Pretty to look at, rubbish beer, a bit too up it’s own bum for me.

Having tended bar in award winning cocktail bars in London for a number of years, while in newcastle i was recommended Tokyo by a friend, the bar has a fantastic atmosphere with a great upstairs area. The majority of the bartenders are passionate and well trained and are able to put together a good quality drink. However the venue is let down by the quality of its cocktail menu, where the classics are neglected in favor of a lot of new age cocktails, which if you were new or unexperienced as a customer in the cocktail world are always a good place to start. The other honey trap which unfortunately Tokyo falls into along with a considerable number of bars in the North-East is getting the balance of the drink between sweet and sours. I got the impression that drinking cocktails in the North-East is seen as a slightly effeminate pursuit and hence the drinks tend to be a little on the sweet side. Otherwise a fantastic place in which to spend an evening after work or to kick start a big night out.