Itoh Kyuemon
Special matcha parfait - 1200 JPY
Our Verdict: Walk
Itoh Kyuemon is one of the go-to matcha stops for tourists, with dependable matcha dishes. Great place for souvenirs and if you don’t have a lot of time to explore around the area, but there are other places for truly spectacular desserts, drinks, and meals.
Set meal including herring matcha soba noodles, mixed rice, soybean skin, pickled tea leaves, mini parfait - 1690 JPY
Entrance
Must Try Items:
Itohkyuemon parfait - ¥1390 ($13 CAD)
Cost: Range from ~¥300 to ¥1990+. Single desserts available or sets with food & drink.
Inside shop
Comments:
You see their iconic white and green shopping bags everywhere in Kyoto. This location of 1 of 3 in Uji itself.
Despite their multiple locations, they’re so popular that every location has queues at all points of the day. We went at 3 pm and still had to wait about 15 minutes until seated (nothing compared to earlier wait times of 2+ hours).
Lots to choose from in their menu and from their merchandise shop. They even have washi tape!
We tried their herring soba set & parfait.
The herring soba was passable here, but we preferred the one at Tsuen. The depth of flavour in the soup wasn’t quite there. J didn’t want to finish the whole bowl, compared to Tsuen’s where the bowl was spotless.
The parfait was everything I thought it would be from all the pictures. Great mishmash of toppings, textures, and tastes. Every spoonful was slightly different. We’d order this again.
Added bonus, for every ¥1000 spent on your dine-in meal, you get a coupon for ¥10 that can be used in their merch shop.