Albatross Omoide Yoko-cho

Is Golden Gai the Bourbon Street of Tokyo? Very likely. Every white person I know told me to go while on vacation, but it was Anthony Bourdain that convinced me to make it part of my plans. He made a stop during his Tokyo adventures in Parts Unknown [
, so who am I to argue with America’s favorite traveler?
I encountered zero locals while hopping around this microhood full of tiny bars, so my gut tells me it’s a tourist trap. I was a tourist, so I suppose it was fine, though I generally have a propensity to avoid oversaturated expat destinations. But it’s a shame waspy frat bros have driven Tokyo residents away from this neck of the woods, because it’s a pretty cool experience.
The concentration of bars all have different themes, but if you’re a Lower East Side dive bar enthusiast, you’ll like Albatross. The music skews towards indie rock and the bartenders look like Japanese members of The Strokes. It’s dark with the only illumination coming from a haphazardly hung chandelier and a few candles. And it’s small. Like, eight people can comfortably fit on the first floor small. Note that anywhere in Golden Gai is best experienced with a group of two or three people max. If you’re a large group, I’d avoid this entire area in favor of regularly sized bars elsewhere.
Beware that there’s a cover at almost every bar in Golden Gai. It was ¥500 at Albatross, which is right in the middle of what you’ll find in the surrounding area.

Really cool tiny bar to drop in and have drinks. I saw it on Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown Tokyo so I had to come.
There’s very limited room to sit and there’s a decent mix of locals and foreigners. The sake was delicious and the drinks were also pretty good. There is a cover charge of 500 yen per person so make it worth your while and stay for a few drinks!

Cute and different sort of atmosphere to the rest of the Golden Gai area. (The Golden Gai has something like 50 eight to ten seater mini bars jammed into three narrow alleys in Shinjuku.)
This place charged a ¥500 table fee (which seemed common for all the bars here and is about $ 4) and draft beers were ¥700 (we’d been paying about ¥500 everywhere else in Japan). They carried Japanese whiskey, both hibiki and Yamazaki, for about ¥1500 a glass! This was more than double we’d paid anywhere else!
I had a Moscow mule cocktail for ¥700−800. We got a little dish of cracker snacks and ran into a pair of Americans and a pair of Australians (no locals).
My husband and I specifically sought out this bar because Anthony Bordain visits it in an episode of Parts Unknown. And apparently it’s also listed in an article by him as one of his ten recommended spots in all of Tokyo. Must be why the guys have jacked up their prices ;)
Cool spot but don’t stick around too long. There are much more authentic style places that are much more fun and much cheaper.

This bar is in the heart of shinjuku. It’s in a small alley by the tracks on the west side, called Omoide Yokocho. This ally is filled with old bars and food places and it really gives you a vibe of Showa Japan.
Albatross is a two story bar with the misty interesting interior. CHANDELIERS!
Where ever you look there’s a chandelier.
There’s also a roof top section which is amazing. You get a nice view of the surroundings and it’s nice for private parties on a warm night!
The drinks were nice and not too expensive. ¥700 for a beer.
So if you want something a bit different in the city I absolutely recommend Albatross.
Enjoy!