Another famous venue in Tokyo due to Bill Murray’s patronage in Lost in Translation, this top floor bar provides incredible views of Shinjuku and the surrounding area.

Right up on the 43rd floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo is probably near to as high you can get in Shinjuku. With the nearby Tokyo Metropolitan building, the original landmark of the Tokyo tower (copied quite brazenly from the Eiffel Tower) and the new 600 metre tall Tokyo Skytree off in the distance, everything looks very impressive indeed.

This view does come at a price, for patrons of the hotel and those that simply come in off the street, it costs ¥2,400 per person just as a cover charge just to sit there. So if you do up for a visit, it’s probably best to have a few cocktails to make it worth it!

For cocktails we went for classics in a Manhattan and a Mojito which cost about ¥2,000 each. They were lovely cocktails. Classically done, not scrimping on the spirits and not overly filling the Mojito with ice – a classic cost saver with Mojitos!

Overall, the experience was a good one, but it has to be said there was hardly any light in the bar at all. It was very dark, and we found the menus very difficult to read unless held under one of the table lamps. It also appears to be one of the few places in the western world that still allows smoking in such a constricted space.

This probably splits the potential patrons of this bar straight down the middle. If you like an ol’ fashioned jazz bar with band on hand on most nights, the occasional plume of smoke, but with very nice cocktails and one of the best views around then this is for you.

However if that is not to your liking there is another fantastic bar with almost as good a view – it’s only a few floors down in the same hotel. Called the Peak Bar, it has a lofty atrium roof, bamboo plants everywhere, retains the great view and still has a good cocktail list… the choice is yours!

¥8,000-9,000 for cocktails for two (¥2,400 one-off cover charge per head inc.)

http://tokyo.park.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/NewYorkBar.html

+81 3 5322 1234

3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo, Japan, 163-1055