Uji-en 宇治園 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

With Christmas just around the corner, not surprisingly we are seeing a lot of new faces at different shopping malls eager to make their debuts before the festive season. Uji-en (宇治園), a tea specialty shop originated from Kyoto, is one of those newbies recently making their first appearance in Hong Kong. 



At their new shop in Harbour City, they have a takeaway counter as well as a small tea salon to showcase their green tea sweets and more.



That menu does look kind of familiar (Sweet House cha cha, Via Tokyo, Nakamura Tokichi, Tsujiri just to name a few here)...



Green tea float ($48) - Green tea soft serve on top of iced green tea. Nothing to write home about really. Should have gone for the matcha latte which came with soy milk instead of green tea.



Green tea tiramisu ($108) - This tiramisu was around the size of my palm and it cost a whopping $108. It did come with an iced coffee as a set. 



I thought it was just OK. Underneath the green tea powder was a layer of light mascarpone cheese and sponge cake. I'm still trying to figure out why they thought it's worth $108 (perhaps coz someone stupid like me would pay that price!?).



Hōjicha parfait ($88) - Out of the three items we ordered, this was the one I would re-visit again. Believe it or not, I actually thought the hōjicha soft serve tasted better than the green tea flavored one and by a pretty wide margin too. And all these different layers came with different flavors and textures. That, at least, I could enjoy for 7 to 8 minutes non-stop. 



Unfortunately, two of their other house specialties, green tea roll cakes and green tea french toast, were both sold out today. I guess I might have to come back for those some other time.

Food Rating: 4/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Shop 4201-4202K, 4/F Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2110-3052
Website: www.uji-en.