Bar-hopping with MagicalTrip
Potoncho
To save money I tend to research things I want to do and how to go about the experience based off of others encounters. However some experiences are far more enriching if you go a tour or with a local who knows the area like back of their hand and can speak the language as well (have you gone abroad to a foreign country).
Potoncho is a long strip of izakaya bars and restaurants similar to omoide yokocho in Tokyo. I booked a tour with magical trip to explore potoncho since it was on our to do list. Their advertisement was listed as “Kyoto bar hopping nightlife tour in potoncho” pub crawl through the hidden local izakaya bars! Who’s gunna pass up on that?!
We met up with our tour guide Ayumi who’s a AirBNB manger by day and a bar hopping tour guide by night! Pretty Awesome job if you ask me! She first brought us to bar where they had green tea/ matcha everything. Beer, cocktails, spirits you name it we tried them all, but I was most fond of the matcha beer which is something I’ve never tried before which ended up surprisingly refreshing yet still touting a detectable matcha aftertaste. We also had some food to go along, I chose a simple salmon don.
Mother & Son Duo
At first I thought they were a couple until Ayumi informed me otherwise, lol whoops. Had I been exploring on my own I would have never entered this establishment because one I don’t speak Japanese and two I would probably get the awkward stare. It was definitely a chill place where locals would frequent after work without the heavy noise. It would be the ideal place to have a bite to eat and a simple drink to wash it all down with.
Despite the flat looks on their faces, we were treated with great hospitality. We drank some high balls hand made by grandma herself, and a spread of food consisting of what Japanese typically eat on a day to day basis, it was termed “Obanzai.” No the Japanese don’t eat ramen and sushi everyday.
This bar was hands down the coolest bar I’ve ever been too, I don’t even Remember the name. We will just leave it as no name secret bar lol. As we walked the main drag, Ayumi took a sharp turn into this funky lit ally way. We continued walking when all of a sudden the scene started to really turn out to look like we would be ambushed and shanked by yakuza’s jk. Before we knew it we come up to this wall with a bunch of stickers and those notices that club promoters would stick to the windshield of my car back in the day. Under all of that mess was a door! But like a short door, like it was meant for dwarfs. I mean one of group members was at least six feet and had to really bend over to get in.
On the other side of the door though were tons of stickers, records, books, banners, you name it. In a little corner towards the back was a Japanese man in his blue chambre and drivers cap smiling over welcoming us into his man cave. What I loved about it all was his bar represented him in every way, like how you could tell what a teenager was into by just walking into their room.
This small bar had a squatter toilet opposite the bar and two tables enough for two separate groups. There was a huge chalkboard on one of the walls displaying the drink menu entirely in Japanese. He had a fridge packed with beer, a shelf full of liquor and even a burner stove for small pupus.
We drank a bunch of stuff and honestly was just going off our host and bartenders recommendations. I could tell our tour guide was having fun because we well went over our tour end time, she had the Asian glow, and made a million trips to the bathroom lol. There was even some bob Marley playing in the background reminding me of home.
All in all the bar hopping tour through potoncho with magical trip exceeding my expectations, and I made some memories i’ll never forget. So if you find yourself flustered browsing websites finding what to do, and how to do it, just drop everything and let the pro’s do the work for you and book a tour. It’s a little bit more cash, but it definitely worth it in the end. Of all the time's i’ve booked tours, i never had a bad experience yet…
