If you know me personally, you’d know that I am crazy over Matcha-ANYTHING! From its purest form of teas, matcha lattes… to soft serves, matcha lava croissants, bingsu and cakes…
My love affair deepened even further whenI visited the motherland of matcha – Kyoto – in 2014 where I savoured the ultimate Matcha Parfait from Tsujiri Honten 茶寮 都路 (pictured below). It was love at first bite and I’ve been in search for something similar from that moment on.
After trying numerous parfaits from Singapore and Hong Kong, I’d say the closest thing that we have would be the parfaits from Nana’s Green Tea and Tsujiri (not the original). However, they are still far from Tsujiri Honten’s standards. I even came across the worst parfait that looked nothing like the picture at a Japanese cafe in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong!
A glimmer of hope then came when 中村藤吉 Nakamura Tokichi, a reputable green tea brand from Uji, Kyoto opened its first overseas tearoom in Hong Kong.
I knew then… I had a mission to fulfil.
Relocated from THE ONE to Miramall (just next door) in April 2016, Nakamura Tokichi’s tearoom has expanded into two within a year and received awards like Big Hits Matcha Restaurant (2016), Best Dessert Shop (2016), Best Restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui (2016) on OpenRice.
For those rushing for time and would like a quick matcha fix, you’d want to visit their pop-up takeaway store on the ground floor. I would recommend visiting the tea room though, where you can relax and fawn over all-things-matcha with your companions.
It is not easy to get a seat, however, given its popularity.
*NOTE: Before dining here, you need to know that you are not able to make any reservations ahead.
ALL diners MUST take a queue number from this machine and wait for your turn. The ticket will be invalid if it is lapsed by 10 numbers.
Don’t be that unlucky one, because I’ve been there before.
Queues used to be up to 3 hours long during its first few months of opening and because of that, my two attempts to dine here were failures. One time, I missed the queue just by a couple of numbers and they refused to let me in. Very strict, yes.
Thankfully, the hype has died down for now, and traffic wasn’t as bad at 6pm on a weekday. A table was available within 10 minutes for my friend and I.
Entering the cafe itself was ceremonial; it reminded me of the tea houses at Kyoto with wood being its central focus, and compared to their previous outlet – it had twice the capacity!
There were about ten seats along the window for individual diners or couples, and the rest in a bigger area for larger groups.
Open the menu, and the first page shows “made in Kyoto/Uji”.
… You may ask: what is Uji?
- Uji a small city just south of Kyoto along the Uji-gawa river, just 20 minutes away from Kyoto Station, or an hour from Osaka by rapid trains.
- It is famed for its green tea, World Heritage sites, and association with the Tale of Genji – the world’s first novel.
As a producer of green tea with over 150 years of history, Nakamura Tokichi not only serves a wide selection of sweetened green tea beverages and freshly brewed Japanese teas, but also savoury dishes (matcha buckwheat and udon noodles), desserts and soft serve ice creams (matcha, hojicha, and a two-flavour twist).
Are you guys drooling already?
Because I am.
For my first visit, I was adamant for one thing only – desserts! Being such diehard matcha fans, my friend and I ordered two to share. The Matcha Maruto Parfait [HK$98], thankfully, came first. I have been waiting for in 3 years for this moment!
Compared to the Matcha Parfait from Tsujiri Honten, it doesn’t look too shabby right?
#PresentationChecked
COMPARISON TASTE TEST
Tsujiri Honten’s Tokusen Matcha Parfait – Taste: 5/5
I liked how Tsujiri’s signature matcha parfait had multiple layers and textures of ingredients including:
– Matcha cream
– Chestnuts (THREE of them, to be specific)
– Cubed green tea pound cake in CUBES (how meticulous are the Japanese?!)
– Azuki beans
– Shiratama dango (Mochi balls)
– Green tea kaiten jelly
– Green tea GELATO
– Vanilla ice cream &
– Mandarin orange segments
It may sound like A TON of things stuffed in a cup, but I can assure you that the experience of eating your way from the top to the bottom would be a fun one! I felt like a pirate digging for my treasure.
