisation based on our convo. I did ask about a closed jar of soy sauce-pickled spicy peppers that were sitting on the bar when we arrived, hoping they could use that for a drink; unfortunately, they didn’t know why that’d been sitting there for days and couldn’t use it, which was fine — I happily (at the time) ordered another drink.

Outside of taking our order, the staff also largely ignored us in favor of the other guests (who received things like bar snacks upon getting seated — that we weren’t offered despite staying for multiple drinks). It was difficult to even get the check because they would barely look at us and we were even sitting at the bar — but they were happy to chat with other patrons and amongst themselves.

We’re chill, unobtrusive people, and always respect any bar rules, so the cold service was surprising. The main bartender wasn’t there, so maybe we went on an off night. Worth noting the bar was filled with nothing but English-speaking tourists and maybe an expat or two; it was by far the most touristy spot we visited during our trip, so heads up if that isn’t your vibe. I think we were actually the only Asians during our stay — which judging by other reviews, is also a bit atypical, so again, maybe an off night.

Maybe I’d give them another shot if I lived in Tokyo, but vacation time is too precious and Tokyo has too many other...