A street lamp, a bench and the word TRENCH in gold on the window are about all that mark Bar Trench, a cocktail bar on a back alley a few minutes from the west exit of Ebisu Station in Tokyo, Japan. The people behind Bar Tram opened Bar Trench in 2010 as their second bar, and this fall, sixteen years on, it came in at No. 74 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2026.
Bar Trench is named for the military kind. According to the website, a trench is where you lie low for a while with your friends, make a plan or get your strength back before moving forward again, and the bar wants to be that for people in the city. The bar's Instagram has also run a post of Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Prince and Catherine Deneuve in trench coats, so the coat is in the running too.
Absinthe and Bitters in Ebisu
Bar Trench is a single small room on the ground floor of the DIS Building, painted mostly black, with a glass front that lets the street look straight in at the back bar, though the website still calls it a hideout. Time Out compared the interior to fin de siècle France. Bar books are stacked on top of the bottles behind the counter, and the bottles run heavily to herbal liqueurs (Chartreuse and Picon among them) and to bitters, of which The 50 Best says the bar claims the biggest collection in Japan.
The absinthe came over from Bar Tram, which opened in 2003 and had more than 100 kinds on its shelves by about 2005. At Bar Trench it's still poured the old way, absinthe in the glass, a sugar cube on a slotted spoon and chilled water dripped over it at roughly three to five parts water to one part absinthe. The chief bartender and co-owner, Rogerio Igarashi Vaz, is a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian born in São Paulo who has judged world cocktail competitions and revised the absinthe recipes from the Savoy Cocktail Book for the company's website, and two of his staff have won Japan's national cocktail title. The staff speak English, and on a given night plenty of the people at the counter are visitors.
The Trench 75, Top to Bottom
The autumn-winter menu started on September 9, printed on a houndstooth pattern, with a warning at the top: "Alcohol content increases as you move down the list." The house signature is the TRENCH75, Nikka Coffey Gin, Lemon, Honey, Sparkling Sake, for ¥1,850 ($12). The menu calls it "A refined Japanese twist on the classic French 75," with the citrus and a little Japanese pepper coming through the bubbles. When the ransomware attack on Asahi in the fall of 2025 held up Nikka supplies, Bar Trench poured a stand-in called the Space Storm until the gin came back.
The absinthe drinks have their own page. Try the Kinkan Collins, Kumquat Liqueur, Lemon, Perrier, Absinthe, at ¥1,800 ($12), or The Smuggler, Absinthe, Orange, Lemon, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, at ¥1,750 ($12), which the menu says is how people drank absinthe in secret while it was banned. You should also order the Coat of Arms, Rye, Cocchi Americano, Gran Classico, Absinthe, Peychaud's Bitters (¥1,950, $13), which the menu places "Between Negroni and Sazerac."
From the classics list, La Louisiane is Michter's Rye, Benedictine, Sweet Vermouth, Absinthe, Peychaud's Bitters at ¥2,300 ($15), and the Charlie Chaplin is Monkey 47 Sloe Gin, Apricot Liqueur, Eau De Vie, Lime. Back on the signature list, Beets Around The Bush is Dry Vermouth, PX Sherry, Tonka Beets Cordial, Tonic Water, Lagavulin 16yrs Whisky, garnished with cured ham (vegetarians are asked to mention it to the staff). The splurges are the Coco Martinez, Appleton 21Y Rum, Coconut Rum, Fortified Wine, Maraschino Liqueur, Bogart's Bitters, for ¥2,350 ($16), and the Añejo Margarita with Don Julio Añejo for ¥2,850 ($19). Finally, the four non-alcoholic drinks are ¥1,400 ($9) each, and the House Ginger Beer is House-made Ginger Cordial, Lime, Perrier.
Getting a Seat at Bar Trench
Bar Trench is open every day from 6pm to 2am and takes no reservations, and the website asks people to come in small groups because there isn't much room. A line can form before the door opens at 6, and the room fills up fast, Fridays especially. The overflow goes to Bar Trench Annex, which opened directly across from the main bar at 1-4-8 Ebisu-Nishi, keeps the same hours and takes bookings on TableCheck. A 10% service charge is added to the bill, and everyone orders at least one drink. There's no smoking inside, but you can smoke on the bar's own patch of pavement out front, next to the bench.
Bar Trench is No. 6 in our guide to the best bars in Tokyo. Bar BenFiddich in Nishi-Shinjuku grows its own wormwood and uses absinthe as one of its four base spirits, and Bar High Five in Ginza doesn't have a menu at all. If you only stay for one, order the Kinkan Collins, one of four drinks the menu marks TR for recommended.
Photos: Bar Trench, Bar Trench, Bar Trench, Bar Trench, Small Axe Inc. (Bar Trench)
