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What it costs before you order anything

A cover charge is decided by the bar, is rarely posted, and is never on a review site. This table is the arithmetic on what was actually charged, bar by bar, on a dated visit.

26 bars recorded 24 take a card No input collected
A quiet Tokyo bar counter lit by a single lamp

What the records show

Bars recorded
26
Charge nothing to sit down
5
Median flat cover charge
¥600
Will not take a card
2

These count records, not bars in Tokyo. 26 visits is not a survey of the city, and no figure here is an estimate of one — it is what was charged in these rooms, on these dates.

Before the first drink

Sorted by what sitting down adds to a ¥3,000 round — the cheapest door first. A percentage charge scales with the bill; a flat one does not.

Cover charges, service charges and payment methods at recorded Tokyo bars
Bar Charge to sit Service Adds to a ¥3,000 round Payment Visited
4 Minutes 33 Seconds Shinjuku None Nothing Cash · Cards 2026-08-23
AWASELVES Shinjuku-sanchome None Nothing Cards · QR code 2026-08-21
BAR Arca Shinjuku-sanchome None Nothing Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-21
Bar Gin&It Shinjuku-sanchome None Nothing Cash · Cards 2026-08-22
BAR B&F Shinjuku 10% cover charge ¥300 Cash · Cards 2026-08-23
Bar Bellustar Seibu-Shinjuku None 15% ¥450 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-22
Albatross Shinjuku-nishiguchi ¥500 cover charge ¥500 Cash Cash only 2026-08-23
ALBATROSS G Shinjuku-sanchome ¥500 cover charge ¥500 Cash · Cards 2026-08-23
Aquavity Shinjuku-nishiguchi ¥500 cover charge ¥500 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-21
Bar Accueil Shinjuku ¥500 cover charge ¥500 Cash · Cards 2026-08-05
BAR HAVANA Shinjuku-sanchome ¥500 cover charge ¥500 Cash Cash only 2026-08-22
Bar Violet Shinjuku-sanchome ¥500 cover charge ¥500 Cash · Cards 2026-08-05
Roof Top Bar & Terrace G Higashi-shinjuku ¥500 cover charge ¥500 Cash · Cards 2026-08-21
3rd ROOM Shinjuku-sanchome ¥600 cover charge ¥600 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-05
After Taste Shinjuku ¥600 cover charge ¥600 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-05
Bar Benfiddich Shinjuku 10% cover charge 10% ¥600 Cash · Cards 2026-08-05
BAR Cocktail Book Shinjuku-nishiguchi ¥600 cover charge ¥600 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-22
Bar Hermit (East) Shinjuku ¥660 cover charge ¥660 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-22
BAR CREAM Shinjuku ¥550 cover charge 5% ¥700 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-22
BAR CROSSING Shinjuku-nishiguchi ¥500 cover charge 10% ¥800 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-22
Bar Accola Shinjuku-sanchome ¥880 service charge ¥880 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-05
4C's BAR Rosso Shinjuku-sanchome ¥1,000 cover charge ¥1,000 Cash · Cards 2026-08-21
Anniversary Seibu-Shinjuku ¥1,000 cover charge ¥1,000 Cash · Cards 2026-08-20
Bar Bruder Shinjuku-sanchome ¥1,000 cover charge ¥1,000 Cash · Cards 2026-08-23
Bar Composition Shinjuku ¥1,000 cover charge ¥1,000 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-22
Bar Dresden Shinjuku-sanchome ¥1,650 cover charge 10% ¥1,950 Cash · Cards · QR code 2026-08-22

How the last column is worked out

Take a ¥3,000 order of drinks. Add the cover, seating or otoshi charge: the yen figure where the bar quotes one, or that percentage of ¥3,000 where it quotes a percentage. Add the service charge as a percentage of the ¥3,000, not of the charge — whether a bar compounds the two is not something a receipt reliably shows, and this page does not guess at it.

Prices in Japan are displayed tax-inclusive, and these figures were recorded as they were charged. None of this is a price list. A bar may change what it charges the week after a visit, and several of these charges apply per person rather than per table. The date on each row is the whole of the guarantee.

Why a cover charge exists at all, what it may legally be called, and what a bar has to accept when you pay are separate questions, answered from the rules rather than from visits: