Tokyo/Kyoto - Tsujiri 茶寮 都路里 - Cha Udon and Cha Soba

I've eaten lots of cha soba (green tea buckwheat noodles), but never tried cha udon. I was pretty sad that we didn't manage to try cha udon at Uji cos it's one of their more famous foods, cos we were all so stuffed from eating at Tsuen (tea house with 850 year history in Uji, which I will blog about later when hopefully, but unlikely, I am free-er).

I had the cha udon (980yen, about SGD$15.50) from Tsujiri, which comes with leek, spring onions, thinly sliced carrots and a pork broth. I didn't like how the porky taste in the broth masked most of the green tea taste from the cha udon. I'd probably would have ordered the cold cha soba but it was such a chilly day so we felt like having something nice and warm. I prefer the firmer texture of the cha soba to the softer, chewier cha udon, but I ordered udon cos it's quite rare to find it in Singapore.

The cha soba from Tsuen definitely has a stronger green tea taste than Tsujiri, but if you don't have time to to go Uji (cos it's quite out of the way, south of Kyoto), Tsujiri's cha soba and cha udon is not bad. Though I would say their desserts outshine their noodles.

A bowl of cha udon or soba by itself is 901 yen (about sgd $13) and if you get it with dessert, it's 1251 yen (about $18sgd).

Tsujiri (Tokyo)

1-8-2 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03-5537-2217

Opening Hours: 11.00am-11.00pm

Website: http://www.giontsujiri.co.jp (In Japanese)

The nearest station is Shimbashi, or Shiodome.

Tsujiri (Gion, Kyoto)

573-3 Gion-machi Minami-gawa, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan
京都市東山区祇園町南側573-3

Tel : 075-561-2257

Hours: 10:00～22:00

It's quite well hidden on the second storey of Shijo dori in Gion, and it's on the opposite side of the street to Starbucks (but not that near Starbucks).