Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2010
Photo by James Hadfield
The main shotengai in the suburb of Sangenjaya isn’t short on places to drink. But the innumerable Korean-style barbecue restaurants, izakaya and renowned live house Heaven’s Door all share one thing in common: a certain, shall we say, downmarket flavor. So it was a surprise to discover Bar de Pomme, a stylish little boozer whose friendly atmosphere and fiendish horror theme make for a comfortable nightspot.
Ms Ringo, the beautiful owner (she insisted we write that, but in any case it’s true), opened Bar de Pomme three years ago. She says she deliberately chose an obscure location—down an alley off the main thoroughfare—in a bid to attract fewer ordinary passersby and more “maniacs.” Charmed, I’m sure.
The bar’s decor is a hangover from the first of its annual Halloween parties. There’s a Jack Skellington statuette in one corner, silhouettes of haunted houses and graveyards around the walls, a dartboard embellished with toy skulls, and plastic vampire bats hanging worryingly close to metal crucifixes from the ceiling. The bathroom walls are covered in photos from subsequent celebrations and flyers for bondage events. Bottles sit on dark mahogany shelves, and the elegant chairs and tables are made of wrought iron.
The bar’s speakers blare a mix of R&B, punk and rock, plus whatever’s on the iPod of any customer who feels like hijacking the stereo. The owner’s love for My Bloody Valentine, The Cure and The Smiths had us feeling right at home.
During happy hour (8-10pm), all drinks are ¥500, which rises to ¥800 plus a ¥500 cover charge afterwards; this gets you a bowl of slightly unpleasant popcorn. Aside from the obvious cocktails, the menu includes a few Goth-sounding specialties, such as the Green Spider, a mix of vodka and menthol liquor that tastes like mouthwash and which Ringo advised us against ordering. In the future, we’ll take her advice.
The Moscow Mule and Gin Rickey tasted slightly weak but just about acceptable, and came with a choice of sweet or dry ginger ale. The house white wine, Castello del Trebbio, was a little on the sweet side, but things got more interesting when Ringo concocted a special cocktail on the spot just for us, containing vodka, Cinzano and lime. There may have been some sort of fruit juice in there too, though after drinking one of these, you wouldn’t remember either.
Better still, Bar de Pomme has a shisha, one of those Arabic tobacco pipes that filter flavored smoke through a bulb of water. Sucking on the elongated hose, customers can enjoy tobacco in a variety of fruit flavors for ¥1,000 per block. If this gives you the munchies, the food menu ranges from ¥500 for mixed nuts, beef jerky or assorted potato chips to ¥1,000 for beef curry. No pommes, though.
