EAGLE TOKYO BLUE

Hubby and I stopped in for a quick drink tonight. Looking for a chill gay bar that would be good for foreigners, we stumbled upon this place and thank goodness we did. The 2 bartenders on duty were phenomenal. Struck up a great conversation, made great drinks. I’m only mad at myself that I didn’t introduce ourselves and get to know them better. But if you’re looking for a fun and friendly gay bar in Shinjuku, this is 💯 the place to go. And to the staff, you both were fantastic and even on our last day, was one of the most memorable parts of the trip. Will definitely be returning when we come back to Tokyo!

I arrived here around 10:30pm on Halloween with 2 friends. It’s a popular gay bar in the area. My friends got drinks and I wasn’t going to get one because I was tired and jet lagged but then it was like I was forced to get one by the bar staff. I ended up getting a screw driver and it wasn’t the best, for me. My friends enjoyed their drink. We stood by the bar and drank. It got super packed as time went on and it was a mixed crowd. There is limited space between the bar and the wall, which can be tricky getting to the back (when it’s busy) where there is an open area and the restrooms. My friend asked one of the bartenders about club near us. The bartender said the name but when we asked where it was they said “look it up”. I thought that was rude, especially since it was up the street. Why couldn’t they just say that? lol. If we return to the area, I’m not opposed to trying this place again to give them a second chance but my first impressions wasn’t positive.

Nice little gay bar. Friendly staff. We unexpectedly went there the night of an airing of RuPaul's All Stars. The crowd was getting into the episode which added to the friendly atmosphere.

Great bar. Welcoming staff super friendly. Music is good, foreigner friendly. Thanks Justin for making me and my friends feel welcome on my birthday 🥳 ¥1000 cover charge with 1 drink included

Came here for an RPDR watch party. People are respectful with boundaries when they can (it is a small comfy bar), but sometimes people will need to squeeze to go around. Drag queens were professional, crowd was vocal and fun! You get an entrance fee but you get a free 1000 yen drink.

Went there for a viewing party of RPDR, very crowded and small place, speakers not loud enough to compensate the noise of the people, drinks were alright and the staff not that friendly, they did a couple of intervention drag shows and they were not entertaining at all, it has a weird atmosphere and you can’t even watch the episode properly and continuously as they pause the show and the screen is not big enough. We left as soon as the episode finished.

Great bar. They have karaoke. Friendly staff. Sometimes it fills up with foreigners but generally it’s a nice mix between Japanese and foreigners :)

A great bar and really good drinks. A variety of things each night including karaoke and dancing. The night was only slightly ruined by a barman complaining about myself and another person singing someone else’s song…. Now I get it if they were actually singing but it was like 2-3am everyone super drunk and nobody was singing so people were just jumping in and singing when that happened. So didn’t make anyone feel good when the staff were throwing a laminated bit of paper with rules that no one is going to read or be able to see at that time of night and ex amount of drinks in….. one of the other visitors to the bar did say don’t worry about it and welcome to Japan. Lots of rules to follow even for something as simple as karaoke. Overall though had a really fun night, it’s a great bar with great drinks. Would really recommend if you are Shinjuku nichome area. Just be aware of all the rules and red tape you have to follow.

I arrived here around 10:30pm on Halloween with 2 friends. It's a popular gay bar in the area. My friends got drinks and I wasn't going to get one because I was tired and jet lagged but then it was like I was forced to get one by the bar staff. I ended up getting a screw driver and it wasn't the best, for me. My friends enjoyed their drink. We stood by the bar and drank. It got super packed as time went on and it was a mixed crowd. There is limited space between the bar and the wall, which can be tricky getting to the back (when it's busy) where there is an open area and the restrooms. My friend asked one of the bartenders about club near us. The bartender said the name but when we asked where it was they said "look it up". I thought that was rude, especially since it was up the street. Why couldn't they just say that? lol. If we return to the area, I'm not opposed to trying this place again to give them a second chance but my first impressions wasn't positive.

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

Drinks were very watered down. I can't even taste it feel the alcohol and I'm a light weight! The bartender wanted to basically see my money first before making the second drink. He kept repeating my total for my first drink and I said, "yea, can I get a second drink too?" The only saving grace is the polite door man. I would say I love the inside and music of this bar. It's the bad drinks experience of when I went to go buy my friend and I drinks that this rating is mostly based on. I'm paying 1800 yens for a vodka Red Bull and vodka tonic, there better be alcohol in it. Watch the bartender when he pours the alcohol just to make sure he pour any in there. I love the layout and the fact that there's no cover. I paid the same at AiiRO for a Vodka redbud and the lesbian girl treated me right. I'm coming back to you babes to get the good stuff before coming here.

Note: This is very similar to my experience at the Eagle around the corner. And my experience here also proved the old adage that a gay bar is a gay bar is a gay bar is a gay bar. They were playing the same music that you'd hear in a gay bar in the US, and the drinks were over-priced, There were no drag queens present the night we were there. The space itself is fairly nice and the mural of the naked wrestler on the wall certainly warranted attention. I also liked the lighting much better than the place around the corner - It was darker and had much more of a clubby-vibe. Fortunately, there weren't as many English speaking tourists there so that's a plus, but there didn't seem to be much happening. Perhaps we were too early at 10pm? I'd consider giving the Eagle Blue another chance the next time we're in town.