森乃園 (Morinoen)

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94-year-old tea shop specialised in Houjicha. You can smell the tea being roasted from blocks away. First floor sells tea and second floor is a cafe.
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桜あんみつ(桜寒天、桜餡、桜みつ)、¥950。特上パフェ、¥1050。
Sakura Anmitsu(spring menu). The anko(bean paste), kanten, shiratama(rice flour dumplings), even the syrup are all sakura pink! While the taste is just a normal anmitsu(^^;;;), it sure looks pretty.
Tokujo parfait. It has 3 scoops of ice-cream in vanilla, houjicha and matcha flavour. Shiratama are in matcha and houjicha flavours too.
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ほうじ茶ソフト、¥300。特製ほうじ茶カキ氷、¥950。
Take-out houjicha softcream from the first floor.
Speical houjicha Kakigori. It is nice but there is not quite enough ice-cream and anko to finish the big bowl of ice so I asked for an extra scoop of ice-cream and the friendly staff didn’t charge me for that!
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お好みパフェセット、¥1400。お好みのパフェ(特上・抹茶・ほうじ茶)、みたらし団子・草団子、特上宇治茶。
Very good value set that includes any parfait of your choice, mitarashi dango and kusa-dango(made with a green herb yomogi) and also green tea. While I was hesitating which parfait to get, the staff suggested the biggest Tokujo parfait with a wink(^^;;). The two skewered dango are very very good.
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ほうじ茶あんみつ、¥1050。 ほうじ茶パフェ、¥950。
Houjicha Anmitsu. Kanten, shiratama, anko, ice-cream are all hojicha flavour.
Hojicha Parfait. Two scoops of ice-cream in vanilla and hojicha flavour.
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焼餅入り栗ぜんざい、¥800。 こはぎセット(手作り五色こはぎ・特上宇治茶)、¥950。
Kuri(chestnut) zenzai with grilled mochi. This is pretty normal.
Five-colour Kohagi(small ohagi) is just so-so.

Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

森乃園(Morinoen)
Add: 2-4-9, Ningyoucho, Nihonbashi (on Amazake-Yokocho)
Tel: 03-3667-2666

おかめ (Okame)

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桜あんみつ、¥780。おはぎ、¥240。
Sakura Anmitsu(spring menu). Ohagi.
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0803180037桜おはぎ、¥240。おかめパフェ。
Sakura Ohagi(spring menu) for take-out.
Okame Parfait – it is normally milk softcream but I asked to change to Matcha softcream. There is kakigori with Matcha sauce on top, red bean and some milk pudding at the bottom.

Delicious wagashi cafe on the 1st floor of Itocia right next to JR Yurakucho station. Very tiny space and always very crowded so you might have to share tables with strangers, but the sweets are delicious and reasonably priced.

0807110070ごまおはぎ、¥240。
Sesame seed ohagi.
おかめ (Okame)

甘味処 初音 (Hatsune)

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栗ぜんざい、¥1000。
抹茶クリーム白玉小倉あんみつ、¥950。
Kuri zenzai – Japanese chestnut, grilled mochi and thick red bean paste. Served hot.
Matcha ice-cream, shiratama(rice flour dumpling), ogura(red bean) Anmitsu.

Established in 1837…this place is said to be the oldest wagashi shop in Tokyo. Both of the sweets are nice but…quite expensive for the small portion! I guess you pay for the history too…

初音 (Hatsune)
Add: 1-15-6 Ningyocho, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3666-3082

みはし 上野本店 (Mihashi Ueno Honten)

