BALCÓN TOKYO is the newest luxury bar and restaurant to hit Tokyo’s Roppongi district. Set to open on the 14th floor of Mitsui Garden Hotel Roppongi Tokyo Premier on January 24, BALCÓN TOKYO offers opulent lounge and balcony spaces for fine wine and dining.

Located away from the hustle and bustle of busy Roppongi, the establishment offers a breathtaking view of Tokyo’s city nightscape in both the eastern and western directions.

When customers pass through the beautiful bar and lounge they are met with the spacious museum-like balcony area where they can enjoy a dining experience wrapped in soft warm lights. For those looking for a more private meal, they can reserve one of the individual private rooms, each of which has its own distinct touch and flavour. Whether you’re looking for a quiet drink or dinner, or even midnight teatime, BALCÓN TOKYO caters to customers’ needs.

The interior design is the brainchild of none other than Yasumichi Morita of GLAMOROUS co.,ltd., and company that specialises not only on interior and exterior building and establishment designs, but graphic visuals, products, and more.

​Taking the spotlight at dinnertime is the restaurant’s incredible and mouthwatering roast beef which is aged at ice temperature and cooked carefully with time and care. The gravy sauce drizzled over the meat takes three days to make and only adds to the delicious offering of the beef.

The restaurant also offers plenty of seasonal foods and ingredients that go perfect with a glass of champagne. Whether you’re celebrating something special or just out for a casual meal, the restaurant caters to all.

For breakfast, a half-buffet of western-style food is prepared where you can pick one main. And so that foreign guests can get a taste of the quality of Japanese food, all ingredients used at the restaurant are domestic to Japan. The restaurant also uses organic vegetables shipped directly from growers and producers.

To celebrate the grand opening of BALCÓN TOKYO, customers who reserve a table online or via telephone between January 24 and February 29 this year will receive a 30% discount on meal courses.

Hello everyone, this is MOSHI MOSHI friend Banako.

Today I’ll be introducing you to an interesting place in Jinbōchō, Tokyo that is a café by day and a café & bar at night.

From 9:00 to 17:00 it’s known as COFFEE CAMPUS  and from 18:15 to 22:00 it runs as CAMPUS TOY cafe&bar. It first opened its doors approximately 48 years ago, solely operating as a café. Its current owner is an avid American toy and pop culture-lover who started running the café & bar seven years ago.

To get here, it’s just a five-minute walk from exit A2 of Jinbōchō Station. The café is located in a quiet place just one turn off Odori Street.

Check out the menu:

The toast here is really good, so I ordered the Egg on Toast. (¥500)

To my surprise, an exceptionally large and thick slice of toast arrived at my table. The egg was evenly cooked and spread on top. I curiously sunk my knife into the toast to reveal the inside.

The egg dripped beautifully like melted cheese. It tasted wonderful with the freshly toasted slice of bread and was very filling. I was in a good mood after my very first bite.

Once the clock strikes 18:15, the café completely transforms into CAMPUS TOY cafe&bar which has a completely different atmosphere. 

One step into the newly-transformed café & bar and…

The calm undertones of the café were replaced with a cute pop-themed atmosphere illuminated by colourful neon lights. Rather than preparing a drinks menu, owner matz takes orders directly from customers, creating drinks catered to each individual customer based on what flavours and colours they like. 

Waiting to see what kind of drink is going to be brought to you is very exciting. Ordering drinks with friends and taking photos of the outcome is the best way to enjoy your time here. 

There are also lots of good spots to take photos for your Instagram so don’t hold back! From time to time, there is a small market here where the owner sells small fantasy-themed items.

 Make sure to check out CAMPUSTOY cafe&bar on Instagram for their latest updates and information on opening hours. Whether you want to enjoy a pop-themed American atmosphere or are simply looking for a relaxing spot to chat, this café is for you. Matz the owner is very friendly and is full of interesting stories that you just got to hear.

DINING & BAR TABLE 9 TOKYO is a fabulous dining and bar venue located on the top floor of Shinagawa Prince Hotel. The establishment is known for its “DJ TIME” where a DJ plays music, and it has just been announced that the experience is set to be revamped on May 29 where the theme will change each day.

Ever since its grand opening, the bars of TABLE 9 TOKYO have been leaders of today’s Tokyo with its night scene as its opening hours roll out until 4:00am. It is home to 3 different bars, NINE BAR being one of them, and each enjoys a huge attendance rate including many non-Japanese guests.

