High tea these days is so expensive! Most places are now charging at least $50 per person, and that’s considered “affordable.” I cringed when some afternoon tea menus are priced at $60 or more and that just feels like a lot of money to me. So when my friend CC told me about this $70 tea set at Tsujiri, I naturally assumed it’s $70 per person. But no, it’s $70 for two!! Can it be too good to be true?!
Food
It turned out to be a great deal! Everything was tasty and there’s plenty of food to share between two people. We actually packed most of the sweets home. Here’s everything in the tea set:
TEA: Premium Kabusecha
Great tasting tea! Even as it steeped in the tea pot, it didn’t give out a heavily bitter taste. Refill was available and eventually they brought over a pot of hot water for us to refill ourselves.
SAVORIES: Sushi Sandwiches, Grilled Unagi, Salad, Shirodashi soup
I had tried their sushi sandwiches before (at the Auto Mall location) and they’re good – I only wish the two kinds here were more distinctively different because they tasted rather similar with very similar ingredients.
I’m a sucker for unagi and these ones were plump. It’s basically unagi don in one bite. The salad was just mixed greens with grape tomatoes, but I liked the citrusy/yuzu dressing.
The Shirodashi soup, on the other hand, was just OK. Naturally, it’s on the lighter side, but by the time it got to our table it was already lukewarm and the overall flavour was dulled. I could totally skip that.
SWEETS: Soft serve ice cream, Shiratama Dango, Nama Chocolate, Macaron, Dacquoise, Selected Cakes and Cookies
The sweets were good, and I loved the fact that it’s all matcha! We got the Double Fromage Cheesecake as our slice of cake and the dacquoise and macarons had very good texture. There was a smoosh of mango-flavoured jelly underneath the sakura cookie and it’s quite tasty. But the highlight was definitely the freshly made soft serve ice cream paired with 3 flavours of dango (red bean, black sesame and soybean powder). We got one each of matcha and hojicha soft serve, and the hojicha one was just so delicious! They also don’t give you the soft serve until you are ready, so in my photo at the top you’d see an empty spot on the top tray.
Final Thoughts
Overall I feel that they’re better at their dessert game than the savoury offerings. The savouries are clunkier and less refined, whereas the sweets are dainty, prettier and truly highlight the matcha that Tsujiri is famous for. Seriously, run, don’t walk! I truly feel that this tea set is a steal at $35 per person. Soon they will realize it is underpriced and increase the price! They don’t have an online reservation system anymore so call ahead to make your reservation. It is available during the week as well.
Tsujiri Richmond
1535-4777 Mcclelland Rd, Richmond
604-370-4956
tsujiri.ca
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