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小倉あんみつ+抹茶アイス、¥640。
Ogura(red bean) ice-cream Anmitsu with Matcha ice-cream.
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クリームあんみつ+小倉アイス。
Cream(Milk soft ice-cream) Anmitsu with Ogura ice-cream.
Famous Anmitsu place that has a couple of branches. This one in Ueno is the original shop. The ice-cream/soft-cream are all very nice that I always can’t resist ordering extra scoop. The big rectangular chunk in the middle is red bean paste. Slightly sweet compared to other anmitsu places but I really like it.
Summer menu(J): 1, 2
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栗ぜんざい、¥600。
Kuri(chestnut)-zenzai. Hot dessert with freshly grilled mochi inside.
Winter menu(J) here.
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おぞうに、¥590。 あわぜんざい、¥520。
Ozoni. This is non-sweet.
Awa-zenzai – hot millet and red bean paste.
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田舎しるこ、¥520。
フルーツクリームあんみつ+白玉、¥790。
Inaka-shiruko.
Fruit cream anmitsu with shiratama(rice flour dumpling).
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くずもち、¥400。 金時ぜんざい、¥520。
Kuzu-mochi – made from kudzu starch, with kinako(soy bean) powder on top.
Kintoki-zenzai – grilled mochi with sweet beans.
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抹茶フロート、¥450。 おでん茶飯、¥740。
Matcha juice with softcream. Oden and tea rice set.
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クリーム白玉ぜんざい、¥530。白玉クリームあんみつ、¥530。
Cream shiratama zenzai. Shiratama cream Anmitsu.

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白玉金時+桜アイス、¥690。苺クリームあんみつ、700円。
Shiratama and Kintoki beans with sakura ice-cream toppings. Strawberry anmitsu. Both are spring menu.

Everything is very good in this place. The red bean, the ice-cream, the shiratama, the mochi are all so nice that any combination is great. After many visits, my favourite is actually the simple cream shiratama zenzai, but first-timer should definitely try the standard cream anmitsu. Oden is surprisingly good too.

みはし(Mihashi)
Add: 4-9-7 Ueno, Taito-ku
Tel: 03-3831-0384

茶房 はん亭 (Sabou Hantei)

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Hantei is a famous high-class kushiage(deep-fried food on skewers) restaurant. I’ve only been there for dinner once years ago and the old Japanese wooden building was very impressive; the food was delicious but also expensive(at least 10,000yen per person). This casual Japanese cafe “Sabou Hantei” is right next door and serves simple and cheap Japanese meals and desserts.
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焼き茄子と豚しゃぶのとろろポン酢、¥1200。
Grilled aubergine and pork shabu in tororo(grated yam) ponzu. Lunch set on weekdays includes either a coffee(with whipped cream) or a small “mamekan” – beans and kanten with “black honey”.
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鰻冊めし、¥1300。
Uzaku meshi – Nagoya style unagi rice. For the first bowl, you have unagi and rice on its own, then you add the veggy pickles on the second bowl, and for the last you pour hot tea to make ochatsuke.
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秋刀魚の香り揚げ、彩りおろし、¥1100。
クリーム芋あん あんみつ、¥700。
Fried Sanma with grated radish and herb.
Anmitsu with ice-cream and sweet potato.
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鮭と根菜いろいろ炊き合わせ、香り味噌添え、¥1200。
Salmon and root vegetables takiawase with miso.
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豚の竜田と温野菜の岩海苔ソース、¥1200。
そばろ弁当、¥1100。
Pork Tatsuta-age(marinated and deep-fried) with vegetables and seaweed sauce.
Soboro bento. Minced beef and egg are both sweet.
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新・イタリー丼、¥1100。
“Italy don”. Rice bowl with tomato, asparagus, onion, and lots of herbs.

Food here is absolutely delicious. Portion is generous. The staff are friendly. I always step out of this place full and satisfied. Though there are only a few options for lunch and they change only every few months. I basically tried everything on the summer, the autumn and the winter menu. My favourites are the pork Tatsuta-age, the unagi rice, and the Italy rice bowl. They serve Japanese sweets too but lunch set comes with dessert(during weekdays) so I’ve only tried the Animitsu which is good but I think specialised Japanese sweet shops are better, like this one nearby.
Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4.

茶房 はん亭
Add: 2-12-15 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku
Tel: 03-3827-5317

芋甚 (Imojin)

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Very nice local Japanese sweet shop that I visit often.
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小倉あんみつ、¥450。 アベックまめかん、¥530。
Anmitsu with Ogura(red bean) ice-cream.
Mame-kan(endou-mame peas and kanten) with Ogura ice-cream and milk ice-cream.
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小倉アイスモナカ。 寒天クリームぜんざい、¥530。
Ogura ice Monaka(take-out).
Kanten cream zenzai: Kanten at the bottom, with red bean paste and ice-cream on top(instead the milk ice-cream I had the Ogura one).
Menu(J): 1, 2.

芋甚(Imojin)
Add: 2-30-4 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku
Tel: 03-3821-5530