We are currently in the Kansai region, and no trip for a tea-lover is complete without an excursion to the small town of Uji, central to green tea production in Japan, and barely 30 minutes away by local train from Kyoto Station. This afternoon, we decided to stop at the historic tea shop Nakamura Tokichi for lunch and desserts. Established in 1854, this tea merchant is highly regarded by traditional tea ceremony schools in Kyoto and is also one of the official purveyors to the Imperial Family. The main store which we visited just completed an extensive refurbishment to its old structures last year, restoring its Meiji-era glory just in time for our visit. There is one other branch nearby next to the famous Byodo-in, as well as branches in Kyoto, Osaka and Sapporo, but the main store stocks the full range of retail products and even offers tea ceremony lessons to visitors who want to experience this integral part of traditional Japanese culture.
As we walked through the courtyard to the adjoining restaurant, a majestic 250-year-old black pine tree loomed over us. This happens to be one of the 100 Famous Trees of Uji City, transported and replanted by the store's founder back in the old days, as a wish for his descendants' continued prosperity and safety. A symbol of resilience and constancy, it has been an unchanging witness to the store's illustrious history and multiple refurbishments through the ages.
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| Baby persimmons in the courtyard |
The restaurant area was created only very recently in 2001 by shifting the original backroom factory to high-tech premises elsewhere in the city, and renovating the old space. The atmosphere of this dining annex was certainly quite different from that of the adjoining traditional front store; it was bright and spacious with a high ceiling, with a modern kitchen and even a baby grand piano in the waiting area.
As you can see the restaurant is extremely crowded at lunchtime and they operate on a first-come-first-served basis. Expect to wait quite a bit especially at weekends. Eventually, we got a table after 30 minutes, but still only outside on the terrace and not in the heated dining room, as some customers in front of us in the queue were unwilling to eat al fresco in this weather. Actually, it wasn't too bad at all because there was a really strong heater right next to us! Also, we could enjoy an unobstructed view of the courtyard with its famous pine tree.
きつね抹茶そば定食
Kitsune matcha soba set
We both had the same set for lunch. The main bowl consisted of matcha buckwheat noodles in a clear soy and dashi-based tsuyu broth, with two large pieces of sweetened deep-fried airy tofu pockets, and garnished with scallion. The tofu is what gives the noodle dish its kitsune (Japanese for 'fox') name, though no one really knows why - perhaps because they are the same colour? Anyway, these noodles had a lovely bite and the very authentic taste and aroma of green tea. Their slight bitterness was effectively balanced by the sweet, soft and juicy pieces of tofu, and the warm tasty broth made for really blissful slurping in this chilly climate.
御飯（茶葉 入り）
Rice with tea leaves - only because we're in Uji! This was an extremely unusual but effective combination. I enjoyed every mouthful, with the fluffy and slightly sticky rice being perfumed with the fresh bittersweet aromas of green tea. While seasoned toppings for rice or furikake are not uncommon in Japan, this had to be the healthiest and finest of them all.
漬物：牛蒡、大根
Pickled burdock root and radish to go with the rice.
小豆と白玉団子入り抹茶ゼリー
Matcha jelly with red bean paste and a glutinous rice ball completed the lunch set. The extremely smooth and light texture of the matcha jelly belied a surprisingly rich and bitter taste of green tea. This jelly was effectively contrasted and balanced in all senses by the accompanying sweet, thick and chunky azuki paste. A single dango (rice ball) contributed further weight and a lovely bite to this dessert. It was soft, slightly sticky and chewy to the core, a sure indication that it had been freshly made on the day, and not frozen then thawed like in so many inferior mass-produced packaged versions.
That last dessert was so good we knew that we couldn't just stop there; three more orders to share followed.
白玉団子と小豆入りミルク抹茶
Milky matcha soup with red bean paste and glutinous rice balls
One could say that this is the Japanese version of British milk tea, but unlike the latter which is often so sickly sweet and diluted that one can't taste any actual tea, the judicious addition of milk to matcha in this case tempered the tea's bitterness effectively without compromising its natural taste and aroma. The result was simply a matcha drink with a richer mouthfeel and rounded aftertaste, not quite as cloying as green tea lattes sold in American coffee chains, but just sweet enough for the tea's natural astringency to not bother uninitiated palates. The azuki paste and dango added further textures and flavours, making for a very satisfying and well-balanced dessert on the whole.
生麩入りぜんざい
Hot red bean soup with fresh gluten and pickles
And now for a little break from green tea: this was a hot red bean soup, extremely viscous and substantial in texture, with a good deal of red beans floating around in the soup for a pleasant chunkiness in every mouthful. The soup was certainly sweet but not cloyingly so, and the delicate earthy goodness of red beans was still allowed to shine through. Complementing this soup were two pieces of extremely soft and chewy steamed wheat gluten (known as nama-fu in Japan, a healthy and versatile traditional delicacy), somewhat similar to the rice balls in texture but even more moist. Although the nama-fu did not possess any distinct flavour, it soaked up and concentrated the flavours of the red bean soup very well, and each bite was a real pleasure. Unusually, this dessert was paired with pickled daikon, which, with its tartness and mild saltiness, turned out to be a surprisingly effective foil to the soup's luxurious sweetness.
冬期限定デザートセット：渋栗入り抹茶チーズケーキ、生クリーム入り抹茶シフォンケーキ、ほうじ茶と抹茶アイスクリーム、小豆、白玉団子
Winter dessert set: matcha cheescake with roasted chestnuts, matcha chiffon cake with fresh cream and raspberry pulp, matcha and houjicha ice creams, red bean paste and glutinous rice dumplings
This was a tasting platter of sorts featuring the best of Nakamura Tokichi's desserts. There was absolutely nothing to fault here - the ice creams were rich, velvety and bursting with the authentic flavours and aromas of matcha and roasted tea respectively; the chiffon cake was incredibly light and fluffy in texture with just a slight hint of bitterness from matcha, while the equally airy accompanying fresh cream packed a surprisingly intense milky punch that enhanced each mouthful of cake very nicely; and finally, the most indulgent of them all, a rich matcha cheesecake, with the natural bitterness of matcha blending perfectly into a dense and sweet base of cream cheese. Roasted chestnuts were added to the mix for a further pleasant bite amidst all this velvety smoothness. The result was a cheesecake that, though extremely luxurious in texture, didn't feel the least heavy or cloying. Balance is key to the Japanese culinary aesthetic, and no over-the-top compulsion is needed for one to derive maximum enjoyment from even the humblest of dishes.
抹茶
There is nothing like finishing a heavenly dessert platter with a bowl of freshly-whisked matcha, in all its frothy unadulterated bitter glory. Just a small amount was enough to refresh the palate and stimulate the senses after a near-food coma. We left the restaurant feeling extremely satisfied and invigorated.
The last two photos are of the main retail store, where you can buy some of the finest green tea available in the country. I treated myself to a pack of highest-grade gyokuro, known for its sweet aroma and deep umami, and produced using only the youngest shoots of shaded tea plants. Gyokuro is rare outside of Japan, and the premium ones even more so.
All in all, the menu at NT was an impressive one that showcased the numerous possibilities of tea. Everything was delicious and well-balanced. Furthermore, the health benefits of green tea are well established, making a meal here guilt-free indulgence at its finest - do not miss this place if you're planning a day trip to Uji.
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