The bar and lounge is a place for adults to sit down, enjoy a drink and listen to music. The idea to have a theme change each day is a way for the bar to expand its services by having more options to choose from when it comes to the music.

The first week will begin with jazzy music, and there will be disco music on Wednesday and Thursday for which a new standing area has been set up in front of the DJ booth. On Friday night guests can enjoy getting down to some energetic dance music while on the weekends the playlist will span a wide variety of genres.

Enjoy a sophisticated night out in Tokyo at NINE BAR.

Japan’s favourite holiday Golden Week technically starts on Saturday 27th April. This year, the holiday stretches over a long 10 days and I’m sure there’s many of you who will be taking the bullet train to travel or to visit your families! That’s where Tokyo Station’s best bento lunch rankings come in handy!

Gransta

1st place: Shrimp, crab & salmon bento (Tsukiji Sushi Sei, Marusei) ¥1,250 (price after tax)

This bento is packed with salmon and shrimp and pieces of crab meat. It’s quite popular amongst girls!

2nd place: Beef in sweet ankake sauce served with fried rice (KAMONKA) ¥741  (price after tax)

3rd: place Ginger-fried pork bento (Asakusa Teppantei) ¥1,190 (price after tax)

Ecute Tokyo

1st place: Large hamburg steak with kinako pork katsu bento (TSUBAME GRILL DELI)  ¥1,280  (price after tax)

You can enjoy both TSUBAME GRILL DELI’s popular hamburg steak and pork katsu in one hearty serving!

※ Limited to Ecute Tokyo, only 50 of these bentos will be sold every day.

2nd place: Hifumi bento (Furusato ryouri Fukuzen) ¥1,350  (price after tax)

Extra:

Tokyo station bento: Nihombashi Daimasu, Tokyo  ¥1,680  (price after tax)

If you’re looking for the perfect Tokyo ekiben (station-bought lunch box), this is it! It comes in a box with a beautiful Tokyo station print and retro wrapping. The contents are also delicious and carefully made, packed with the special flavours of an experienced bento-making shop.

Pop by to discover these lunches and enjoy the holidays!

The Norikura Snow & Ice EV Snack event which began in 2017 is now being held for the second year in a row.

This activity allows people to camp out in a tent deep in the snowy and silent region of Norikura Kogen. Snacks and sake are served on weekends. The tent is also powered by the Nissan e-NV 200 electric car which is both environmentally friendly and allows your tent to light up during the dark snowy evenings.

Last year’s event was attended by many people from both inside and outside Nagano Prefecture, and it was particularly popular with those on their way back from ski trips. The activity ties in with the area’s new attention to night life. It’s a chance for both tourist and locals to come together and build closer bonds to the area.

Enjoy a new outdoor winter activity lost in the snow in Nagano.

”CORONA WINTER SAUNA SHIMOKITAZAWA” is an enjoyable outdoor winter sauna in the city opening at Shimokitazawa Cage, and “CORONA ESCAPE” is a bar in the snow at an altitude of 1,450m in Hakuba, Nagano prefecture.

Cool down after winter sports with a refreshing Corona Extra in your hand while enjoying the incredible snow covered vista of the Northern Japan Alps mountains. You can experience a relaxing time admiring the sunset over this winter wonderland.

Enjoy special winter experience together with CORONA.

KitKat Umeshu is a new product produced by Hidetoshi Nakata specifically aimed at foreign tourists coming to Japan. It was first made available at CRAFT SAKE WEEK＠KITKAT BAR, a Japanese sake bar for those coming from overseas, on September 13. The bar will run until September 24 at CITAN, a hostel, cafe and bar in Higashi-Nihombashi. The KitKat was also released for general sale on the Japanese market on September 18.

Hidetoshi Nakata toured over 350 sake brewers and with his expertise launched the first Craft Sake Week in 2016, a huge coming together of sake artisans in Japan. The KITKAT BAR is part of that experience which has opened for inbound foreigners to try Japanese sake.

The bar offers a special and exclusive menu featuring a careful selection of premium Japanese alcohol by Nakata as well as an original menu developed by chefs of well-known restaurants. They also offer a range of cocktails including  one that’s made with umeshu tsuruume suppai, an ingredient used in the new plum wine KitKat.

