Lyphard bar lounge, Minowa train station Tokyo Japan.

What’s there to say about one of the best little bar/lounges in Tokyo (in my opinion) located seconds from the Minowa station?  Let’s get started shall we?

I had located a cheap hostel in the Minowa neighborhood of Tokyo.  While walking home one night I noticed the relaxed lighting and the ambiance coming from this little spot on the third floor next to my neighborhood train exit.  My first assumption was that it was a condo belonging to some lucky and rich individual. The following day while exiting the train station on my way to the hostel I decided to walk around the building in question to see if perhaps I could get a better view of exactly what this particular place was.  To my surprise I discovered that it was a bar/lounge on the top floor of a small building. I stood outside trying to convince myself to go up the stairs and sit down in a Japanese bar alone for the first time.  It took a few seconds to convince myself to go up and I can’t help but wonder how my Tokyo experience would of been different if I hadn’t.
I gathered up my courage walked up the stairs and entered the bar.  I was the first customer of the day and sat down at a table near the window.  The barman approached me with a warm towel and I tried to indicate that it wasn’t necessary, mostly because I wasn’t certain what I was suppose to use the warm towel for.

He insisted politely and i proceeded to accept the towel and wash hands.  After a few moments i also washed my face with the towel, neatly folding it afterward and placing it on the table.  I ordered a Guiness and sipped on it while trying to soak in the atmosphere. There were two barmen behind the bar both dressed up in business man attire.  I sat back and sipped on my guiness trying to relax (which isn’t the easiest thing to do when you first walk into a foreign bar that’s empty!).  Being the only patron there the barman asked me in fairly good English were I was from.  I answered Canada and so my experience at Lyphard began. Here are a few quick shots from outside the bar.  Although some are slightly out of focus I felt that they gave a better “feel” for the bar than the pictures with the flash so I have included them:

While drinking my Guiness I was thinking of what my next drink should be.  I had been wandering the streets of Tokyo all day and was in the mood to just relax and sip on a few drinks for a couple of hours.  Thinking back to one night in Seoul, the drink in question popped into my head: Gin and Tonic!

Still the only customer in the place I ordered myself a gin and tonic.  

The barman and his assistant only occasionally looked my way in what I assume was Japanese politeness.  Eventually we struck up a conversation which is probably common to travelers:

• How long have you been in Tokyo?
• How long are you staying?
• How long have you been traveling?
• What other places have you been?
• How do you like Japan/Tokyo/Japanese people?

While working our way through the usual questions I kept slowly sipping on the gin and tonics.  At some point during the night I was offered a free appetizer:

Unfortunately at the time I didn’t think of asking what it was made of; but I do remember it was delicious.  I tried to ask him what it was the following day but the language barrier prevented me from getting an answer.  Japanese patrons started arriving at the bar so the conversation between ourselves ended as they tended to the clientele.
I continued to order gin and tonic until the end of the night when the bar closed.  I was one of the last patrons out the door (there was one Japanese man left who knew the barman) and the barman thanked me profusely. The conversation, service and appetizer all added up to an warm welcome at this cozy little lounge near my hostel.  I explained to the barman that I would be back in two days (on the Friday) to enjoy another nice night at his establishment.

The following morning I woke up a little before lunch and made my way towards the Ghibli Museum.  You can read all about it here.  After having done so I wandered around the Akihabara neighborhood visiting a few nerd spots and just soaking in the sights and people.  I hadn’t planned on going back to the Lyphard but as I exited the metro I felt the need to sit down and socialize over a few drinks before calling it a night. When I walked in both the barman and his assistant beamed a large smile while exclaiming “It’s not Friday!?!”  I smiled, took a seat at the bar and said I’d be back on Friday as well :-)  On this night the appetizer was some sliced yellow and red peppers, some (what i suspect) was olive oil:

The Thursday night was a little busier but that didn’t stop the barman, assistant and myself talking about life, travel and our respective cultures.  We formally introduced each other by names and I learned that the owner was called Koichi Hosaka and his trusty co worker was Kobayashi Daisuke.  Koichi had been the owner of this little jewel of a lounge for 13 years if I’m not mistaken and Kobayashi had been working with him for the last 3.  He later pulled out another plate and indicated that it was a traditional Japanese desert.  I never got the name but it was very chewy (it stuck to your teeth), extremely sweet and do I need to add; Very delicious?

