St. James Club

One of the first bars with a riverside terrace in Kyoto, St James Club opened in 1983, making it a veteran by this city’s standards. And its appropriately old-fashioned, the kind of place where the music – usually mellow jazz – is played at a low enough volume for conversations to take place and where the bar staff get to know the regulars, and their chosen tipples. There are two branches of St James Club – this one has a more international feel while the Pontocho branch feels more Japanese.