Ikedaya TeaStore Matcha — Restaurant in Tokyo

After searching for this place for quite some time, I left feeling really disappointed.

I was standing in line to check out with a few items in my hand and there were two people working the counter. Two people were getting checked out so I was next in line and for some reason the woman (with the open register) decided to help the person who was behind me first. When it was my turn to check out I was helped by a gentleman at the counter and unfortunately, he ended up being extremely rude.

For context, when I got up to the counter he grabbed the items from me aggressively and was so annoyed that I asked for some matcha that wasn’t kept on the shelf. He also made it a point to say “CASH ONLY” to me multiple times after he just let another woman pay with card. I was so thrown off but proceeded with buying my items. After the transaction was complete, I waited outside for a couple of minutes to take a moment to think about what just happened and decided to go back inside and ask for my money back.

I asked the woman at the counter for a refund and told her I had a terrible experience. I also explained that it was odd that she helped the person behind me and I pointed out the gentleman who was extremely rude and shared what he did. She gave me my money back and apologized. I’m not sure if this experience had anything to do with me being a tourist (or even a person of color) but I was taken aback and would like to warn others about this establishment. I didn’t have any interactions with the people who run this place until I got up to the register and I waited in line patiently so I’m really confused by their behavior.

I will never ever come back here. I would rather spend my money elsewhere or even leave Japan without buying any matcha than buy anything...

Came here on 3 May 2025. If you are coming from above ground (meaning not from the underground train station), the easiest way to find this store is to search for "Rolex Keio Shinjuku" on Google Map, head down the stairs right in front of it, keep straight and then take the first left. The shop is about 150ish meters at the end of the walkway. It opens 10am but a long queue had already formed when I got there around 10 past. Not many matcha options are available and they limit the best-selling ones to 1 pack per person. No tax free is available because they claim that the system is down (never encountered such a problem before; I think perhaps since this shop went viral it would take too long for them to process all the individual tax free of tourists and the queue would become unmanageable😅). The prices are however quite fair...

Researched this gem of a tea shop for legitimate matcha powder and herbal teas with reasonable prices. Located in West exit of Shinjuku station underground where all the food spots are.

DIRECTIONS I USED - I mapped to Rolex Keio Shinjuku from Uniqlo but went down the stairs toward the metro entrance instead of the department store. Then I went down the 2nd set of mini stairs then made a left and found the shop

The couple running the store are so kind and helpful with finding your tea needs. They had some Marukyu Koyamaen (Unkaku, Yugen, wako, Kinrin, Eiju), some Yamamasa Koyamaen and supplies. The sweet lady picked a wonderful blend of Rooibas tea for me. The gentleman explained all the different herbal green teas without being pushy. Spent 6900 yen ($47 USD) total for 3 teas and a whisk, I look forward to...