Tea House at Japanese Tea Garden

On my visit to San Francisco I wasn't planning on doing many "touristy" things.  Many buildings, attractions, and sites that most tourists flock to really don't interest me that much.  When I visit a new city, I get to know it best I can through its food and people.  However, when I read about the Japanese Tea Garden located right outside Golden Gate Park, I couldn't resist making the one hour trek over from my hotel to see it.

The Japanese culture has always piqued my interest.  The architecture, the people, the clothing, customs, traditions, language, and food.  I mean, really, what is there not to love?  Everything about it is beautiful.  Offering a type of zen and tranquility no matter what is it you're gazing upon.

The Japanese Tea Garden in SF is said to be America's oldest public Japanese tea garden.  It was originally created in 1894 as a one-acre Japanese-style garden.  Over the next few decades, a man named Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese landscape architect, had moved his family onto the property.  Mr. Hagiwara put all his personal wealth, passion, and creative talents into the garden to achieve in what he thought in his own eyes was perfection, and expanding it to about five acres.

In 1942, along with many other Japanese Americans, Mr. Hagiwara and his family were forced to move from their home and live in internment camps.  When WWII was over, he and his family were not allowed to move back into their home, and in subsequent years, many of the Hagiwara family heirlooms were removed, replaced with other additions, and eventually turning into a public space for viewing.

Walking up to the Japanese Tea Garden is very minimalistic.  Open landscape with a few small statues and man-made stools in front of an Asian-style gate.  On one of these stools sat an older Asian male, playing a Japanese flute for passer-by's.  What made him stand out was his engaging smile as he played, saying with it "I am happy, and there is no other place in the world I would rather be than here right now".  As you then walk through the main entrance, you are transported into another world.



Please allow me to take you on a journey through the garden:

Entrance to the garden

A statue of Bhudda awaits you at the end

At the end of your walk through the garden sits The Tea House.  A family of four crams into a kitchen no bigger than most bathrooms, with no commercial gas equipment in sight.  A few portable burners heat hot water for tea and soups, and other items are prepared freshly and carefully by loving hands.

The walk up to the Tea House

The Tea House overlooks the Zen Garden

Petite O-Musubi Set

Udon Noodle Soup

I started with the Petite O-Musubi Set.  Small morsels of shrimp dumplings, sesame-fried chicken, and rice balls offer a good start to warm your palate.  Although the dumplings and rice balls were good, I still remember the one-bite of chicken, tender and flavorful, and still being able to make my mouth water.  It was one perfect bite during a beautiful day.  


I then had the Udon Noodle Soup.  Thick noodles swam in a hearty vegetable broth, with a few slices of Japanese radish and pepper flakes on the side.  It comes to your table in a porcelain pot, and your server lifts the lid in your direction for an incredible scent of soup.  Here, it's all about using every one of your senses, finishing your journey in finding harmony.  With all pieces fitting together, I can tell you it was a perfect meal, even if there was nothing over-the-top about it.

If you're visiting San Francisco, definitely make your way over to the Japanese Tea Garden.  It took about an hour and a half to walk through the garden, and it was an afternoon well spent.

Japanese Tea Garden

75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive

San Francisco, CA 94118