Best izakaya/bars in Shinjuku?
 

Hey I'm going to Japan in November this year for the first time (finally) and will be staying in Shinjuku.
Basically thought I would get the most important question out of the way first, what are your recommendations for good izakaya in Shinjuku? (I am English after all) Fun, friendly places where you would happily go alone and have a good time.

I am not sure if these would be great alone but ...

1. Donjaca Izakaya on Suehiro-dori

2. ZAUO - Google Translate version

ZAUO review: Seafood cuisine to set you reeling | The Japan Times Online

3. Hibiki -Shinjuku Branch

Where in Shinjuku will you be staying?

I forgot the name, but I frequented this place often when I was staying in Shinjuku:

shinjuku sunflower tokyo - Google Maps

Don't remember what floor it was on or if Sunflower was even the name of the place or the building. But I remember it having nice food, good beer, open late and close to my hotel. Probably went there almost every single night for a nightcap.

I'll be staying at the Washington near the metropolitan government building so the sunflower building seems pretty close to that according to Google maps.

Thanks for the recommendations so far. Any bars you would recommend in the area?

Hmmm, I don't know if I can suggest any bars to you as I have not been in a while. Things are always changing in that area. Plus, I mostly hung out at metal/rock type bars when I was there back in the day haha.

May I ask why you chose The Washington? It seems a little expensive for what you actually get. I know of a few places in Shinjuku that are comprable if not better than the Washington. And seemingly cheaper.

Ha ha actually metal/rock bars would be even better thats exactly my kind of thing! When I was booking it the washington seemed the best value to be honest.

Do you mind if I ask how much you're paying per night?

You might want to look into these as well.

NISHI-SHINJUKU HOTEL Very cheap, clean, in room (lan) internet, etc. I have stayed here most in my trips, and they can't be beat for price/what you get. Seemingly about Y2500 cheaper per room type per night on average than The Washington.

Again, without knowing what you're paying, you can even go to Priceline and negotiate a room for about Y10,000 a night at Shinjuku Prince (which can go up to about 250,000 a night otherwise). And that place is awesome :)

As for the bars... Man, it has been a while. I know I used to frequent "Mother" and Ax-kixk(??? Bar directly on top of Mother) a lot. Traditional metal/rock type bars that some Jrockers are even known to frequent.

shinjuku mother bar - Google Maps

The thing is literally the size of my Bathroom, but it is still pretty awesome, with a cool staff. It was always close to my Hotels, so I would hit them up pretty often ;)

There is also a rock themed bar on the third floor too called Black I think. It was always closed for one reason or another when I went there though, so I've never actually been.

I think there is one down the street too. But I definitely do not remember the exact location of that one.

They were all in kabuki-cho, I know that for sure.

I can't remember what I paid off the top of head to be honest but I will definitely look into it, thanks for the info.

I will definitely be checking out Mother bar, just did a quick google search and it looks like a cool place. It actually reminds of my local rock bar.

Cheers for the tips. :)