Matcha Maruto Parfait [HK98, SGD17.80] – Taste: 4/5
Since I have tried the worst parfaits, I was relieved to know that Nakamura Tokichi reached my expectations! So If Tsujiri Honten’s Matcha Parfait was perfection, I would rate Nakamura Tokichi’s one notch lower.
Notable similarities include the bitter notes of matcha that stem from the ice cream, matcha jelly (matcha fans hooray!), and addition of shiratama dango and azuki beans; when put altogether, they are probably the most basic ingredients mandatory in a parfait that are overlooked by many cafes – most miss out the matcha jelly.
It also had the sprinkle of matcha essence over the whipped cream – as if it were a latte. The occasional bursts of the powder in each scoop were SO SATISFYING and I was transported to matcha heaven!
The most heartwarming part of eating such layered parfaits would be how the matcha ice cream seeps into the tiny air bubbles of the chiffon cake… making it semi-soggy. I found the former lacking though, making the end result too dry (this wasn’t the case for Tsujiri Honten).
Another thing that I look forward to was the matcha jelly – paired with semi-sweet azuki beans. Some cafes don’t even include matcha jelly in their parfaits, which is so disappointing!
On the other hand, minor differences from Tsujiri Honten include the extra smoky brown rice puffs, as well as plain whipped cream and matcha ice cream (instead of gelato). They made the overall taste of the parfait creamier. ONE chestnut was also given and it was impossible to share with my friend. Boo.
While this is so, you can say that these are differences that set Nakamura Tokichi apart from Tsujiri Honten I guess…
The look when our next dessert arrives. So excited already!
At first glance, I felt that the Kyo no Fukiyose [HK98, SGD17.80] was essentially en edible Japanese garden!
It contained matcha ice cream, azuki bean paste, mochi and cream made from Hokkaido milk with a raspberry.
And note, we picked this over the wafer one because the chiffon cake looks a bit more worth it for the same price!
Taste: 3/5
The garden had a variety of ingredients – similar to the parfait – but spread across the black canvas.
How we approached it was to lay the melting ice cream on top of the chiffon cake to capture all that matcha essence. It was even better when savoured with the sweet azuki beans.
You’d expect the chiffon cake to stand out in this one, but it didn’t. If you are on the hunt for the best matcha or hojicha chiffon cake, this is not it.
They seemed like they have been left out for quite some time (something like day-old bread) and matcha taste was lacking. I’m not sure if the quality is the same as the ones that they have packaged in boxes.
Moreover, the small scoop of matcha ice cream not enough to accompany the large pieces of plain-tasting chiffon cakes. I was further disappointed by how the white scoop of vanilla ice cream seen on the menu to turn into whipped cream! I’ve been fooled.
Maybe they should list down the ingredients used to avoid any misconceptions before customers order.
Verdict: I would very much prefer the parfait to this!
BUNNY’S VERDICT:
YES, I’ll be back for more matcha goodness!
BUNNY RECOMMENDS: Maruto Matcha Parfait
RATING
Ambience: 3/5 Nothing special to mention with the plain Japanese decor. The most Instagrammable part of the tea room would be the view, oops. But I do appreciate the preservation of the traditional Japanese tea culture!
Service: 3/5 Service standards require lots more upgrading to match with the actual Japanese. I was thankful that there was no service charge because service was quite atrocious, however, I didn’t like the fact that we were being charged a compulsory HKD10 each for our green tea (with waiters not taking initiative to refill) and time limit of 90 minutes for each visit. There was also no Wifi and they didn’t allow us to change seats.
System is too rigid from the queuing to dining process. Why can’t they just do online reservations and save all these hassle?
NAKAMURA TOKICHI HONG KONG TEN (Café ＆ Restaurant)
132 Nathan Road TST Kowloon
TAKEAWAY STORE
Unit G06, G/F, Miramall, 118 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Opening Hours:
- Nearest MTR: 10-minute walk from Tsim Sha Tsui station. Miramar Shopping Centre is just opposite THE ONE.
Kyoto, Japan
京都市東山区祇園町南側 573-3
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm Daily
- It’s quite well hidden on the second storey of Shijo dori in Gion, and it’s on the opposite side of the street to Starbucks (but not that near Starbucks.
BUNNY MUNCHIES 