Authentic matcha tea and traditional Japanese sweets at Kazahana.
Kazahana is what Japanese authenticity looks like to me. I’ve tried many matcha teas all around Japan and theirs has really stood out. Also, I love Kita-Kamakura because it is such a beautiful small town in the middle of nature that also feels like traveling back in time, so the environment is also perfect for this type of Japanese style cafe.
I recently took my sister there and she said that it has been one of her most memorable experiences in Japan and it has also been one of mine, so I hope you too give it a try!
What makes it special
- Owners dedication to perfecting their menu items
- Owners attention to the details
- Deep understanding of tea and sweets pairing
- Deep understanding of their customers’ preferences
- The beautiful interiors and store atmosphere
- Customer service. Owners are very kind and attentive
You are probably thinking “how do you know whether the owners have a deep understanding of their pairing experience or not?”. Well, it is because I talked to them (in Japanese) and this is what they told me:
Our male customers thought that the manju wasn’t sweet enough, while most female customers thought that it could be less sweet. Matcha itself is always a bit bitter, that’s why pairing it with something sweet makes drinking matcha much more enjoyable.
We really want to please all of our customers, so we always keep on experimenting and trying new ways to improve. Something that we did good was to add the mochi to the set, it was probably the missing peace that balances it all: the bitterness of the matcha and the sweetness of the manju. If a customer prefers the manju to be sweeter, the mochi helps as a complement. If a customer prefers the manju to be less sweet, the mochi balances the manju sweetness.
What to order
To make it simple, I’d just order the matcha set. It contains a delicious matcha, a cute usagi (rabbit) manju, and mochi. Manju is usually made with wheat flour and mochi is made from rice flour. Manju has an azuki (read bean paste) filling. I personally love how mochi feels when you chew it and it also somehow feels super refreshing.
The matcha could either be hot or cold. The owners may understand you if you just say “hot” or “cold” in English. Both are delicious, but I usually prefer it hot because it also feels good when pairing it with the usagi manju.
Map
Would recommend to look at the Google Maps restaurant profile pictures to get a better idea of how the place looks like. Click here to see the pictures of the store!