The bar counter is crowned with a chandelier made from masu boxes which were created for measuring rice. This offers a new and unique way of experiencing the charm of Japanese culture. Since the bar has opened it’s been packed with foreigner customers.

A female Asian customer who tasted the plum wine KitKat paired with the bar’s original ‘Kishuu Tonic’ cocktail expressed her surprise at how well they went together: “The sweetness of the KitKat and freshness of the cocktail matched exquisitely together. Despite the cocktail using sake as the base it was really easy to drink and delicious. Sake and chocolate go well together, don’t they.”

A male American customer compared the taste of the KitKat with the Umeshu Tsuruume Suppai wine used in the KitKat: “The combination of the sour plum wine with the sweet chocolate was delicious beyond my expectations. There’s a lot of flavours in Japan we can’t get overseas, so I want to buy things and take them back as souvenirs.”

Speaking about Craft Sake Week, producer of the bar Hidetoshi Nakata commented the following: “I want lots of people to get to know about the enjoyment and appeal of Japanese sake and plum wine through this event and KitKat Umeshu Umetsuri to further expand the reach of them overseas.”

Experience the KitKat and Japanese sake for yourself at CRAFT SAKE WEEK @ KITKAT BAR.

Horizon Tokyo is a new restaurant and bar set to open on August 31 on the 47th floor of Caretta Shiodome, a shopping and dining centre in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo.

Floor 47 is the top floor of the towering complex, standing at 210m high. Upon opening the doors, you’ll first be greeted by the bar where you can enjoy drinks in a stylish environment.

After enjoying a drink, you can head to the restaurant area which serves authentic French cuisine. Once seated, you can choose to order a range of hors d’oeuvre that arrives on a trolley. Each ingredient selected by the customer is catered towards every person. There are 18 appetisers to choose from with a selection of hot and cold foods. Main dishes are made with carefully selected seasonal ingredients from Japan. The quality and preparation methods stay faithful to French cuisine.

The restaurant’s 270° panoramic view offers sights from Tokyo Skytree to the Rainbow Bridge which can be gazed at while enjoying your dinner.

Horizon Tokyo’s speciality dishes are a specially made roast beef and bouillabaisse both created by head chef Omura.

The roast beef is farmed in Japan and is cooked carefully on a low heat at 74℃ giving it a soft and juicy texture.

The bouillabaisse is made with white fish, vegetables and wine together with orange skin, pernod, saffron and other ingredients all cooked into a soup with sea ruffe, sea perch, spiny red gurnard, homarus lobster and mussels.

There are also 20 desserts to choose from made by an award-winning pastry chef.

If you’re looking for fine dining with a romantic view of Tokyo, then check out Horizon Tokyo.

Häagen-Dazs Japan will open their new Hanabi Bar from the end of this month for a limited time where customers can enjoy a spectacular firework show at the Tokyo City View observation deck of Roppongi Hills.

The Hanabi Bar is opening in support of the company’s new product series set for release on June 5. They will hand out free samples of their new peach and berry flavoured Häagen-Dazs Juicy Bar.

At the Hanabi Bar you can expect to enjoy a breathtaking view atop the tall observation deck while enjoying the new peach and berry Juicy Bar from Häagen-Dazs. From 7pm, a promotional video of fireworks inspired by the Juicy Bar will be projected onto the glass, allowing you enjoy a magnificent firework show against the picturesque nighttime view outside. The video lasts 5 minutes and will be played four times every hour.

If you insert your juicy bar stick into the box it comes in after you’ve finished eating it will look like fireworks shooting out.

Additionally, those who arrive at the Hanabi Bar dressed in juicy pink will receive a free entry ticket to the observation deck. 50 tickets will be given out per day and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

A must see for Häagen-Dazs fans, head to the Hanabi Bar to enjoy tasty ice cream while watching a beautiful firework show.

Japanese sake bar Kuranoya held the grand opening of its second branch at the Karasumori exit of Shimbashi Station on May 15, 2018.

The main components of Kuranoya are sake and meat. Drinks are their forte, and they offer up a wide variety along with the perfect meal to match.  They clear away stereotypes and confidently serve up food with a Western essence along with Japanese sake.

Their beverage line-up includes amino acids and is recommended to those who are looking to take care of their health and beauty. The café interior is stylish with the colour white as the base.

