While we were in Japan at the beginning of 2023, my sister took us to Hayashiya Chaen in Meguro, Tokyo. They focus on Japanese tea, and also serves desserts made with their special teas. From reading about them, they want to serve the “real” tea to their customers, without dressing it up, just simple, pure, real tea. That is so cool, I so respect that. You can purchase their tea and sweets to go, or you can dine in. It is not a large space, as it is not a restaurant, but more of a cafe.

We started off with different kinds of teas. We ordered Sencha (880 yen), Hojicha (660 yen), Matcha Latte (748 yen), and White Peach Hojicha (682 yen). I believe that was our selections…must write things down…

The Sencha and Hojicha came in the traditional tea pot, which was a nice touch. It had a nice amount of beautiful tea leaves in there. Sencha is a steamed Japanese green tea, while Hojicha is a roasted Japanese green tea. They were indeed excellent, high quality and sooth your body and soul with each sip. They indeed felt like the “real” tea.

White Peach Hojicha came in a glass cup, with a side of sugar. Their sugar even looked elegant. It had a very light brown color to it, and looked like a crushed crystalized sugar. It had such elegant aroma and flavor of peach. Another wonderful tea with high quality. Iced Matcha Latte had syrup, or liquid sugar, so that it will meld faster and easier in a cold drink. It had beautiful two-layer, an excellent drink.

Although they have amazing tea selections, we were even more excited about their dessert menu. For my husband and I, we were all about their parfait. We got the Hojicha Parfait ($1,430 yen) and Matcha Parfait ($1,540 yen). My sister chose Warabi Mochi Anmitsu ($1,760 yen). If you order the tea with your desserts, you can get them as a “set” of dessert and tea with a discounted price.

Warabi Mochi Anmitsu is made with Uji-Matcha Jelly, Agar Powder Jelly, Shirotama Dango (type of mochi ball), Sweet Azuki Beans, Matcha Warabi Mochi, and a scoop of Matcha Ice Cream. It came with a side of black sugar syrup. I love warabi mochi, especially matcha flavored one. But then, I had Strawberry Warabi Mochi from NUAGE ET VENT which was amazing too. Anmitsu is one of Japanese desserts, dating back the Meiji era. Japanese people have been foodies since way back when. This Warabi Mochi Anmitsu looked great, with vibrant colors, and it tasted amazing too.

The parfaits at Hayashiya Chaen were like a work of art. Kind of modern abstract art topped with peaceful, tranquil Japanese garden. They make everything with such skill and care! And they tasted even better than they looked, if that is possible… Matcha Parfait is made with two kinds of Luxury Matcha, Homemade Matcha Ice Cream, Yuzu Mascarpone Cream, Panna Cotta made with Wasanbon Sugar (Japanese luxury sugar), topped with Shiratama Dango, Azuki Bean, Fruit, and Monaka Wafer. It was one of the best matcha dessert ever!!! It was love at first bite. All the ingredients brought different textures and flavors, working in perfect harmony. Dessert heaven from the beginning to the end.

Hojicha Parfait is mad with Hojicha Ice Cream, Hojicha Jelly, Hojicha Whipped Cream, Mascarpone Cream, Agar Powder Jelly, Sweet Azuki Beans, Crumble, etc. It has loads of ingredients in there, yet they didn’t fight against each other, but working together and enhancing the flavor of hojicha. The different textures and flavors were great in this also. Hojicha Jelly tasted almost like coffee jelly, maybe because hojicha has a smoky flavor with a notes of cocoa. This parfait was also amazing!

We had an excellent teatime here at Hayashiya Chaen with super high quality tea drinks. My gourmet sister really knows where the best spots are in Tokyo! It was such a wonderful experience. If you want to have the “real” tea, or want to have amazing Japanese desserts made with high quality teas, try this place!

Hayashiya Chaen – Meguro Central Square, 1F, 3 Chome−1−2, Shinagawa City, Tokyo

林屋茶園 – 東京都品川区上大崎3-1-2 目黒セントラルスクエア1F