What’s on the menu at Tsujiri, the Japanese matcha brand’s new two-storey North York location

Name: Tsujiri Contact: 4909 Yonge St., 647-341-6622, tsujiri-global.com, @tsujiri-toronto
Neighbourhood: Willowdale Chef: Tomo Hiro

The Food

This 155-year-old Japanese brand started as a humble tea shop and now has 30 international locations. And while they still brew classic green teas, made from plants grown in the tea fields of Uji (just south of Kyoto), Tsujiri’s massive lineups are owed to their matcha-packed desserts. There’s raw matcha cheese cake, matcha soft serve, matcha shaved ice, matcha sundaes, matcha parfaits and even wobbly matcha pancakes.

This is Toronto’s second Tsujiri location and the first one outside of Japan to serve a menu of hot, savoury items. While the Japanese Tsujiris serve only traditional preparations of soba, the menu in North York includes a few new takes on the classic. There are ramenizations (soba served with ramen-inspired dipping sauces) and some “poke soba” bowls that swap out rice for matcha-infused buckwheat noodles.

The Drinks

Green tea, in its many manifestations. There are traditional steeped teas (kabusencha, gyokuro, premium sencha), which are served either hot or cold; tea lattes made from matcha and houjicha (green tea that’s roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal); and a variety of frozen drinks flavoured with matcha, houjicha and yuzu.

The Space

On the main level, a modern tea shop juxtaposes black walls with blonde-wood tea displays, while the full-service dining room upstairs is much brighter, with white-oak everything.