Bar Untouchable: A taste of Yokohama in Gubei
Bar Untouchable offers patrons more than a well-stocked bar. Its secret weapon: Tamura-san.In a recent straw poll of Shanghai bartenders, Japanese-style bars emerged as the local favorite bar genre.
From el Coctel, Marty Campaign pointed out that Japanese bartending techniques, “are at least 50 to 60 years ahead of anywhere else in the world.”
“What’s great about Shanghai is that people are recognizing this and supporting it,” said Campaign.
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Among Shanghai’s expanding ranks of Japanese bartenders, Bar Untouchable’s Tamura-san remains the undisputed champion.
The place
In the Japanese enclave of Shanghai's Gubei District, Bar Untouchable (not “Untouchables” as it is sometimes called) looks like an unassuming place. It's easily missed by passers-by.
Bar Untouchable is very much a bar workers hangout, and it doesn’t really fill up until many of Shanghai’s other Japanese bars have closed shop for the night.
If you want to find where your bartender drinks, Bar Untouchable is a good bet.
Walls decorated in subtle floral chinoserie and low-slung Scandanavian chairs give the impression that this is the kind of place where the boys (and girls) from Sterling Cooper would come for happy hour.
Yokohama-based owner Kiyotaka Kobayashi has a flair for design and furnishings.
Ordering classic cocktails is the best way to separate barmen from bar mice. It takes years of real apprenticeship under a master to turn out a first-class product.— Marty Campaign, manager of Japanese-style cocktail bar el Coctel
The custom chairs at the bar have one arm shorter than the other, so that guests may swing themselves out of the seated position without disrupting the rest of the bar.
As with many Japanese watering holes, the bartender’s workspace has been lowered so that he can maintain eye contact with seated patrons.
The drinks
With the firm belief that ability to make the simplest cocktails defines a bartender’s overall capability, el Coctel’s Campaign recommends the margarita (RMB 50).
“Right now the only cocktail bartender in Shanghai who practices on the same level as Mune at el Coctel is Tamura-san, head bartender from Bar Untouchable," says Campaign. "The best drink I had there in recent memory is a simple margarita.
"Ordering classic cocktails is the best way to separate barmen from bar mice. No homemade syrups, limited edition bitters, over hyped micro-distilled brands or smoke and mirrors to hide behind. Just a basic recipe and superior technique -- it takes years of real apprenticeship under a master of his field to consistently turn out first-class product like that.”
While Tamusa-san’s version of the Mexican drink is clearly no syrupy Tijuana special, he also doesn't try to impress with obscure (and expensive) ingredients. Just Sauza Tequila Blanco, Cointreau and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
The drink that made Tamusa-san’s reputation is the Blue Dal (RMB 60), a 2006 NBA (that would stand
Made with vodka, blueberry liqueur, yogurt liqueur and fresh grapefruit juice, it's a refreshing concoction and more refined than its ingredients indicate, with the citrus cutting through the sweetness of the liqueurs.
Accompaniments include various snacks (from RMB 50) and a selection of cigars (RMB 230), but the focus here is strictly on the drinks, with standard cocktails from RMB 50.
The man
Drawing his inspiration from the Tom Cruise character in “Cocktail,” the much-lauded Tamusa-san has been bartending for eight years.
The Tokyo native made the move to Shanghai and Bar Untouchable about two and a half years ago.
Despite his neat appearance, white dinner jacket and bowtie, there's a touch of beatnik about the 30-year-old with his clean-shaven scalp and soul-patched chin.
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It comes as little surprise that Tamusa-san enjoys old-school long board surfing in Surfer’s Paradise, Australia during his time off.
Lately, however, he's spent most of his holidays in Yokohama at the original Bar Untouchable, exchanging ideas and perfecting his craft.
