Fresh Warabi Mochi is a Must Try! Enjoy Kyoto’s Elegant Tea House, Gion Komori

Gion Komori (ぎをん小森) is a remodeled riverside teahouse located in the preserved district of Kyoto’s traditional machiya houses on Shinbashi-dori, and is famous for its Warabimochi, which is a Japanese jelly-like confection made from bracken starch and has been popular for a long time in Japan. The Warabimochi has a rich matcha and soybean flour flavor and is even more delicious when eaten with black honey. If you would like to eat sweets in Kyoto, it’s a must-visit spot.

Shinbashi do-ri is located north of Kyoto, Gion. The area is popular for its tasteful townscape, with its red-hull lattices painted with a mixture of red iron oxide and black ink, and houses with tiled roofs and blinds. In this area, which is also designated as a preservation district for groups of traditional buildings, Gion Komori was founded as a tea house and is currently operating as a sweets shop. There is Chozubachi (手水鉢) on the premise, which is a water bowl for washing hands and mouth to cleanse your mind and body, so you can feel the history of a former tea house.

This tea house has tatami rooms and offers tasteful Japanese sweets such as anmitsu and parfait. The most popular menu is chewy and jiggly warabi mochi made from 100% warabi powder which is also made fresh every day. It melts in your mouth. There are 2 types of matcha and soybean flour, and the nice point is that it comes with brown sugar syrup. First of all, don’t pour the brown sugar syrup on it, then pour it on and enjoy the difference in taste. In addition, the anmitsu kuzu is made from Yoshino kuzu, and the matcha is made from the long-established Ryuoen and Aya no Mori. They also sell souvenirs, so you can enjoy the taste of the store at home.