Masahiro Urushido built Katana Kitten around the Japanese highball — a drink most American bars treat as whisky and soda but which, in Urushido's hands, becomes an exercise in precision involving custom-cut ice, exact carbonation, and a machine imported from Japan that delivers the fizz at a pressure most bartenders have never considered. The room on Hudson Street blends izakaya warmth with West Village ease: Japanese whisky alongside American bourbon, sake cocktails next to Negroni variations, and a snack menu of karaage and edamame that turns a cocktail bar into something closer to a drinking den. Tales of the Cocktail named it Best New American Bar. The cocktails justify the award; the highball alone justifies the visit.
Location
West Village, New York
Map
Insider Intel
The highball from the Japanese machine — the carbonation is the point and it is unlike any whisky-soda you have had. A sake cocktail to explore the range Urushido builds with a spirit most bars ignore. The karaage fried chicken. A whisky flight if you want to compare Japanese and American expressions. The Negroni variation with Japanese ingredients.
Early evening from 6pm for a seat at the bar and the bartender's attention — Urushido's team is generous with explanations of technique. Later the West Village crowd fills the room and the energy shifts from educational to convivial. Reservations recommended on weekends.
531 Hudson Street, West Village. Christopher Street-Sheridan Square station (1). Cocktails $17-22. Reservations recommended. Masahiro Urushido's background bridges Tokyo bar culture and New York ambition — the fusion is genuine, not decorative. Cards accepted. The West Village location sits within walking distance of several other excellent bars for a neighbourhood crawl.