Review

Located near JR Takadanobaba station on the Yamanote Line, Outsider 7.7 is a tiny Shot Bar that shares a building with the Gate One blues and jazz club - the bar is on the 1st floor, the club is in the basement. The bar’s counter takes up almost half of Outsider 7.7’s total floor area, and the room is overcrowded when all ten barstools are occupied. A step away from the bar is a solitary, large table, surrounded by benches, and two ledges at which to lean.

In the centre of the table is a laminated poster, acting as a place mat, on which the picture is beer bottles of the world; interestingly, the slogan on the poster - ’Life is full of difficult decisions’ - mirrors my own thoughts: should I attempt to get into the pants of the two sexy, non-English-speaking women serving at the bar and should I scarper without paying! It’s obvious the bill is likely to be extortionate, as by simply taking a seat you’re immediately presented with a small cocktail glass full of assorted nuts and a hot towel, the latter of which is placed upon your outstretched, upturned palms by one of the insistent, gorgeous barstaff. As I prepared to leave I was asked to pay for ¥1,000 (£5.61) for the small of local beer, a ½-pint glass.

There are many notable features within Outsider 7.7, including a large Asahi fridge next to the entrance that is brimming with beer and wine, a couple of fluorescent lights causing the self-adhesive stars and planets to glow on the ceiling, and the massive wall paintings that feature a tropical paradise of palm-trees bowing to golden sand and a clear, blue sea. Outsider 7.7 has two TVs, each showing a different program, the ubiquitous video jukebox and an anomalous, central partition that appears to serve no purpose whatsoever, something on which to hang coats and jackets.

The assortment of junk, novelties and knick-knacks is excessive, with every shelf, nook and cranny crammed with odds and ends. Screwed to the wall are various US license plates and a London Abbey Road sign, a couple of shelves hold dusty, model ships, large inflatable Carlsberg and Bacardi bottles serve no particular purpose, and the bar itself is lined with spirit bottles and tatty novelties, including a few miniature pinball machines. Atop the TV on the bar is a large, boxed caricature figure of Mark McGwire’(?) - apparently he’s a baseball player for St Louis Cardinals.

Outsider 7.7 Shot Bar is expensive - perhaps as a deterrent for gaijins - but worth a visit just to see the beautiful women behind the bar, who I’m certain were continuously giggling and whispering about the stranger in their midst.

Review by mr_psm