2008/09/29

Cafe where kyomachiya can be experienced with the cake of powdered green tea "Sankyu-en(three-hill-garden)"

Sankyu-en (three-hill-garden) is a small café restaurant for food or sweets basically arranged by Uji green tea.

Uji city, you know is a small city at south side of Kyoto and it was famous as the resort town where retired aristocrat have their small house in the mountain and live in nature.

The humidified weather of the Uji region made by mist come from Ujigawa river or Kitsugawa river is appropriate for growing tea trees, and now Uji is a representative name of good green tea producing region.


It’s so small but popular restaurant that sometimes foods or sweets would be sold out before evening, but fortunately, when we visit the shop, every popular sweets were sold in the shop, which you can confirm it reading the small signboard set in front of the shop you can find them in above picture.


When you walk into the entrance space, you will find the souvenirs or sweets are sold there, and you can ask employee to go into the café and restaurant space filled with Tatami mat.
It means you have to take off your shoes ;-).

Because the seat where it had faced the courtyard of the café space had just become vacant, we sat there.
Although it was in hot summer, we enjoyed the cool breeze passed by us.

We were reminded the functional construction of an old Kyoto house Machiya, using the benefits of natural weather things like breeze, sun light, sometimes rain for keeping house comfortable.

When you sit down your seats, an employee will come to give you Green-tea flavored snack or chocolates and ordinary green tea Bancha.
It is just like a table charge snack in many of the Japanese bar restaurant Izakaya.
But in this case, it was free or very cheap.

I ordered "Set of the powdered green tea pudding and the green tea" that was one of the signboard menus of three hill garden.
I ordered green tea with ice, it was one of the seasonal tea menu.

You may sometimes feel the Japanese pudding is too soft with low percentage of egg, however, this Maccha (powdered green tea) pudding was really steady and hardened with egg.
The taste of powdered green tea was also very strong that you cannot forget the taste of this Sankyu-en powdered green tea pudding.
I miss it even now writing this article.

In contrast to Maccha pudding, MacchaWarabimochi (powdered green tea flavored bracken rice cake, soft dumpling) was soft and not too sweet, so that you will taste quite contrasted two types of sweets.
You can have a second cup of green tea with ice.

My partner ordered a set of the powdered green tea flavored Warabi soft dumpling and Maccha green tea.

Tanba-Dainagon (red beans) set aside Warabimochi is sweet, soft and tasty.
They are especially large red beans produced in Tanba, north side of Kyoto prefecture.
You fin Koicha in the right of the picture, high concentrated powdered green tea in hot water. This taste bitter, although I love it, you should not choice it if you are not familiar with green tea taste.

It is very comfortable to stay long during afternoon and I was about to sleep, as it is talked about this Japanese style café by a lot of people.

I recommend you to visit not so late in afternoon, before 3:00 p.m. because most of the customers tend to stay long and occupy the space like me ;-).

“San-kyu-en” (three-hill-garden)
Kyotoshi Shimogyoku Ayakojitori Shinmachi Nishi-hairu Yadachou
open:11a.m.~6 p.m.regular holiday: Thursday
Phone: 075-351-3361