Ed U.
Yelp
Eagle Tokyo Blue / Tokyo -- So Jamie W. and I finally made it to Shinjuku Ni Chome at around 6PM, and it was as still as a tomb even though many of the more popular bars were already open. We were looking for a spot where we could break our proverbial Ni Chome cherry and landed here. The blue neon sign led us down a spiral staircase to a subterranean space.
Bathed in a dim clubby blue light, we were immediately fixated on the striking image of a near naked, muscular Japanese bear in a squat position (photo: https://bit.ly/43gOiom). Color us unsurprised because we knew it was a bear bar. In fact, the staff was all huddled together behind the bar, and they were - surprise! - all bears. We were nearly the first customers, so they just kept hibernating.
One of the bears turned out to be fluent in English, and he turned out to be an expat. Naturally he was the one who took our drink orders. It was ¥1,000 Happy Hour, so we took advantage by ordering a couple of Double Fuzzy Navels (photo: https://bit.ly/43ceUqw). Unfortunately they were a bit watered down and served in plastic cups like we were at a frat party. It was OK because we were enjoying the view.
Since it was still Happy Hour, we went with a second round. The bartender must've read my mind because we got real barware this time. I had a Double Tequila Sunrise, and Jamie went with a Margarita (photo: https://bit.ly/43fXE3O). Either the drinks were better, or we were getting wasted a little too early in the evening. By the way, bears, not Jack McFarland types, are considered standard grade gays in Japan.
COCKTAILS - 3.5 stars...weak start but it got better
AMBIANCE - 4 stars..,pretty spacious, a little darker than I like
SERVICE - 4 stars...the expat was a nice guy, the rest were eye candy
TOTAL - 4 stars...where the bears are
RELATED - Exploring Japan? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: http://bit.ly/2qrUBZo