Ippuku Tea House — Restaurant in England

A friend brought us here in the pouring rain. We were originally going to the other japanese restaurant for sushi, but decided to stay for their tea. We got the Yame Gyokuro and Kuromame cha. As my wife is a tea fanatic, I believe we can say that they were certainly high quality. The waiter said that the Kuromame was roasted in-house, and you can tell a lot of care was put into these teas as their flavours were superb and not very tannic. The yame gyokuro has a lovely umami taste and leaves a wonderful aftertaste in your mouth, and the kuromame cha, for a lack of a better term, tasted like a really light coffee without the bitterness. The waiter also recommended their mochi to go with it, and we got the yuzu mochi and matcha mochi. The matcha was perfectly sweet and done well. Sometimes restaurants burn their matcha but this was not the case. The yuzu mochi really stood out to me as a citrus lover. It had the brightness of an orange, and was not too overpowering, much like a gentle lemon zest. I highly recommend trying this. as it is one of my new favourites.

After the tea and snacks we decided to stay. We had okonomiyaki and gyudon, which are something me and my partner make often at home. We're very picky eaters, so we were very surprised that it was delicious and tasted similar to the way we prepare them. I wasn't expecting the sake taste in the gyudon, and it definitely elevated the flavour. The okonomiyaki was equally as delicious and well cooked, although I wish we could have ordered a protein with it!

We also ordered fried oysters with their yuzu tartar, and as a first time oyster eater, I want to say that they are extremely delicious and could not recommend them more. There is a gentle crisp crunch on the outside and then a nice tanginess from the tartar, and they just melt in your mouth.

For dessert we had a matcha cream roll with strawberries, and this was also very well made. The matcha cake itself was not too sweet, and was balanced out by the sweetness of the cream and strawberries. They even reserved this cake for after we finished eating as there was only two left!

Our waiter Homme was very kind to us and made sure that we were served well. We learned a little bit about York today as we do not live here, and their service to us was wonderful. They also explained in detail about our dishes and the way they are made. Truly made our night! Thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedule to talk to us. ☺️

We sat on the outside garden as well which has heaters to keep us warm and a lovely cozy japanese scenery of plants. The atmosphere here is lovely.

I also strongly appreciate their small collection of artisan goods. I love when restaurants collaborate with independent artists! They had lots of essential japanese cooking goods as well, and I also grabbed some of their high quality tea on the way out.

What was a bit of a miserable night turned into a great experience, and I couldn't have asked for a better Halloween evening. I would highly recommend this place if you are looking for authentic Japanese home-style cooking....

Vegan reviewer: An absolute hidden gem in York. I can’t wait to come visit again and try something else. I’ve given these guys 4/5 because I didn’t love some of their side plates but this could easily go to a 5/5 on my next visit. The overall quality of food is EXCELLENT.

Great vegan opinions throughout the menu. Specials and desserts are only on the boards in store so it’s worth going in, there’s a cute shop that sells food, sweets and utensils at the front, and there’s interesting decor. Recommend booking due to small restaurant size. Friendly staff.

We ordered:

1. vegetable gyoza teishoku set
2. teriyaki Tofu teishoku set The teishoku sets come with a big bowl of miso soup, steamed rice, cabbage (think steamed?), and pickled carrot & bean shoots I absolutely LOVED the teriyaki tofu- delicious 🤌🤌🤌 The veg gyozas were also really nice and perfectly crisp. I loved the miso soup and the steamed rice. The rest was neither here nor there really- the pickle wasn’t very pickle-y and the cabbage was just very bland limp cabbage (but neither were unpleasant and I still ate it all).

For sides we ordered: 3)veg gyozas 4) garlic-miso-mushroom yaki onigiri 5) soy yaki onigiri

We ordered extra gyozas to share but these were exactly the same as the ones on the teishoku (and just as nice). The soy onigiri was quite dry and a bit overdone. The flavour was ok but I don’t think I’d order again. We preferred the GMM onigiri which was nice, but also wouldn’t rush to reorder.

Overall, really enjoyed it and was full.

However I did still have room for dessert! They come and sit the dessert board on a chair next to you, which is a bit odd especially given how small the restaurant is. It was a couple of weeks ago now so I can’t remember the exact order, but we had some kind of vegan chocolate brownie that was AMAZING!! I’m not even the biggest brownie fan but they really nailed that one and my mouth is watering over it right now!

Shout out the the lemon yuzu drink I’d never seen before- I love yuzu and this was just the perfect drink to have with the meal!

100% will go again. As I said, this is so close to being a 5/5 but that for me means nothing could be better and there were a couple of things that could have. But generally EXCELLENT and a do encourage everyone to...

This is a review of our experience today - not the food. The food is lovely and authentic. My kids and I have enjoyed coming to Ippuku in the past.

On Monday went online to make a booking for lunchtime today (Wednesday) and saw that they were no longer taking bookings. I was slightly concerned considering the size of the space but decided that if we showed up close to opening time (noon), we wouldn’t have an issue getting a seat. So we planned a trip into York, excited to have Ippuku for lunch.

As soon as I walked in, the gentleman working asked me if we had a booking. I replied no, that the website said they were no longer taking bookings. He confirmed that this was correct, however they do take phone bookings for two time slots. I was shocked and inquired as to why this isn’t mentioned anywhere on the website. He simply said, “I don’t know.” I told him that I would have happily made a booking, but it said they were no longer taking bookings, not that one should call. He claimed that it wasn’t advertised because they “don’t want to take too many bookings.” This is nonsense. If you take bookings, then don’t say that you don’t take bookings! Of course, there was nothing that could be done at that point. He said we could get on a call list but would likely need to wait an hour or more. No apology. No stating that he would convey to management that the information on the website wasn’t exactly accurate and was causing confusion. I decided to abandon that lunch plan and go elsewhere.

I realise that this comment may sound a bit ridiculous considering the food at Ippuku is delicious and atmosphere is lovely, but my hope is that others know what will be required to get a seat here and that management at Ippuku understand better what would be helpful to their customers. Perhaps they can also explain to their well-intentioned employees how best to deal with misunderstandings like the one we had today. Relationships (personal and business) are everything, and good communication can make...