Tsuji Rihei [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Tsuji Rihei
Address: 41 Ujiwakamori, Uji-shi, Kyoto Prefecture 
Website: http://www.tsujirihei.co.jp
Style: Japanese 
Price: $$

Not to be confused with another business specializing in Uji matcha drinks and sweets, Tsujiri, Tsuji Rihei was my final Cake Tour in Japan. Granted, having frantically hunted for a matcha castella at the last minute, I only really picked this up at a sweets shop in Tokyo Narita airport; it was one of two matcha castellas for sale - baumkuchen, the dessert trend of the moment, was on the other hand teeming with selection - and this one just so happened to have the smallest list of ingredients. Little did I know then that I ended up grabbing a castella from a company that was closer to where I'd been staying for most of my trip than to Tokyo, but I was content. 

Tsuji Rihei is a higher-end dessert/sweets and tea shop based in Uji, just outside Kyoto, with four or so more department store booths in Osaka and a few other cities selling their pre-packed items. According to the pamphlet included with my castella, they specialize in matcha-based treats like cookies, dorayaki, baumkuchen and castella and serve traditional jelly desserts and drinks at their cafe.

All I really wanted was a castella. Ideally a matcha castella. This one (1250 yen) came prettily packaged and pre-sliced, although upon unwrapping it, I found it a little more... petite than I anticipated. While the five slices did look nicer than going in with your own knife, I felt like it also dried out the cake quite a bit; it wasn't as moist and spongy as other castellas I've tried. More than that, I would have liked to see and taste more matcha. The dough was almost verging on a yellow-green and maybe it would have helped dispel the impression of a not very fresh cake? Still, it may not have been the best Japanese-made matcha castella I've had, but it was good and just what I'd wanted. Despite it all, I went away feeling happy with my last-minute purchase and my farewell cake tour to Japan. See you next time, Japan!

Rating: ***