Drinks range from affordable prices such as ¥299 (pre-tax) for one cup of sake to more premium brands. There are high table counter seats which make for the perfect date setting, or even customers on their own.

There’s even an all-you-can-drink plan with close to 30 brands of sake which can be enjoyed either across a two-hour period or an unlimited period. As well as their stock of highly valuable premium sake, the café even offers a sangria made using Japanese sake.

Whether you’re going on a date or having a girl’s get-together, Kuranoya can be used for numerous settings and promises delicious food and drinks.

A one-hundred year old residence from the Taisho Period in Osaka’s Tennoji ward has been renovated and turned into a Japanese sake bar called Nanoan. This is the second store by Nanakura, which is located in the same area as the bar, Chausuyama.

The quiet residence is located in the middle of Tennoji about 2-minutes from the station. The neighbourhood of Tennoji has been undergoing development, and the house used to build Nanoan is said to be the last remaining residence from the Taisho Period.

Customers can look forward to enjoying meals made with exquisite ingredients as well as drinks in this historical, antique-looking building. It’s located just 1-minute on foot from the first store, Nanakura. Located right by is Tennoji Park, and from the second floor, you can see Keitakuen Garden.

The bar can be used for many situations, like enjoy yourself at a 1-2 person counter while looking out to the garden, or you can rent the bar for an 80-person banquet.

For lunch, enjoy a farmer’s meal for ¥1,000. It comes with side dishes stacked with plenty of homegrown vegetables and more.

Enjoy a great meal and some sake in a quaint residence of the past!

Establishments inside Tokyo Station and the surrounding area are preparing lots of bento and finger food that are perfect for outings in Japan this spring. The plaza in front of Marunouchi Station, as well as hotels, are also hosting a series of events and plans until the end of May. If you’re considering an outing in Japan this season, then consider dropping by Tokyo Station.

Bento Sold for Over Half a Century

These bento boxes have a long history spanning over 50 years since the first sales.

Chicken Bento – ¥900 (Tax Included) / Nihonbashi Daimasu

Since sales began in 1964, the chicken bento is loved by many people. It’s a classic mix of tomato flavoured rice and chicken karaage. Oldies are long fans of this one.

Ishikari Shake Meshi – ¥1,030 (Tax Included) / Sapporo Tachiuri Shokai

This bento dates back to 1923 and has been a familiar flavour at Sapporo Station for 95 years. Salted salmon roe is put onto salmon rice. It’s a colourful and vivid meal.

Gransta & Gransta Marunouchi

This list includes a bento perfect for the Golden Week season as well as finger food that can be enjoyed even if you’re busy or in a hurry.

Salted Nigiri – ¥1,500 (Tax Included) /

This sushi is eaten refreshingly with seaweed salt and sudachi. The fresh flavour of the fish covers your entire palette.

*Sold at Gransta only. Available April 23–September 30.

Red Brick Pork Kabayaki – ¥1,180 (Tax Included) / Sasahachi

This pork kabayaki bento is inspired by the red bricks at Marunouchi Station. When you take off the lid the scent of the food wafts around your nose and will make you want to reach for a beer. It can also be shared with families or groups or people.

*Sold at Gransta only.

Ecute Tokyo

Here’s a selection of recommended bento for trips out as well as some popular sake.

Fukagawa Bento – ¥1,200 (Tax Included) / Sushi Zanmai

Ecute Tokyo’s number one most sold bento. It’s piled with plenty of sweet and salty boiled clams.

Yokitori Bento – ¥1,150 (Tax Included) / Kushikura

A popular bento containing 3 types of skewers – negima, thigh and tsukune – and minced chicken with soy sauce served on rice.

Popular Sake

THE Karuizawa Beer – ¥300 (Tax Included) / Fukuzen

This refreshing beverage is made with famous cool water from Mount Asama in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. It’s delicious however many times you take a sip. Brewed craft beer.

Montlacs Cup Wine (Red/White) – ¥297 (Tax Included) / Nicolina

This wine is brewed and matured from fresh and fruity grapes from Nagano. It comes with a cup so you can enjoy drinking it on the train or on the go too.

There’s lots of other varieties of bento lined up too! If you’re heading out then be sure to stop by Tokyo Station first to stock up.

▼Check out these articles too

“Bento, Sweets and Gifts Arriving at GRANSTA in Tokyo Station for a Limited Period”

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