Drinks with a View: Tokyo’s Rooftop Bars
As the electric night descends, make like a savvy Tokyoite and ascend to the city’s loftiest rooftop bars for chilled vibes and glittery views.
When the weather is fine, alfresco rooftop perch Two Rooms is without doubt the deck to be seen on this summer. Arrive early for a chance at nabbing one of the hotly contested wicker sofas with only a glass plate and reflective infinity pool between you and a sparkly Shinjuku outlook. A staggering 1800-bottle wine collection bent towards New World varieties but with a healthy French and Italian offering, plus cocktails by craftsman Eddie Baffoe (Oak Door) keeps the tipple contingent happy. Accompany with nibbles including Sanriku scallops and crisp-fried jalapeño oysters.
Shop ‘til you drop at Tokyo Midtown, then flop at Nirvana New York, an Indian restaurant-rooftop bar located on the retailvana’s second floor. This Manhattan transplant breezes in with impressive credentials, but if the hype won’t sway you, the vistas across Hinokicho Park and Akasaka almost certainly will. Lunchtimes are especially abuzz when the kitchen ladles up a flavoursome, fab value curry set to hungry mid-shop hordes.
After an exhausting day of sightseeing, nothing beats a nightcap just steps away from your room at The Peninsula. But sky-high Peter: The Bar offers more than mere convenience with its stagger-glam wide-angle panoramas of the sparkling Ginza nightscape and Imperial Palace gardens. Just add late-night sips like the signature Tokyo Joe, and indulgent bar snacks like guacamole-slathered crab cakes.
For the ultimate summer chill vibes on high, zip out west to Mt Takao Beer Mount, the loftiest beer garden in greater Tokyo. This no-frills, lantern-lit plastic-chair palace keeps hikers and day-trippers well watered from June to October; the cover charge includes free-flow brews and wine for two hours, plus a carb-loading pan-Asian buffet. Book ahead on a weekday, as Beer Mount gets (unsurprisingly) packed out; heaving weekends are a free-for-all. Kanpai!
Two Rooms / 5/F / AO Building / 3-11-7 Kita Aoyama / Minato-ku / +81 3 3498 0002 / 11.30am-2am Mon-Sat, 11.30am-10pm Sun / tworooms.jp
Nirvana New York / 1/F / Garden Terrace / Tokyo Midtown / 9-7-4 Akasaka / Minato-ku / 11am-midnight Mon-Sat, 11am-10pm Sun / nirvana-newyork.jp
Peter: The Bar / 24/F / The Peninsula / 1-8-1 Yurakucho / Chiyoda-ku / +81 3 6270 2763 / noon-midnight Sun-Thu, noon-1am Fri-Sat / peninsula.com
Mt Takao Beer Mount / 2205 Takao Machi / Hachioji / +81 4 2665 9943 / 1-9pm daily / Jun-Oct / urban-inc.co.jp