I also got to try a traditional Japanese cookie, if memory serves me well it was made of a type of bean:

It’s also on this night that I met the Disney Sea employee who kindly gave me a free entry pass to the resort.  He was sitting at the bar and was a ‘semi’ regular patron at the Lyphard.  He had to work the following day so he left around 11 pm.  Also at the bar was a Japanese man and Korean girl.  The barman who knew I spoke a little Korean indicated this to the young woman and didn’t take long before the introductions were made.  Jung Hee had moved from Seoul to Japan to try and become a teacher.  The barman explained to me that her Japanese was quite good, despite her protesting that it was only “ok”.  Most likely some modesty in play.  This quick stop to socialize turned into a all night event. Having befriended Daisuke and Hosaka I grabbed several pictures of the lounge and the views from it:

I had planned on going to Disney Sea on Friday but my late night bicycling adventure delayed my plans.  Instead, once I woke up, I wandered around the Shibuya and Akihabara neighborhoods visiting some nerd stores (animation and toy stores) and soaking up the Japanese people and sights. Saturday was suppose to be my last day in Tokyo.  I was going to take the over night sleeper bus from Tokyo to Hiroshima.  I would spend the day at Disney world and then sleep my way to Hiroshima.  With this in mind I went shopping for a small gift for the Hosaka and Daysuke.  I had read that Japanese people really enjoy receiving gifts of any type and I also wanted to thank them making me feel so welcomed at their establishment (as well as for all the food they had made me try!).  I wandered around Tokyo and eventually found two nice ties at the Tokyo train station (one for each of them).

As previously mentioned: I had learned from my time at the lounge that they had been working together for 3 years, 6 days a week from approximately 5 pm to whenever the last client left (anywhere between 2 am to 4 am).   I wanted to buy them something that would be useful and appreciated so I went with two ties. I walked in Friday night put my backpack underneath the bar and ordered myself a Gin and Tonic.  The appetizer on this night was a bruschetta with thinly sliced meat (didn’t get the type of meat and i didn’t grab a picture of it).  It was like all the rest of the food prepared at this place: amazing. I sat enjoying the drink while soaking up the atmosphere.  Hosaka would occasionally engage in a quick conversation in between serving his clients.  This allowed me to watch them in action.  I had heard/read that Japanese people strive for efficiency and perfection as much as possible in all the things they do (the best way I can think of explaining this is that they always try their best regardless of the task they are attempting.)

Watching the care they used in preparing drinks and meals was both amazing and inspiring at the same time.  Both bartenders would always taste the drinks they were mixing on multiple occasions by using a small spoon, placing a small amount of the drink on top of their hand and sampling it.  If any adjustments were needed they would then make them and re-taste the drink/food until the deemed it perfect. Slowly approaching the end of the night I explained to them that it was my last night in Tokyo.   I would be taking the Saturday night bus to Hiroshima.  It was funny to see both of them suddenly look sad.  I quickly understood that they had grown just as fond of our time together as I had of them. After having broken the news to my newly made Japanese friends I explained to them that I had bought them a small gift and I hoped that this was ok.  Social customs are a tricky thing in Japan and i didn’t want to offend anyone.  After getting their assurances that it was ok I handed them both a small bag with their ties.

It was too funny to see these two Japanese guys so happy to have received a tie!  They both quickly took off the ties that they were wearing and put on the ones they had just received.  I asked them if it would ok to snap a picture of them before I left and they had no objections so here it is.  The best bartender team in Japan:

Daisuke on the left and Hosaka on the right.  Hosaka is the owner and Daisuke is the ‘character’.  His smile and peace symbols are intentional ;-)

Needless to say I was a little sad to say goodbye to them but there were many more sights to see and I had to get going.  The following morning I had a little surprise waiting for me!  When I tried to purchase a ticket for the over night bus to Hiroshima they were all sold out.  The earliest that I was able to purchase a ticket would be for the Monday night bus.  I went ahead and purchased one fore Monday, booked a few extra days at my hostel and left for Disney world. After having spent the day at disney world i stopped into the Lyphard in order to try one of the dishes i had seen prepared during the week.  When i walked in the faces of Daisuke and Hosaka lit up with a mix of surprise and joy, which made me laugh.  I quickly explained to them that I had been unable to purchase a ticket for Saturday night and that I had purchased one for Monday.  As they Lyphard would be closed on Sunday this would truly be my last night Tokyo and at the Lyphard.

