Tea Time at A 400-Year-Old Temple♪

● Temple Cafe Chaniwa in Osaka's Horie Neighborhood

Hi! My name is Youn. I’m from South Korea.
Temple cafes are becoming a thing in Japan lately. Having a cup of tea in the tranquil atmosphere of a temple sounded appealing and I decided to go check one out with my friend, Hinata-chan. We visited Temple Cafe Chaniwa in the stylish Horie neighborhood of Osaka, about a 7-minute walk from Osaka Metro’s Yotsubashi Station.

Temple Cafe Chaniwa is open three days a week on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. This cafe has been trending on social media as an exquisite spot to enjoy Japanese sweets.

Manpukuji Temple, the home of Temple Cafe Chaniwa, also hosts cultural events like tea ceremonies and I heard Neymar, the Brazilian soccer player, and players of the Paris Saint-Germain F.C. have visited this place!!

It’s not a big temple but I found a refined beauty in Manpukuji Temple. When you step into the grounds of Manpukuji Temple, you forget you are only minutes away from the busy, hip shopping districts of America-Mura and Orange Street. Red benches placed in the terrace area of the cafe remind you of a traditional Japanese garden.
The gentle breeze felt great and I was excited to have found such a gem♪

Temple Cafe Chaniwa 寺カフェ 茶庭

【Access】	Approx. 7-minute walk from Osaka Metro Yotsubashi Line’s Yotsubashi Station
【Address】	1-14-23 Minami Horie, Nishi-ku, Osaka
【Google Map】	https://maps.app.goo.gl/ghH5di5bNwk8RdYf6
【Hours】	Thurdays/Fridays 1:00 pm – 5:30 pm Saturdays 12:00 pm – 5:30 pm
【Closed】	Sunday through Wednesday
【Price Guide】	Cafe: 1,000 yen to 2,000 yen estimated per person Tea Ceremony: 5,500 yen per person
【HP】	https://www.horie-manpukuji.com/chaniwa
【Instagram】	https://www.instagram.com/teracafechaniwa/
【Tea Ceremony Reservation】	https://coubic.com/chaniwa/572980?via=qr

●Matcha Green Tea and Japanese Sweets♪

We took a seat on one of the red benches at the cafe. Shall we see what sweets they serve?

But first, we need to have some tea. We ordered Hojicha Latte (750 yen incl. tax) and Matcha Green Tea (750 yen incl. tax). We sipped on it Japanese style, holding the bowl with two hands, one at the bottom.

Hot matcha does wonders. It was bright green and just a sip of it gave me a sense of calm. I liked the excellent combination of matcha’s moderate bitterness and the sweetness of the sugar confectionery served with the tea. Hinata-chan loved her creamy Hojicha Latte—the fluffy frost on top was so abundant, I’d say she was “eating” (rather than drinking) her latte♪

Menu with pictures of various items included a variety of Japanese teas and drinks including Sencha served in a kyusu tea pot and Soba Tea Latte. They were all appealing to our eyes and sounded good for your health!

Sweets after the tea were delicious♪
It was difficult to decide what to get from the many good looking Japanese sweets on the menu—Matcha Parfait and Tiramisu are the popular items, we were told, but the Assortment of Seven Tea Sweets and the rich Cheese Cake piqued my interest.

And there were Sakura Chiffon Cake and strawberry Mille Crepe, on the menu for the season—as often seen in Japan, Temple Cafe Chaniwa has seasonal offerings! You can see the current offerings on Instagram (@teracafechaniwa).

Since we were at a temple, we decided we should get something more Japanese. So we ordered Matcha Tiramisu (700 yen incl. tax) and the Assortment of Seven Tea Sweets (980 yen incl. tax)♪

Matcha Tiramisu boasts unwavering popularity and is topped with a luxurious amount of matcha. Inside is a plenty of cream and moist sponge cake—it was very rich♪ The bitterness of matcha and the sweetness of the cream were excellent together.

The Assortment of Seven Tea Sweets included black beans, rice flour dumplings with sweet adzuki bean paste, glazed chestnuts, brown sugar karinto dough snacks, bean snacks, and vanilla ice cream. You use the monaka wafers to sandwich the sweets of your choice to eat. I tried the vanilla ice cream and the rice flour dumplings in monaka and they were delightful♪

※The content of the Assortment of Seven Tea Sweets may differ depending on the availability of ingredients for the day.

●Tea Ceremony, Incense Workshop…and More!

In addition to the beautiful cafe, Manpukuji Temple is home to cultural events that are regularly held and open to the public. We got lucky and were able to join on the spot an incense making workshop that was being held on the day of our visit.

This is a popular workshop held once or twice a month. Participants get to mix herbs and fragrant wood to make their original incense.

The instructor is a perfumer who gracefully shares their knowledge of each ingredient’s efficacy. Participants get to experience the different ingredients using their sense of smell while learning about the fragrance which, according to the instructor, changes depending on your physical and mental condition. In fact, Hinata-chan and I had two different experiences with the same fragrance! The art of fragrance goes deep.

We also learned that incense comes in a variety of ingredients and efficacies.

Sandalwood strengthens your mental capacity while letting you relax. Cinnamon helps improve blood circulation and has an analgesic effect on stiff shoulders and joint pain. We chose three from a total of eight fragrances to take home in little envelopes made with washi Japanese paper.

We chose scent sachets—made with Chaniwa’s original tatami edge—to hold our incense and tied them with mizuhiki paper strings. Looks so distinctly Japanese, doesn’t it?!
Going in, I thought incense must be difficult to make, but it wasn’t so bad. Best of all, it was really fun and refreshing to make my own fragrance!

※The incense making workshop is currently offered only in Japanese.

The incense making workshop is currently offered only in Japanese, but the tea ceremony can be experienced in English at Manpukuji Temple♪ If you’re looking for a Japanese cultural experience, you need to go no further than…

Right here▼
https://coubic.com/chaniwa/572980?via=qr

●A Special, Tranquil Moment During Your Travel

After a relaxing time at the Temple Cafe, we felt refreshed and content♪ Maybe we’ll come back for a tea ceremony sometime.
Thanks, Hinata-chan, for a nice day! I look forward to another relaxing day off together♪