The days of eating karaage fried chicken out of the packet and drinking a can of highball while sitting on the pavement outside the konbini are over. At least at this convenience store in Tokyo.
Lawson and Osake-no-Bijutsukan (a self-styled ‘liquor museum’, but it's more of a bar, really) in the Washington Hotel building in Shinjuku have teamed up to open Tokyo’s first konbini-bar. The premise is simple: first, buy your snack of choice from Lawson, then walk over to the adjoining standing bar at Osake-no-Bijutsukan to enjoy your food with a drink.
It’s recommended that you pick up a box of Lawson’s karagekun, the convenience store’s famous fried chicken. If you do, you can enjoy it in the bar with a whisky that was specially made to go with the deep-fried chicken snack.
There’s no table charge at Osake-no-Bijutsukan with your convenience store goods, but you do have to buy a drink at the bar. Good news, though, because all drinks cost just ¥500.
You can also enjoy the konbini-bar experience at venues in Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Saitama.
The Osake-no-Bijkutsukan in Shinjuku is open daily from 3pm to 11pm. More info here.
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