New York’s Japanese Cocktail Bars Are Having a Moment. These Are the 5 to Book Now

Two bartenders who once worked the same hidden East Village bar just walked off with special awards on the same night. At The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026 ceremony in Milan on October 7, Shingo Gokan, the force behind Sip & Guzzle, received the Roku Industry Icon Award, and Takuma Watanabe, who followed him as head bartender at Angel’s Share before co-founding Martiny’s, was named the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender. Their New York bars made the list, too: Sip & Guzzle at No. 14 and Martiny’s at No. 46, six months after Sip & Guzzle was crowned No. 1 in North America. If you were waiting for a sign to book a Japanese cocktail bar this week, consider it delivered.

It’s the right moment to take stock of the scene they helped build. Japanese bartenders and Japanese-inspired bars have quietly rewired what a New York cocktail can be. A martini becomes an exercise in balance. Roasted tea adds depth to an Old Fashioned. A whiff of hinoki turns a familiar drink into something else entirely. The variety is the point: an elegant evening in a Gramercy carriage house bears little resemblance to a rowdy night on Hudson Street, and both deserve a place on your itinerary.

From Watanabe’s Martiny’s to Gokan’s Sip, by way of the bar where both their New York stories began, these are the five Japanese cocktail bars in New York City most worth the second round.

Sip at Sip & Guzzle

29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village

Sip & Guzzle was named the best bar in North America at North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026 in April and now ranks No. 14 in the world. The name explains the format: upstairs, Guzzle channels a convivial New York pub under Steve Schneider; downstairs, Sip pours elaborate cocktails from Shingo Gokan and Sam Morris. For this itinerary, head downstairs.

Gokan’s Roku Industry Icon Award recognizes a career that started at Angel’s Share and spread to bars across Japan and China, including The SG Club in Tokyo and Gokan in Hong Kong, a newcomer on this year’s list at No. 41. Sip brings that Tokyo-New York conversation home. The Whisky Nigiri says it all: Japanese whisky, sushi vinegar, sake and wasabi, the vocabulary of a sushi counter poured into a glass, and a strong argument for savory drinks.

Haute Living take: Come curious, and let the team steer you toward the drink you’d never have ordered.

Angel’s Share

45 Grove Street, West Village

Tony Yoshida founded Angel’s Share in 1993 above Village Yokocho in the East Village, and it set the standard for precise, thoughtful drinks in New York. It’s also the shared root of this list’s two award winners: Gokan ran the bar here, and Watanabe followed him as head bartender. After the original closed in 2022, Yoshida’s daughter Erina reopened it on Grove Street in June 2023, carrying over the beloved angel mural, the door and an antique chandelier. It ranks No. 31 on North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026.

The house rules remain part of the appeal: walk-ins only, no standing and no groups larger than four. That makes it a place for a date, a catch-up with a close friend or a drink that deserves your full attention. The menu runs to evocatively named drinks like Flirtibird, Harvest, Night Train and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes; tell the bartender what you like and let them navigate.

Haute Living take: The family tree of New York’s Japanese cocktail scene starts here. Pay your respects.

Bar Goto

245 Eldridge Street, Lower East Side

Kenta Goto opened his namesake bar on the Lower East Side in 2015, and it remains one of the city’s most compelling showcases for Japanese ingredients inside familiar cocktail forms. The Sakura Martini is the natural first order: sake, gin, maraschino and cherry blossom, floral with a gentle salinity. The Hojicha Old Fashioned pairs Cognac and aged rum with Kyoto roasted green tea and mole bitters, the Plum Boulevardier adds Japanese plum to bourbon, vermouth and aperitivo, and the Bar Goto Vesper brings Japanese gin, vodka, kijoshu and a pickled Japanese shallot.

It’s the bar for drinkers who know their cocktail family but want a new interpretation. An Old Fashioned loyalist can follow roasted tea into new territory; a martini devotee can find out what sake does to the glass. Then the food seals it: kombu celery and okonomiyaki, the savory cabbage pancakes that turn a cocktail hour into dinner.

Haute Living take: Order the okonomiyaki, then let the menu talk you into round two.

Martiny’s

121 East 17th Street, Gramercy

Martiny’s opened in April 2022 in a 19th-century carriage house in Gramercy, spread across three floors where the original wood and brick meet Japanese design. Co-founder and beverage director Takuma Watanabe, newly crowned the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender, built the program around shokunin, the Japanese ideal of mastering a craft through endless refinement. The bar ranks No. 46 in the world and No. 23 in North America this year, and its name salutes sculptor Philip Martiny, whose studio once occupied the building (while nodding, conveniently, to Watanabe’s favorite cocktail).

Start with the Grand Martiny’s: gin, manzanilla sherry, port, elderflower liqueur, Cognac and grapes, six big personalities working toward one cohesive drink. “A martini is simple, but simple is the most difficult to master,” Watanabe told The World’s 50 Best. Here, you can taste the mastering.

Haute Living take: Give it the time you would give a good dinner.

Katana Kitten

531 Hudson Street, West Village

Masahiro Urushido opened Katana Kitten on Hudson Street in 2018, and his split-level Japanese-American bar is the liveliest room on this list. Urushido, author of The Japanese Art of the Cocktail, brings a playful sensibility to serious craft. The Hinoki Martini is the defining order, with vodka, gin, fino sherry, junmai daiginjo sake and hinoki tree essence, while the highballs keep the night moving: the Toki Highball with lemon oil, the Shiso Gin & Tonic with lime.

The Japanese-American conversation continues on the plate. A mortadella katsu sando arrives on milk bread with a crisp panko crust, tonkatsu sauce and Dijon, and nori fries and miso-accented deviled eggs give the table more reasons to stay.

Haute Living take: Bring friends, order a highball and save room for the Hinoki Martini.

Read More

See the complete rankings and every special award in Haute Living’s The World’s Best Bar Just Won Again, and It’s Not in New York, London or Paris, then keep the night going with New York’s Hautest Cocktail Lounges To Try Right Now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sip & Guzzle the best bar in North America?

Sip & Guzzle was named No. 1 on North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026, announced in April. On the global list revealed in October, it ranks No. 14 in the world.

Can you make reservations at Angel’s Share?

No. Angel’s Share at 45 Grove Street is walk-in only, with no standing and a maximum group size of four. Arrive early and plan for a small, seated evening.

What should I order at Martiny’s?

Start with the signature Grand Martiny’s, made with gin, manzanilla sherry, port, elderflower liqueur, Cognac and grapes. The bar is built around Watanabe’s love of the martini, so a classic is never the wrong second round.