HIGASHIYAGINZA

Delicately flavored wagashi. Quite expensive but must definitely try at least once 😅 the sweets are carefully packaged but expire quickly.

Visited March 2024

Make a booking. You might be lucky walking in. I booked. As I was one person, I had one Japanese sweet ('Wagashi') which I picked from a selection and a green tea. If you are more than one in your party, you can go for a traditional set and a bigger variety. The menu has so many options, it bec...ame confusing! I had to ask a member of staff for their advice. Very traditional and nice. All freshly prepared and a nice cultural experience. You could really taste that this was the real thing. Although they are located on a main road in Ginza, you need to take a lift to go upstairs in the building. They sell Japanese confectionery as well. Nice light atmosphere. Not too pricey but not cheap either. I went as a treat and to have a more authentic Japanese cultural experience rather than Starbucks or the many chain places around! Some may find this bland or bitter as what you get here is not 'modified' with syrup and sugar or whatever else. They don't have wifi which is maybe a good thing so you can switch off. My 4 rating instead of 5 was service. It was fine but just very 'snobby' which annoyed me.

Visited May 2023

Came upon this tea room by chance while exploring Ginza and am so pleased I did. It is a gorgeously appointed tea room, lovely and quiet atmosphere that focuses on excellent tea and wagashi. I quite like mochi so I was pretty keen to try a few and soon realized that whatever I had been eating before... visiting Higashiya just probably shouldn't be calling itself mochi. The prices are on the expensive side and absolutely worth it. Also, the bathrooms were amazing and almost worth visiting just for the experience.

Visited December 2019

A sophisticated and popular place to take tea - as a result a reservation might be required. We walked in and were seated at the counter since that's all that was left. But we enjoyed these seats because we could watch the tea being prepared. The menu has English translations underneath each item fo...r those who need it. Service is quite slow so make sure you're in no hurry when you visit.

Visited March 2019

Located in the heart of Ginza, we thought it would be fun to try a traditional Japanese afternoon tea. I had made reservations in advance online, and asked my hotel to confirm the day of, so we had no issues when we arrived. This place definitely takes their tea very seriously — do not make the mist...ake of asking for milk or sugar with your tea like I did! The savoury tea items were delicious, but some of the traditional Japanese sweets were a little too unique for our liking. Service was polite, and they even gave us a little thank you gift on the way out (crackers of some sort). We also picked up a few snacks from their gift shop, much of which was beautifully packaged and perfect for souvenirs. Overall, it was a little expensive(5000 yen per person) and we probably wouldn’t do it again, but if you are a fan of high tea, definitely consider this option for something different!

Visited November 2018