High Five – Tokyo

Over the last 3 years I have been 3 times in Japan and this is by far one of my favourite places in the world. Just to start out with the food, it is extraordinary. The landscape is magnificent, the cities are well organised, foremost extremely safe and culturally rich. Traveling is so easy and fast. If you walk through a street in a small town in Japan and you see all these above ground wiring of electricity etc you would not say that this is a pretty street with pretty houses, actually you would say its nothing special. But now and then you walk by a house, a garden or another small area that has been turned into a small masterpiece of architecture. Japan is all about attention to detail to the extreme. All so well executed with a pride that is unparalleled. Then there is craftsmanship, another pillar that is deeply rooted in the Japanese culture.

Made in Japan has become a brand, from the product itself to the packaging everything is meticulously thought through. The monocle guide once put it very well, “The Japanese are so modest about their culture that foreigner who visit the country are the best ambassadors as its them who spread the word about this magnificent place”. One might think why I write so much about the whole culture and not about one of the best bars in the world. To understand High Five one needs to dive into the Japanese bar culture which is interlinked with the culture of this country. Drinks are perfectly executed, in style and with the time it needs to prepare the drink. Everything short of that is not accepted. Most of the bars are small, so small that they could not survive in other cities. Well its even hard to understand how they can survive here. Tokyo is so large, you could open a shop or restaurant that sells one item or one dish and you would find a crowd large enough to keep you afloat if you perfectly master what you do. High Five can host up to 15 people. You cannot reserve so there is either space or there is not. Therefore always a bit of a gamble and also a gamble if the master himself, Mr. Ueno is there. If you are unlucky and he is not, no worries his female assistant is almost equally as talented. Not so talkative as he is but that’s just the Japanese way of being. Ueno who first worked at Starbar which is a bit further down the road opened this place and since then has become the most well known bar in Tokyo. Starbar also found its way into the top 50 and is also highly recommendable. The experience at High Five starts with finding it. If you coming to Tokyo for the first time it might be a bit confusing since you have to start thinking 3-dimensionally. Into an old elevator, up a few floors into an ugly lit corridor, turn right and turn again right between two rather funny establishment, there is a wooden door with a small sign, High Five. You found it! Inside a few places at the bar, at the end 2 windows and 2 tables, that’s it. All eyes on you when you enter, that is guaranteed as its almost like a family bar in there. A rather international crowd but I had the funniest, most interesting discussions in there that I ever had in a bar, even met friends. One of them showed me the vibrant cocktail scene in Chicago a year later.

Met Adam on his last day of a six months trip around the world and we all spent the evening together, even continued to another bar. Just great. Now to the drinks. Expect non Japanese cocktails when it comes to alcohol level. In many bars in Japan, fruity cocktails often feel very fruity since the Japanese don’t tend to put a big emphasis on the alcohol level since many do not take it too well. Not in here. Here the level is international. There is no menu and the specialty is to create a cocktail to your liking. So you should know what spirits you prefer, in which direction it shall go; fruity, short, shaken, classic etc. The whisky selection is vast and concentrates on the home market but also other cocktails are composed with expertise. A bloody marry with fresh tomato was ordered from a guest beside us. Tasted excellent as I was so blunt and asked if I could taste. Another speciality that you find all over Japan is that the market for domestic liqueurs is vast. My all time favourite liqueur besides Ancho Reyes is a Darjeeling tea liqueur from Fauchon exclusively for the Japanese market and distributed by Asahi beer. Such a delicate sweet tea flavour and so authentic too. I have been importing bottles ever since and as many as I could and back home they have become so popular among friends that I have a small waiting list. When I first tried it, it was in a drink that Ueno suggested to me which went into the direction of an Old Fashioned. I could go on forever to list all the drinks I had at High Five. Another example of perfect execution is when the bartender cuts the ice that comes into a stirring glass so perfectly that air is minimized in the glass to achieve the perfect cooling and dilution. First a big piece of ice was fitted and the open spots on the side were filled with chunks of ice that were carved according to the open space left. A real treat to watch. I don’t need to mention the complimentary water service, small nibbles and the possibility to smoke, which is possible in every bar in Japan. Forbidden in the street but allowed in every restaurant or bar. A very unusual rule but that’s Japan at its best. There is room for controversy.

Update: High Five has moved to a different location in October, please refer to their homepage or the world map to see their new location.

High Five Homepage

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