From the outside Yanagi-ja-ya looks unassuming, but the signs for warabi mochi lure tourists and entice the locals. Morsels made from warabi (bracken fern root) are tossed in soybean flour and sweetened with brown sugar syrup. In tandem with a bowl of matcha (green tea) it's a quintessential Japanese dessert.

Yanagi-ja-ya is a few minutes walk north past the Five-Story Pagoda and as such is a popular morning and afternoon tea spot. Lunch sets, Y4000-6000; warabi mochi and matcha set Y750.