Tokyo’s best barmen are serving timeless elegance at the Palace Hotel

Contrary to the received wisdom that the best places to have a drink are casual and up to date, the Palace Hotel Tokyo’s Royal Bar takes itself seriously and wears its history proudly. When the hotel opened in 1961, bartender Kiyoshi Imai’s trademark dry martini was served in a glass that he designed on a mahogany counter. Since the hotel was rebuilt in 2012, the bar – tucked away in a corner of the ground-floor lobby with a polished counter cut from the original – has faithfully served Imai’s martini and a few of his other favourite cocktails from the 1960s and 1970s.

Dim lighting, leather armchairs and barstools, parquet floors and antique bohemian glassware in display cases along the wall are complemented by suit-and-tie-clad bartenders unperturbed by the rise of modish mixologists. Novelty comes in subtler forms, and today’s award-winning chief bartender, Manabu Ohtake, is a dab hand with seasonal drinks. His Roku martini – made with Roku gin, Japanese vermouth, Shodoshima olives and yuzu zest – has a fragrant smoothness that belies its punch, and his yuzu gin sour, with a dash of elderflower, is a fine-tuned aperitif. Drinks are the focus here but the bar, which opens daily at 15.00 and upholds a dress code, offers an extensive menu that includes grilled Wagyu tenderloin, escargots, clubhouse sandwiches and snacks prepared in the hotel restaurant’s kitchen.

Unlike in other establishments, where the bartenders’ flair and showmanship is part of the appeal, the Royal Bar’s staff prefer an understated approach. Ohtake’s every movement has a ritualised precision that he has perfected over more than three decades in the industry. Watching him in action is riveting: he performs the simple acts of pouring from a shaker or swirling a drink with a mixing spoon with sublime elegance.

With only 25 seats, the bar is small enough for Ohtake and his staff to maintain lofty standards of attentiveness while customers sit back and enjoy the show and their drinks. “From behind the counter, we have a view of every seat. We can read our customers’ facial expressions and anticipate their needs,” says Ohtake.
palacehoteltokyo.com