I sat down and ordered this excellent spaghetti pasta dish, which had some cabbage, chorizo (a small delicious spicy Mexican sausage) and what I suspect was some olive oil.  The pasta was al dente and cooked with the same care a surgeon uses to operate:

It was nice, light and filling.  It wasn’t very long afterward that Hosaka excused himself to go buy some “bar supplies”.  He returned with a small bag and asked me if I was still hungry.  I answered that i was (I’m almost always hungry) and he beamed a smile.  He opened up the plastic bag he had and handed me a tray of sushi, Takoyaki and Nato.

The sushi he told me was from one of his favorite spots a local supermarket and to be honest it was definitely some very good sushi! (seriously if he hadn’t told me it came from a supermarket I would of easily believed it came form a fancy/expensive restaurant.)

The Takoyaki was very interesting.  It’s made using a light batter and contains small pieces of squid inside.  It’s then covered with a variety of sauces (usually Okonomiyaki sauce, part of another Japanese dish I unfortunately didn’t get to try) and some fish shavings.  It was actually very tasty but after having eaten the pasta and the sushi I was unable to finish it and asked Daiskuke and Hosaka to share some with me.

The picture of Takoyaki is courtesy of Keith Pomakis taken from Wikiepdia:

Finally it was on to the nato, which is a traditional Japanese breakfast snack/meal.  These are fermented soy beans to which you add some Japanese mustard.  We all laughed while I was eating them because Hosaka noticed that the beans in this particular dish were from Canada, but it was a Japanese delicacy, that I as a Canadian was trying for the first time while in Tokoyo Japan ;-)  It looks like beans that are in a sticky caramel but it doesn’t taste anything like it.  The beans have the consistency you would expect but the taste was foreign to me.  I didn’t hate the taste but I didn’t enjoy it either.  Like certain delicacies it most likely ‘grows’ on you the more you try it.  Here’s a picture of the Nato in question:

The eating done he pulled out one last surprise from his bags:  A manga (comic book) of Ghost in the Shell.  Although written in Japanese I really appreciated that he bought me this particular gift.  Even though I really am no good at it I do enjoy drawing and this will be a great inspiration and memory of my time in Japan!

If you’d like to check out this place here’s a map showing you how to get there.  Just go to the Minowa stop.  It’s on the opposite side of the street from the Mcdonalds and the Pachinko parlor:

View Larger Map

Some parting thoughts on Lyphard:

• On my last night there, in between serving clients Daisuke approached me and simply said “Sad”.  His spoke very little english but the meaning was understood.  I answered “hai” (yes in Japanese) and that was all that needed to be said!
• Hosaka when speaking to the some of his clients expressed his belief that I had a “Japanese Soul” when we talked about the various foods and reasons I was in Japan.   I’d like to think this was also because of my personality.  As I’ve stated before I find the Japanese mentality of always thinking of your neighbor very interesting!
• At one point during the night Hosaka looked at me when I said “I think it’s time to go” and he abruptly replied “Don’t think, just feel”.  Whether or not this is some kind of Japanese insight I’ll never know but it hit home for me.  I think sometimes I over think situations.  (That last sentence is a perfect example of that!)
• The gin and tonics were served in tin cups with large chunks of clear ice.   This particular drink isn’t something I would often purchase in Canada and there’s no doubt that for the remainder of my days I’ll always associate it with this place.

I miss the Lyphard and it’s awesome staff.  If you ever stop by tell them the crazy Canadian from Montreal says hello.  They’ll know exactly who you’re talking about.