Nakamura Tokichi Honten (Main Store) — Restaurant in Uji

Let me set the scene: I arrived in Uji, matcha capital of Japan, ready to ascend to green tea enlightenment. My destination? Nakamura Tokichi, the Beyoncé of matcha spots. I got off the train in Kyoto and power-walked my way to the main store, only to find 30 matcha disciples already in line before me. It's not a pilgrimage if you don’t suffer, right?

⏳ Wait time: 1 hour 🥇 My place in line: 31 😩 Spiritual test: passed

While waiting, I wandered into the attached gift shop, lured by dreams of buying every tea I’ve never heard of. Sadly, the service there felt...how do I put this...like I was a ghost haunting their day. I tried to sample teas, and the staff tried to pretend I did not exist. One star off for making me feel like a matcha-thirsty phantom with no yen to spend. (Plot twist: I had plenty.)

🌱 Tea Tasting: Expectation: "Let me guide you through a sensory journey of tea." Reality: "Oh, you again?"

Anyway, the dining experience was a redemption arc. I over-ordered like a true tourist on a matcha bender and have no regrets. I went full matcha monster and got:

Tencha Buckwheat Noodle Set w/ Matcha Jelly

Maruto Parfait + Sweetened Matcha Float Set

💸 Total Damage: Around $30 USD (4,500 yen) 📸 Instagram Damage: Immeasurable

Let’s break it down:

🥢 Tencha Soba Set: Came with cute little picture cards telling me how to eat it like I didn’t already Google it in line (but yes, I still read it). The soba was fine; slightly nutty, slightly earthy but the matcha flavor... Missing. Like a soft-spoken guest at a loud party. The broth also needed a confidence boost. Thankfully, the condiments saved the day: usucha oil, shiitake mushroom, and yuzu zest turned it from “meh” to “huh, okay!”

🍵 Matcha Jelly: Visually cute. Emotionally bland. It whispered matcha notes when I needed it to scream.

🍨 Sweetened Matcha Float: Now this was decadent. Rich, creamy, the kind of thing that makes you pause mid-sip and go “damn.” But paired with the parfait... It was like ordering two full green tea desserts and realizing you are, in fact, human.

🍧 Maruto Parfait: ✨ THE star. ✨ I snagged one of the last six of the day at 11AM (they open at 10). It’s got more layers than your ex’s emotional baggage. Over 10 elements: tea jelly, ice cream, fluffy matcha sponge, crispy bits, lemon jam, chewy dango, salt from okoshidane. It was a textural fever dream. Every spoonful had something new, and yes, it was EXTRA. But if you're going to do a matcha parfait, why not do it like it’s auditioning for the Met Gala.

Final Review:

⭐️ Gift Shop: Casper treatment (2/5 if you’re feeling polite) ⭐️ Noodles + Jelly: Aesthetic but underwhelming (3/5) ⭐️ Float: A rich queen, but overshadowed (4/5) ⭐️ Parfait: The hype is real. Bow down. (5/5) ⭐️ Overall: 4/5 with room for dramatic flair

Would I return? Yes—but just for the parfait. And maybe to haunt the gift shop in return. 👻🍵

Uji, you got me. Matcha'd, stuffed, and...

My husband found this restaurant listed on the Halal Navi website as Muslim-friendly (they use halal ingredients even though they are not certified yet). Yeeey! We came from Osaka and arrived at around 12 something. And they were packed with so many visitors already (which is good for them). They have a modern queue system, where you will get your waiting list number and can check how much it takes until your turn (by QR code or via LINE). At first, we got number 211, and by that time, their system predicted that we would have to wait around 284 minutes (more than 4.5 hours!) as we were still 125 numbers behind. So we decided to stroll around --even go back to Kyoto). Ah! They also stated that after 15.00, unfortunately, you can't order any kind of noodles (and that's why we turned back to Kyoto to find another halal restaurant for lunch because there's no other halal restaurant around). At 15:23, I re-checked the queue system, and it said that we'd wait around 52 minutes until our number finally called. So we took the train from Kyoto to Uji with easy feelings because we still had plenty of time. But suddenly, my phone buzzed at 15:42, and they notified me that it was our turn. We were still on our way on the train. I was panicked because they also mentioned if we didn't show up more than 10 minutes after being called, our reservation would be canceled. I was like, "Are you kidding me? After waiting forever, we can't eat there finally?" I almost gave up -as my experience with Japan is nearly never (if not always) on time and strict with the rules. We finally came late, but I don't remember exactly for how long. We were left behind so many queue numbers, but they let us in. The food was beautiful and tasted good, even though we couldn't order their signature noodles because of the time. The matcha tastes so strong but delicious. If you bring your kids (and they don't get used to eating something bitter), I recommend soft-serve ice cream. They gave complimentary tea at first, and it smelled so good (and unique. It smelled like milk, without containing any milk). But after all those circumstances, I don't have the energy left to ask them what kind of tea this is (lol). For their reputation, the price is fair enough. And because they are located close to Uji Station, it's easy to find them.

So the conclusion is, if you have plenty of time, go get them! Take your queue number and stroll around (but don't get too far! lol). And come 30'-60' earlier than they said you should come. Or you can get in line before they open. I read that many people do that, and they "only" wait for around 1...

Once you get inside the store, I highly recommend getting on the waiting list for the matcha cafe. Wait time was pretty long, but it gave us a good amount of time to venture around the neighborhood and in the Nakamura Tokichi storefront. The store had a bunch of merchandise to look through and all the staff I encountered were nice. After we took our time perusing and got in line to pay for our things, we still waited for a while. I believe when we got on the waiting list we were #63? Somewhere around there in the 60's. Wait time felt like two hours. We ventured off into the neighborhood and nearby stores in the area until our number started to get closer to #1.

After a long wait, we finally got seated inside the cafe. The cafe was really nice inside. It had large windows for natural lighting, dark wood, and had a pretty overall aesthetic. We ordered the Matcha Tea Jelly, the Hojicha Uji Kin Cold Zenzai, and the Matcha Maruto Parfait. Everything we tasted was absolutely fantastic and we didn't care about how much time we spent waiting.

The Matcha Tea Jelly and the Hojicha Uji Kin Cold Zenzai were pretty similar, they just differed in flavor. Both desserts had fun textures and it was very flavorful. There was ice cream, mochi balls, and also red bean paste in the Matcha Tea jelly. I loved the richness in flavor in both sweets, and I especially loved how rich and nutty the Hojicha one was.

But for us, the star of the show was the Matcha Parfait. This dessert had so many diverse parts and textures that made up the whole. There was the tea jelly, the classic matcha ice cream, and it even had lemon jam, berries, and red beans inside too. It's actually quite impressive how much they put inside and layered everything. And the matcha desserts was served in this cute little bamboo-structure like bowl. Every bite in the Matcha Parfait was different but complemented the whole matcha theme. One bite of this bad boy and my friends and I looked at each other sharing the same sentiment: "Worth it".

Nakamura Tokichi was very easy to find after arriving from the station, and also the crowd was very helpful to follow lol. I will always remember my time in Uji and the incredible desserts I ate here. I look forward...