京都伊藤久右衛門 台灣海外直營店
Founded in 1832 in Kyoto, initially engaged in the tea business, it later transformed into a matcha specialty store. This Taipei Zhongshan store is the only overseas location! Moreover, the number of matcha specialty stores in Taiwan is quite limited.
This store began in 2016 and is located near the rear station of Taipei Main Station, not far from the Zhongshan District shopping area. Earlier this year, it relocated from its old site across the street to the new site, which has a slightly larger seating area for dining.
This time, with many people, we ordered a variety of items.
Even on weekends, there are almost always available seats, and there is no need to queue, which raises some concern about whether it can be successfully operated. Perhaps it is because the rules set by this store are too numerous, for example: no reservations (making it difficult to arrange afternoon tea with friends), a minimum spend of one meal per person (which means starting at 290 NT), a dining time limit of 60–70 minutes (not conducive to chatting), and weekday hours only until 7:30 PM (is this in line with Japanese stores?), with a 10% service charge only accepted in cash (which is quite uncommon).