Ningyocho is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Tokyo for the array of traditional businesses that dot its streets. I have already described Amazake street in Ningyocho and this post is about a more in depth visit to the cafe operated by Morinoen, a roasted green tea (hoji-cha) shop on Amazake.
The visit
I visited the cafe twice in late December 2019. It is located upstairs from the shop selling roasted green tea.
It is a simple cafe in terms of decor. Of course they have a wet towel for you upon your arrival.
The menu is all in Japanese, but it is profusely illustrated, so ordering is no problem even if you do not read or speak Japanese. At the time of my visit they had some seasonal sweets with purple potatoes.
I did end up ordering their seasonal parfait that was massive. In addition to purple potatoes, there was also their signature hoji-cha ice cream. All the ingredients were creamy and tasted genuine to me.
On another occasion I had a more conservative hoji-cha ice cream with jellies and other ingredients. It was also great.
In both cases the dessert went with hot green tea.
The menu is quite extensive and they also have other sweets based on green tea and of course hoji-cha.
The check
Both sweets cost me around 1,400 yen (13 USD) that actually is not so bad in Tokyo for this kind of dessert.
I massively enjoyed the experience of great desserts coupled with a quaint authentic establishment.
Where in Tokyo:
2-4-9 Nihonbashi Ningyocho, Chuo-ku.
In Japanese: 東京都 中央区日本橋人形町２－４－９ 森乃園.
Website: https://morinoen.jp/.