Out & About #208 | Tsujiri Tea House (Round 2)

What would life be without matcha? Let's think about this for a moment.

I can proudly declare that I've never been without green tea for a single day of my existence, whether it be the numerous varieties of jasmine green tea bags in our pantry, or the slightly pricier tins of Matcha Matsu from DAVIDsTEA. And because of my fondness for the pulverized grassy substance, it was only a short while before I found myself craving for more ​Tsujiri after my initial visit.

To say that not being able to try their Cream Puffs during their first few days of operation would be an understatement. Their refrigerated display case was completely devoid of any baked goods during my previous visit; quite the contrast, it was filled to the brim with O-Matcha Macarons and O-Matcha Cream Puffs this time around. I opted to take four of the crackled top-creations to-go.

Another item that grabbed my attention after a sufficient amount of hype on Instagram would be: No. 31, the Houjicha Float. While I had my doubts about the strength of the roasted tea flavour, many claimed otherwise. Noting the girl at the cashier, who, to my surprise, spoke a decent amount of English, promised uncompromised tea flavour even with the addition of milk, I chose No. 32, the Houjicha Milk Float. The medium size with matcha soft serve rang in at a whopping eight dollars - Yikes.

But by golly, it was good. Likely the priciest singular drink I've ever forked over my hard-earned wages to obtain, it surpassed Uncle Tetsu standards by far, bursting with a very-much-unexpected deep, thoroughly roasted aura. Lying right in the middle of kakigori and slushie (think of the bubble tea variety) texture, the float was icy, yet not overly watery; it was textured and flavourful, with absolutely no unnecessary frills. To top it all off, the matcha soft serve proved to heighten the distinctness of the teas even more, adding an overall cohesive quality.

Not a fan of buttercream, I opted out of the $4.75 O-Matcha Parfait.
The "Sunrise" Uji seemed to be a good item for sharing among groups though. (Honestly, you can't go wrong with kakigori when the weather begins warming up.)

View the full album HERE !

As it began pouring, I slowly made my way to Bay and Dundas, where I once again witnessed a lack of a lineup outside Uncle Tetsu. I swooped in to purchase another cheesecake and a box of Honey Madeleines.

The moment of truth arrived as I walked through the doors to my humble abode: it was Cream Puff Taste-Testing time!

Cream puffs are quite a staple dessert among classy department store food retailers, so I thought it would be acceptable to have high hopes for this item. Sadly, the produce fell just below the bar.

Instead of the crispy, slightly crumbly shell I had so greatly anticipated, the exterior of the O-Matcha Cream Puff was soft and soggy, falling flat against the dual pastry cream layer. The thin layer of cookie topping was almost indiscernible to the eye, let alone to adding any potential texture variances.

The one redeeming aspect of the dessert was the manner in which the pastry cream had been filled (either side by side or top/bottom); I suppose the extra effort to create two batches of fluffy and sweet pastry cream filling was another factor to be recognized. I could have totally done without the dampness though.

Despite the mediocre box of No. 46s, my second round at Tsujiri was satisfactory enough to justify the rainy commute. Furthermore, I'm more convinced than ever to have a taste of their other floats, as well as their colossal mound of kakigori! Wait times have been known to surge just after 1 pm though, so it's likely I'll try making an early visit amidst gloomy weather for the sake of rendering my claustrophobic mind at ease.