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Help Ordering Alcohol In Japanese Bars/nightclubs

J

JustSomeGuy

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OK, this will probably seem stupid, but I have no idea how to go about ordering drinks in a Japanese bar or nightclub. Beer seems easy enough but I don't usually drink much of that because more than 2 pints will make me feel sick. In the UK I usually stick to whisky, rum or similar as I can drink as much of that as I want until I'm drunk.

Well, I've done loads of searching on google and I can't find any guides for ordering drinks in Japanese. If anyone can tell me specifically how I might order say a rum and coke, or whisky and coke or how shots are ordered (do they use different random names for them like we do in the UK?). I guess really I don't even know if they even drink whisky or rum, can't see anything much that confirms it. Any help would be really appreciated.
 
Not sure how universal my experience is but here goes ....

Typically there will be a huge list of every combination of spirits and mixers available, under the specific spirit there will be the names of the combination most likely written in katakana. You choose off this list - Japanese staff can't normally handle any variation to the menu. The drinks will be served in a standard size, standard meaning whatever that particular place considers standard.
 
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psd said:
Not sure how universal my experience is but here goes ....

Typically there will be a huge list of every combination of spirits and mixers available, under the specific spirit there will be the names of the combination most likely written in katakana. You choose off this list - Japanese staff can't normally handle any variation to the menu. The drinks will be served in a standard size, standard meaning whatever that particular place considers standard.
Click to expand...

That's been my experience too. Learn katakana, it's your friend. Read from the menu and point, is what I usually do just to make sure they know what I want. Or if you don't know how to pronounce it and there's pictures, you could just point and say "kore o kudasai" (give me this please).
 
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That is actually perfect! I can read Kana easily so I should be fine then. My worst fear was that there would be no menu's and that they'd be relying on me asking for what I wanted (in Japanese). I'm hopeful that it should be readily apparent what the different kind of drinks are. Anyways, thank you both you guys for your help.
 
The items used in mixed drinks have the same names as English just in a Japanese accent so you should have no problem even without a menu. ラム　コーク；ギン　トニク；ginger ale is a bit of a tongue twister but context is your friend. Of course your Japanese improves as you get more drunk!
 
With Western drinks, this really is not much of an issue, since all you need to get used to is the Katakana pronounciation of names that you know. Sake of course is a different story.

If you drink Whisky, be aware of the Japanese "mizuwari" concept. That means mixing with water. Great if you want to avoid getting drunk, but I understand for Whisky purists it is a sacrilege.
 
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