Royal Bar
Tokyo, Japan
ASIA'S50 BEST2016
No. 28 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2016.
Royal Bar is the classic bar of Palace Hotel Tokyo in Marunouchi, set behind a single door off the main lobby. Its counter is a careful restoration of the one in the first Royal Bar, which opened at the hotel in 1961, and behind which the bar's first chief bartender, nicknamed Mr. Martini, worked for years. The alcove is all dark wood, deep leather and plush velvet, and it draws serious drinkers of top-shelf spirits to its 25 seats. Today's chief bartender, Manabu Ohtake, took Japan's Diageo Reserve World Class title in 2011 and was then named Bartender of the Year in the international competition.
