International House is a foundation promoting cooperation between Japanese people and other countries. Its headquarter is a hotel, catering to international scholars, a conference center, and houses a lounge and a restaurant. The building, dating back to 1955 with a major expansion taking place in 1976, was built in harmony with the surrounding Japanese garden and is a remarkable place.
The visit
The building hosts both a lounge, called The Garden, and a full-fledged restaurant called Sakura. I went for an afternoon tea.
It was a Sunday afternoon of Christmas Week and the place was pretty busy. The public seemed to be mature (in stark contrast with the coffee shops at the National Art Center that I had visited earlier that seemed to attract a younger audience).
The lounge overlooked the scenic garden (unfortunately I was unable to get a decent photo of the view).
I chose the tea and cake set and I was presented with samples of the available cakes. I went for the pudding.
The tea was offered in a teapot.
The check
The tea and cake set cost me 968 yen (around 9 USD) and I must say that I found it very reasonable, especially considered the nice environment.
Where in Tokyo:
5-11-16 Roppongi, Minato-ku.
In Japanese: 東京都港区六本木5‐11‐16.
Website (with menus and links for bookings): https://www.i-house.or.jp/eng/facilities/.