...high tea in the Ginza
The Japan Times, Friday, April 2, 2010
Compared to getting a good breakfast, treating yourself to a leisurely afternoon tea ought to be far less of a problem. After all, when it comes to patisseries, Tokyo is every bit the equal of Paris or Vienna. Just one problem — very few places understand how to serve the tea itself.
Invariably there will be little or no choice — maybe Earl Grey, Darjeeling or perhaps (laughably) some Breakfast Tea. It is more than likely to be brewed from tea bags, rather than from the leaf. And then, when it arrives, it will probably be overstewed and harshly tannic. Worse yet, the milk will no doubt be warm.
The only way to be sure it will be done right is to go to one of the specialist tea houses. None of them takes the job more seriously than Mariage Frères, in the heart of Ginza.
The tea canisters on the shelves of the ground-floor retail store barely hint at the sheer number of teas stocked here. There are hundreds listed in the catalog, many of them exclusive, handpicked, single-estate, first-flush varieties. All are available for you to choose from for your afternoon pot, up in the tea rooms on the second and third floors...
At the Lipton Tea House, over on the other side of Ginza, the atmosphere is far less stuffy. Here the rituals of afternoon tea are performed in the British style. Mercifully there's very little overt cultural baggage. The influences are all on the menu and in the cup. With just 32 varieties on the list, including quite a few flavored teas and herbal tisanes, that is quite enough choice for us. Although the brewing is performed out of sight, beforehand you will be asked how strong you like your tea. You will also be asked what you want to eat with it.
This time last year, Lipton was even serving hot cross buns, aromatic sweet rolls that are a classic Easter tradition in Britain. Perhaps due to lack of interest, they're not offered this spring, but there are plenty of year-round specials.
You can't get more British than a proper cream tea (¥1,700). You get to pick from six flavors of scone, including — in this season —sakura, made with salted cherry blossom and leaf. These are served in true s only tyle with authentic clotted cream and little pots of jam (strawberry, blueberry or rhubarb) or lemon curd, which you can take home with you if you don't finish them...
Mariage Frères, 5-6-6 Ginza, Chuo-ku; (03) 3572-1854
Lipton Tea House, 1-3-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku; (03) 5159-6066
map to Lipton Tea House... 