Tsujiri opens first ‘premium’ cafe in Holland Village

Matcha fans have probably heard of Tsujiri, a popular tea chain from Kyoto, Japan. There are currently five Tsujiri outlets in Singapore selling stuff like green tea drinks, tea-flavoured ice cream and cakes.

Now, you can try fancier versions of these items, plus a new savoury food menu at the first-ever Tsujiri Premium outlet, which opened on Jan 24 at One Holland Village mall.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES PREMIUM MEAN? 

Tsujiri Premium has a more luxe feel to it, a roomy 60-seat space with a minimalist grey interior, complete with a cute swing in front of a brick wall for the ’gram.

It’s a world of a difference from Tsujiri’s first few stores in Singapore, when the brand was first introduced in 2012. Back then, Tsujiri had a no-frills flagship shop at 100AM, and the rest of its branches mainly operated as takeaway kiosks. Except for the Clarke Quay outlet, all the original older branches have since closed down.

Now, all five of Tsujiri’s outlets are proper cafes. The reason for the revamp was a transfer of ownership – Tsujiri’s Marketing Manager, Muhammed Hafiz Amran, 33, tells 8days.sg that the “current owner is Singaporean (the ex-owner was Japanese), although we still follow the directions and get our inventory (like tea leaves and matcha powder) from Tsujiri’s HQ in Japan”. The current boss, Andrew Goh, 48, also owns multiple Chateraise branches as a franchisee.

Since Goh took over the brand in 2021, Tsujiri has adopted a more modern cafe-style concept, with the premium outlet being the fanciest one yet. This Holland Village outlet definitely looks more upscale than the more simply decorated, cramped Tsujiri cafe at Tanjong Pagar, for instance. 

EXPECT MORE 'PREMIUM' DESSERTS

Hafiz tells us that Tsujiri Premium “sells exclusive items like Premium Parfaits and food”, adding that “items that are sold at other outlets, like lattes and ice blends, are also given a more premium feel at this outlet, with a different presentation style”. For instance, the matcha lattes are served with a separate matcha shot here. 

There’s also an outlet-exclusive Premium Parfait (S$15.80) twice the size of a regular Tsujiri parfait. It comes with either matcha or houjicha gelato and soft serve ice cream, layered with panna cotta, house made strawberry sauce and Basque cheesecake crumbs. 

SAVOURY FOOD SERVED HERE, UNLIKE OTHER TSUJIRI CAFES

The biggest difference to the menu, however, is the introduction of savoury dishes. Mains include green tea cold soba with sencha dipping sauce (S$13.80), salmon ikura ochazuke (S$18.80), and unagi cold spaghetti with house sauce (S$18.80). 

MORE EXPENSIVE MENU, BUT SOFT SERVE PRICE REMAINS THE SAME

Unsurprisingly, most items at the premium branch are a little more expensive too. For instance, a signature matcha latte or ice blended matcha here (albeit larger and served in a fancier manner) costs S$8.80, instead of the usual S$7 for a large size at other outlets. 

The gelato here, which features a fun selection of four to six variations of matcha flavours at a time (including matcha mint and matcha dark chocolate), is also a tad pricier than at other outlets, costing S$5.80 instead of S$5.50 a scoop. 

Thankfully, the soft serve ice cream – which comes in either matcha, houjicha or vanilla flavour – remains $5.80 at the Holland Village cafe, the same price as at the regular outlets.

Tsujiri Premium is at #02-25/26 One Holland Village, 7 Holland Village Way, Singapore 275748. Open Mon - Thurs; Sun 11am - 10pm & Fri - Sat 11.30am - 10.30pm. More info via website.

This story was originally published in 8Days.