For this short review, we have selected Japanese tea places with two requirements in mind: the place needed to have a website, and be of interest for the authors of the review (which is purely subjective, of course). Let’s start with the classics.
Yakumo Saryo. A traditional tea room and a restaurant with a beautiful site and an unusual age restriction for visitors (at least it seems so to us). You can visit their tea room on the first-come first-served basis, but you need to book the place at the restaurant in advance, and only persons who have reached the age of 12 are allowed for lunch, and the age of 20 — for dinner. Perhaps this is a standard restriction for such establishments, but it looks very intriguing.
Alice’s Fantasy Restaurant. A chain of restaurants inspired by Walt Disney’s interpretation of L.Carroll’s Alice. To date, the chain comprises seven restaurants, mainly in Tokyo, although the latter one opened in Nagoya. Such bright stylizations for popular cartoons are rather common in Japan — but in this case the theme is very closely associated with tea parties, and the solutions are very effective. It will just suffice to mention their beautiful interiors.
Afternoon tea at Aman Tokyo Hotel. An exquisite solution for a typical for high-level hotels Afternoon Tea service. At the Black Bar on black bamboo hand-made tiered trays and on other black dishes a set of signature snacks is served (also black, as far as possible). The fact that tea and tea cups are also black there is needless to mention.
Afternoon tea at Grand Hyatt Tokyo. Another interesting variation on the Afternoon Tea theme. It is called Hermitage Afternoon Tea, set at the restaurant of French cuisine and dedicated to the Russian royalty. The Afternoon tea menu includes tea with a Russian name (Ekaterina II from NINA’S), beef and cabbage-stuffed pirozhki, apple pastila pastries, and ptichie moloko, or “bird’s milk” cake, blueberry compote and all sorts of other familiar things. You can upgrade your tea to a “Royal” afternoon tea and get an addition of caviar-topped blini pancakes and glasses of Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Champagne, “which was created in 1876 to satisfy the demanding tastes of Tsar Alexander II”. This menu is offered until June 30, 2017.
Another Afternoon tea, this time at The Peninsular Tokyo. It is called Blooming Afternoon Tea. Performed with amazing thoroughness, it looks like an etalon English Afternoon tea with flowers and butterflies, and with the famous Japanese attention to detail. Available until June 19, 2017.
Finally, Greentea Afternoon Tea Set from The Strings by InterContinental Tokyo. It is based on the British Afternoon tea tradition, of course, but with a completely Japanese filling. Green tea is not only in the cups, but also an ingredient of various snacks. A very interesting interpretation. Well, that’s enough for Afternoon teas, perhaps.
Because, for example, there is still Tokyo Saryo. This is a laconic tea salon-bar with drippers. It serves only seven single-garden teas with small traditional Japanese sweets and fairly detailed descriptions.
Or, here is Sakurai Japanese Tea Experience. It’s simply a feast for a connoisseur of Japanese tea terroirity. Tea from different regions of Japan is served there, and the preparation combines traditional and innovative elements. They also prepare and serve alcoholic drinks infused on Japanese tea.
Well, since we started with the classics, we’ll finish with the classics and that’ll do. Happo-En. This is a manor in Tokyo with a well-preserved traditional Japanese garden. In the garden there’s a tea house called Muan of Meiji period. Having been built in Yokohama, it was later relocated to the garden with all due care. In this tea house, on preliminary order, you can get an idea of the Japanese tea etiquette.
Beautiful!