Hong Kong: Matcha Heaven at Nakamura Tokichi

If you know me or are a regular reader of this blog then you’ll know I’m a matchaholic. The best places to get the widest choices of matcha products are Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. When I’m in Hong Kong I track down the new places just to try them out. Some make it to my list of favorites while others become a one time experience only.

Nakamura Tokichi was established in Kyoto in 1854 and they specialize in matcha as well as other teas. I visited their first branch in Hong Kong last October 2015 at The One. This branch is now closed and they moved to Mira Mall nearby. I knew there were crazy queues so I went prepared for the worst. I went around 2:00 pm and saw the number 71 was being served. I went in to get my own number.

Not too many people so I was happy.

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I used this automated machine that dispensed a number based of the number of people in the party.

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To my shock I was number 282!!! As a rule I hate queues. As soon as I see a line to get in a restaurant I leave. But this is matcha so that’s another story. Since I just came from a rather unsatisfying lunch I decided to wait it out and walk around the mall. I found a store selling massage chairs and tried the chair’s massage automatic program that lasted 15 minutes. To my delight the lone store attendant couldn’t speak a lick of English and didn’t care how long I ‘tried’ the chair so I tried several programs. From time to time I would scan the QR code to check the current number being called. After 45 minutes of free massage it was time to go back to the restaurant. My total wait was about an hour. I had no complaints thanks to the awesome massage chair. 😀

The restaurant was quite large but it didn’t have a lot of seats since almost half of the space was used for retail. I sat at the large communal table.

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Tea is mandatory and there is a charge of HK$10 per person. I didn’t mind since it was quite good.

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Cold soba noodles is a recent acquired love and their matcha soba had a very light taste but very good texture.

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Nakamura Tokichi- Matcha Wheat Noodle Cold HK$78 — Matcha Wheat Noodle Cold HK$78

Their tea jelly is flown in from Kyoto daily and I love jelly so that’s what I ordered among so many drool worthy choices. The tea jelly was surprisingly unsweetened and had a lovely unique wobbly yet firm texture. It had a good mouthfeel. It proved to be the perfect partner to the aggressively flavored super creamy matcha ice cream. It was one of the best matcha ice creams I’ve ever eaten. The red bean paste and chewy mochis were good extras to the matcha stars too.

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Nakamura Tokichi- Tea Jelly Match HK$88 — Tea Jelly Match HK$88

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I took a picture of my neighbor’s parfait which was very a popular order around the table.

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Nakamura Tokichi- Maruto Parfait Match HK$98 — Maruto Parfait Match HK$98

After my heavy merienda I went matcha shopping. There were so many things I wanted to buy but I wasn’t sure which was good.

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I bought the matcha baumkuchen which was a bit risky since I’ve eaten some really dry ones. I didn’t open the box for several months and shockingly it was still moist when I finally opened it. I liked it! Good matcha flavor too.

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The cookies were a no brainer for me to buy but they were just ok. It’s not something I would buy again considering the price for just a few pieces.

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I didn’t buy any chocolates because they may taste just like Royce. Maybe I’ll try it on my next trip.

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They had so many, many, many kinds of matcha powder and teas. I didn’t know how to choose.

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I tried the matcha candy and it was a bit strange. The candy was sweet and a bit flavorless until you get a burst of pure matcha powder in the center.

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There were many seats available around 4 pm.

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Look at the restaurant’s view!! I highly recommend a visit to Nakamura Tokichi if you like matcha. If not for the long queue I would go there everyday.

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