event

Bar OFF/Bas Opening Party

1:09 AM

sendai, bar, japan, party

Flowers for congratulations.

Last month a new bar "OFF/Bas" opened in my neighbourhood. I attended the opening party with my friends who live nearby. The general problem with Japan is that there are very few places where you can go and have a quiet drink and relax. Most people who drink do so while eating or instead they order a "nomihoudai" (all-you-can-drink session). Otherwise, "bars" tend to be expensive places where you pay for the privilege of sitting down or talking to the girl behind the counter.

sendai, bar, japan, party

The (limited) food menu.

I don't want to suggest that my friends and I are raging alcoholics. In fact, quite the opposite. We were looking forward to this bar opening so we would have somewhere close to home where we could relax over a glass of wine...without drunken salarymen or students going crazy beside us!

sendai, bar, japan, party

The (extensive) drink menu.

sendai, bar, japan, party

Traditional Japanese seating area.

sendai, bar, japan, party

Floral arrangements.

sendai, bar, japan, party

I told my friends to "act normal".

We were the first people to arrive and the two lovely staff members looked so relieved. I suppose they were nervous on "opening night". The decor is really lovely, it felt more like a cafe than a bar. The traditional seating area is a wonderful idea and looked so inviting. However, we worried that if we sat/lay down, we would never get back up! Instead we sat along the bar and chatted to the handsome staff for the evening.

sendai, bar, japan, party

Japanese bars always have a seating charge but they give you a little food to make up for it.

sendai, bar, japan, party

Kanpai!

sendai, bar, japan, party

We got some free nuts because we were sooooo cool and foreign, haha.

Everything we had was excellent - the drinks and the snacks. We considered food but thought it was a little expensive when we weren't sure about the serving size. The only disappointing part of the night was the bill - we were stuck with a 500yen seating/service charge each (on top of the customary 5% sales tax). 300yen wouldn't have been too bad but as it was, we weren't impressed. If I go in there for one drink that costs 500yen then there's no way I'm paying a bill of 1000yen.

sendai, bar, japan, party

Cafe & Bar OFF/Bas, Sendai, Japan.

sendai, bar, japan, party


sendai, bar, japan, party

sendai, bar, japan, party

So although we really liked the bar and its staff, the service charge is keeping us from going back again. It's a shame for the bar because we really wanted to give it our custom. I think it's their loss!

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4 comments

  1. Looks like a great spot - such a pity about the service charge!

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    Replies
    1. It's too bad! Can you imagine pubs in Ireland charging a fiver for the privilege of sitting down?!?!

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  2. hi~thanks for your comment❤ that place looks really cozy, the service charge is really a little expensive, though. but it seems, it can't be avoided in Tokyo *sigh* - once I had to pay 700 yen extra charge at an ordinary izakaya >.<

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    Replies
    1. 700yen at an izakaya?!?! That's crazy! I don't know why Japanese people accept things like this...but I suppose you could say that about lots of things in Japan!

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