Uji, Kyoto, Japan｜Tsuen Main Branch

Easily 5/5. Met the owner; had tea with him. The food is also absolutely incredible. I had tested a few other spots for the matcha soba and herring and this place was the only one where I finished it all and drank all the soup. 100% worth coming to. My favourite place in Uji.

The oldest tea shop in the world, still owned by the same family is worth 5 stars. They also gave us some papers with information about the history of their tea shop which was very cool to read (see photos). Great tea selection (of course). Unfortunately I don’t think they had any of their own souvenirs except for t-shirts. They did have some other souvenirs but I don’t think they were exclusive to them. We also got some tea to try upon buying the tea. I believe you can also sit down, but we had to rush for the train.

Very traditional place selling several matcha-based goods for take-away, but also offers few lunch options and obviously matcha tea and typical sweets to combine with it. The tea was sensational, bitter but still delicious, it was matching perfectly with the sweet dumpling skewers. I ordered the soba with herring in broth, and was superb as well. Staff was super kind, and one of the girls could also speak really good English and was very kind to explain everything to me. Total price a bit more than 2000 yen, well spent. The desserts also looked very appealing, but I didn't order any.