Love the zen vibe in this place. Feels very different from other cocktail places, Gen Yamamoto places emphasis on using fresh ingredients and mixes with the liquor of his choice. He is friendly and able to converse in English. I was very glad to experience this cocktail Omakase. His drinks are one of its kind. I had 7 unique drinks last night. Thank you and keep making lovely drinks!
Exceptional experience before a nice meal.
Low alcohol cocktails served with unique and seasonal ingredients with precision and purpose.
Every detail down to the glassware used for each cocktail has been carefully planned.
Do yourself a favor and make and go!
I’m not really a big drinker, but the cocktails here totally surprised me — no harsh alcohol taste, no bitterness. Just smooth, flavorful, and so creative!
The bartender blends the fruit flavors perfectly with the liquor, and each drink has its own unique twist. My favorites were the fruity ones — super refreshing and balanced.
It was such a fun experience, and I’ll definitely come back next time
Gen Yamamoto was a very unique cocktail experience. You have the option of choosing 4, 5 or 7 courses. 7 is a cool 10,000 yen. Yamamoto-san speaks English quite well and provides a course by course description similar to dishes being brought out from the kitchen at a Michelin restaurant.
Every cocktail is prepared in plain sight as you would see at an omakase sushi restaurant. Nearly every cocktail is a blend of fruit or vegetables and one spirit. Yamamoto-san used Finnish whiskey in two of the cocktails, as well as sochu and brandy. My favorite was the tomato, lemon juice and whiskey blend. The smoky whiskey and fresh tomato juice complimented each other harmoniously. I’m trying to recreate it at home and the tomato jam seems to be the one missing element.
You need to make a reservation over the phone starting from a week out. I asked my hotel concierge to call but Yamamoto-san requested to speak with my directly since he speaks English. There were two tourists from China and one from New York. Neither party stayed for all 7 courses, so I was the last one there.
I will say that some of the reviews complaining about the lack of spirits used are valid. Yamamoto-san uses less than a shot of alcohol per cocktail so you end up getting more fruit and vegetable juice than a bonafide cocktail. That said, I still enjoyed the creativity behind each cocktail and left inspired but still needing more drinks. So I wandered into the neighborhood to find Bar Melt, which is a new bar with patrons smoking houkas but quality cocktails that have considerably more alcohol in them. Bar Centifolia is less than a block away from Bar Yamamoto but was closed that night. Tokyo Confidential is also very close by.
Here are my tasting notes in the order that they were served:
1 - Yuzu and Sochu
2 - Strawberries and Daikon / Sochu
3 - Kiwi/Marc Grappier Brandy made from Pinot noir
4 - Soy Milk / Fava Beans / Palo Single Malt Whiskey from Finland
5 - Pineapple / Japanese Whiskey
6 - 🍅 Tomato/Lemon/Tomato Jam/ Benromach Whiskey
7 - Quince / Wasabi / Kyro Finnish whiskey
Amazing, every cocktail was a unique flavor that I didn’t know was possible. Very unique and thoughtful experience. Will definitely go back!
