Gen Yamamoto & Tokyo’s Cocktail Tasting Menus

Gen Yamamoto is hidden in a narrow laneway of the Minato district in Tokyo, Japan.  It’s an intimate cocktail session.  

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Gen Yamamoto is a great place to start for the night.  It’s a very simple artisan cocktail establishment that takes reservations only.  In other words, they didn’t appreciate me coming in screaming “Let’s rage!  Line up the shots, my man. Drinks on me!”.  I’m only kidding.  I didn’t really scream that.  There was no way in hell I was going to pay for everyone’s drinks.

The minimalist bar has only 8 seats around the bar.  The mixologist only has a few bottles of alcohol displayed on his dark wood shelves.  The guests include mostly tourists looking for a different experience than the Minato clubs.  I was looking to get drink, but unfortunately Gen Yamamoto wasn’t helping with that.

However, it was my fault on going cheap with the drinks.  He offers two different drink menus — four versus six.  I went with four since I was trying to behave.  The no background music atmosphere is made for conversations; it’s an experience not suited for a socially awkward human being like myself.  I can barely get my grammar right on this blog, so there was no way I’m going to converse with people.

[irp]

During the event, Yamamoto barely said one word.  He kept a straight face the whole time even when I let one ripped.  He had me wondering whether he was human or not cause a fart using gets a few giggles.  Nope.  He only spoke when he delivered the drinks.  The setup reminded me of sitting at a sushi bar at New York’s Masa.  He was cold and calculated like a serial killer except he wasn’t killing anyone.   My liver was going to live another day.

Gen Yamamoto’s style focused on fruity drinks.  He blends fruits with different sakes and alcohol.  The refreshing drinks with a dash of alcohol got my palate asking for more alcohol.  The sweet flavors of his refreshing Pomodori followed by the tropical Pineapple Sake then the infused Watermelon slushy were all delicious.  Overall, all joking aside, Gen Yamamoto is a fun experience.  I would highly recommend starting out with Gen Yamamoto then heading to another drinking establishment to get trash.

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