Setsugekka East Village — Restaurant in New York

Performed with quiet grace and charm, the matcha tea ceremony is a memorable experience of mindfulness, civility, and attention on the present - quite the dichotomy for a city like New York. And while the outside world goes about its usual hurried ways, you glide into a serene and relaxing oasis as soon as you step inside Setsugekka.

As a matcha addict, I had this place bookmarked for months since I discovered they opened last summer. Finally when we went up to New York for a quick weekend getaway, the only must on my agenda was to come here. We went about an hour before they closed, and we were the only ones in there. It's a small space, but it's clean, bright, and charming. When you enter, there's a traditional tatami platform. Handcrafted ceramic bowls used in tea ceremonies are placed here and around the windowsill. As you walk further in, there's a low bar with 5-6 stools where you can watch the owners prepare matcha in front of you.

Matcha has become very trendy in big metropolitan areas like NYC, L.A., San Francisco, and even D.C. However, the trend leans towards matcha lattes and rarely anything else. Setsugekka is something else entirely. Rather than drown precious matcha in milk and ice and call it a day, the owners of Setsugekka take care in their products and presentation.

The owners, Souheki and Junya Mori, welcomed us into the space with bows and calm, friendly greetings. We sat down at the low bar and after browsing their menu, we opted for hot matcha made the authentic Usucha style. Souheki Mori directed us to the available bowls and we each selected one. All the bowls are so beautiful, and many are handcrafted by famed ceramicists.

As Souheki made preparations, she told us that they only source matcha from high-quality tea farms in Japan. There were three types to select for our matcha, two from the Aichi province and one from the Kyoto prefecture. Each differs in terms of flavor and even the two from the same province vary because of the tea farm location. I decided to go with the Ishikawa organic matcha from the Aichi province.

Souheki is incredibly knowledgeable and skilled in the art of the matcha ceremony. Her movements flow effortlessly, from the way she carefully and gracefully ladles hot water into the bowl to her taking the perfect amount of matcha powder and tapping it into the bowl. She actually has the title of tea master and studied at a school renowned for the practice of Japanese tea ceremonies.

I haven't visited Japan yet, but this was the best matcha I've had up to now. Both the smell and the taste of my matcha was so aromatic. While I was sipping my matcha, I felt completely at ease and relaxed. It's like a massage for your mind and soul. Souheki never rushed us to hurry up and leave, even though we were the last customers of the day.

Not only does Setsugekka provide the best matcha experience in the city, they also teach too. They have 30-minute lessons on how to make matcha on Thursdays and Sundays, as well as lectures/lessons on Japanese tea ceremonies.

I will undoubtedly be back whenever I visit New York. Setsugekka serves high-quality matcha and provides a calm refuge from the fleeting moments of life...

Absolutely atrocious, where do I even start. If you are in any way accustomed to matcha, do not go here. The only people I can see enjoying this place are people who know nothing about matcha and want to experience a “ritual” if you can even call it that Matcha: Like what other knowing people have commented, this matcha is extremely watered down, you can barely taste the matcha. I’ve never in my life seen anyone use that much water for this much matcha. They should be using around 3-4 times the matcha for that much water, and they are charging $14 before tips for this atrocity. Wait: I was the first person having to wait outside and didn’t want to wait long, the person managing/taking payment said even though the line looks long it actually moves quickly so I joined. I waited 40-45mins for one matcha, that is not quick by anyone’s standards. The reason why this place has a long line is bc there is only one person whisking. When I went, it was two women, one was whisking while the other one just poured hot water when the pot was empty and got the milk ready and the rest of the time just stared at what was being done. Service: honestly this place just capitalizes on Japanophilia while serving very poor matcha and they know it. Everyone ahead of me was non-east Asian and they were really feeding into it, telling them stories about Japan and matcha etc and took about 10-15mins per person/group and when it was my turn, no stories, zip. “You’re number x right? Do you want to try it it out milk first? Here you are” 2 mins max, most of that was their “ritual.” They really wanted me out of there so that they could continue with their charades while serving overhyped, overpriced, diluted matcha to unknowing newcomers to matcha. Trust the other east-Asian reviewers. They...

Cutest matcha shop I have ever been to. I have been trying to become more knowledgeable about matcha and its flavor profiles. Typically, whenever I go to a place that serves matcha, it never tastes very good with a sharp bitterness remaining after you drink it. However, this place was such a wonderful experience. The location is a bit small, which is probably why it is a take out cafe, but there were patrons that sat around the tatami(?) area. When you sit, you are greeted by a worker who explains the matcha that they are offering. When I visited, they had the Yamenohana matcha, which was explained to be fully bodied with chocolate-ly undertones, the House Matcha, which was stronger with purple yam flavors and the Seiho, which was light. The menu changes depending on what they had available, and the coolest part for me was that they tell show you in the menu where each matcha comes from in Japan. You can get your matcha in a variety of different ways, including cold/hot, straight or with milk, and as an affogato. I went with the workers' recommendation of an iced Yamenohana matcha. It was so good. The color was such a vibrant green, and there were no strong bitter tones. The flavor was so well balanced but yet matcha strong in a good way. I have a friend who is not the biggest matcha fan, and she said it was very good, and she liked even as an individual who doesn't like the flavor a lot. I loved it so much that I asked if I could purchase some, and they do sell some of the matcha either in a 20 g container or 40g. Both of the workers were so sweet that I wish I could shout them out on here. When I come back to New York, I will definitely visit again to try a new matchs possibly purchase more powder. Thank you for the experience and the...