Albatross

Hidden among the tiny, time-worn yakitori stalls of Omoide Yokocho, by Shinjuku station, Albatross is a tiny three-storey salon that seats, in total, around 30 people. The floor above is officially a gallery, more accurately a Japanese-style room with a few pictures on the walls. Upper-floor customers place their orders and receive their drinks through a hole in the floor; an operation that becomes increasingly perilous as the night progresses and senses diminish. Up top, in lenient weather, a rickety roof accommodates half a dozen more drinkers. The crowd is a genuinely eclectic mix of suits, artists, expats and students.