Kansai Independent Travel | Kyoto Bars | Bee's Knees | A Speakeasy Down a Back Alley | Repeat Entrant on Asia's 50 Best Bars | No. 44 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2023
Bee's Knees is a bar in Kyoto near the banks of the Kamo River, themed around the underground speakeasies of the Prohibition era. The exterior is so understated it's easy to miss, and the front door even reads "Book Store" — only when you push it open do you discover the world hidden inside. It has made Asia's 50 Best Bars list several years running, coming in at No. 44 in 2023.
📜 Information
- Address: 604-0961 Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward, Kamiyacho, 364 マツヤビル 1F
- Opening hours: 18:00–01:00
- Prices: ¥1,800 – ¥2,100 per drink; no seating charge
- Official page: https://www.instagram.com/bees.knees.kyoto
📍 Location & Atmosphere
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| The door only says "Book Store" — anyone who doesn't know would think it's a bookshop |
Bee's Knees sits near the bustling Kyoto Kawaramachi Station, an area packed with shops and restaurants. To get there you turn into the small lane of Nishikiyamachi Street, but since there's no signboard it's very easy to walk right past. When we arrived there happened to be people already waiting at the door, which made it easier to confirm we were in the right place.
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| Look for the small bee sign above — that's the place |
Bee's Knees opens at six. We arrived around seven on a Monday evening, and it was already full with a waiting list... its popularity is quite astonishing.
Waiting is now handled through a queueing app. After downloading the app and signing in at the bar, you don't have to wait at the door — you can go wander nearby, and the bar will notify you through the app when a seat opens up. Just come back within 15 minutes and you're set. Very convenient.
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| We didn't have to wait long before a seat opened up |
The moment you step inside you're greeted by pulsing, rhythmic music — it feels just like a bar in Europe or the US, not at all Japanese in style. Almost all the guests are foreign visitors, and the atmosphere is lively.
The space itself isn't very big: aside from a bar counter seating around 10 people plus a table by the entrance, there's nowhere else to sit, and the aisles are fairly narrow, so it feels a little cramped overall.
📜 Menu
The way you pay here is a bit different from most Japanese bars: there's no seating charge, and what you pay is simply the price on the drinks list. Per-glass prices are a touch higher than at bars in Osaka or Fukuoka. Many of the drinks on the list are twists on the classics, and they all look interesting — I wanted to try quite a few.
🍸 Cocktails
Sakura Bee's Knees (¥ 1,900)
ROKU Gin / SG KOME / ZUBROWKA / Sakura Leaf / Absinthe / Grapefruit Juice / Apple Juice / Lemon / Honey / Cinnamon
This is a variation on the Bee's Knees. It packs in a lot of ingredients, yet the balance is good — floral notes, honey and fruit come together nicely, making it my favourite drink of the night.
Ninja Smash (¥ 2,100)
Ki No Bi Gin / Yuzu & Passionfruit / Lemon / Shiso Leaf / Sparkling Sake / Green Tea Aroma
Built on Ki No Bi gin, this Ninja Smash leads with passionfruit, sweet-tart and easy to drink. A shiso leaf tucked beside the straw releases its aroma as you sip, and the most theatrical touch is the dry ice they pour in, making for a very photogenic, memorable presentation.
Florist Sour (¥ 1,900)
Lavender Gin / St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur / Rose Syrup / Lemon / Egg White
This floral-forward Florist Sour uses lavender gin, elderflower liqueur and rose syrup — the flowery aromas really do burst out, and the egg white adds a silky extra layer. For my taste, though, it was just a touch on the sweet side.
Bamboo Forest (¥ 2,000)
Hendricks Gin / Homemade Botanical Wine / Elderflower /Passion fruits/ Maric acid
This one again pairs floral notes with passionfruit, and the flavour direction is actually quite good — but it was simply far too sweet... When it first arrived it was almost undrinkably sweet; it only improved after sitting a while and diluting.
Ki No Tea Bee's Knees (¥ 2,300)
At the end I asked the bartender for a tea-flavoured Bee's Knees, and he made the classic using Ki No Tea gin. Unfortunately the original character of the Ki No Tea was basically buried, so this one wasn't especially impressive or memorable.
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| Five drinks, ¥10,200 |
Overall it was a pretty good experience: besides the lively atmosphere, the quality of the drinks at a bar that keeps making Asia's 50 Best is certainly up to standard. Whether you like the taste is subjective — for me, most of them were genuinely on the sweet side. Several of the drinks I ordered were quite sweet, and one was even too sweet to drink. It's probably a bar worth experiencing once.
More bar write-ups from around the world:
Bar List | Bar surfing around the world | A record of bars around the globe
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