What do solo drinkers look for in a bar? Great cocktails, masterful bartenders, engaging conversations with strangers, good music, eye candy...the list goes on, but all of these elements can also be summarised with one word: salvation. As the old adage goes, salvation can be found only in church or at a bar – perhaps one just like Kagurazaka's Au Bout du Monde, which means 'the end of the world' in French. The name shouldn't be understood in an apocalyptic sense, as it's more indicative of the many customs, people and cocktails that live on here but have been forgotten by the outside world.
One of these symbols of a bygone age is the Last Word cocktail, first mixed in the years right before America's prohibition laws came into effect. Another is the collection of vintage bottles, which includes everything from whisky to rare liqueurs. Take your time and explore as many as you can, after which you should be ready to return to the grind waiting outside Au Bout du Monde's heavy door.