There are so many amazing places to find matcha in London! As you may know, I’m a liiiiiitle bit obsessed with matcha. So, I wanted to share my journey so far - the good, the bad, and the grassy!
My Favourites
Matcha Soft Serve
Matcha flavour is finding its way onto most trendy ice cream menus in London. This matcha and vanilla swirl soft serve is sitting atop a fish shaped cone. In addition to being beautiful, it’s also the tastiest matcha ice cream I’ve found in London. The combination swirl makes the matcha taste so lovely and creamy! You get a massive amount of soft serve for the price of £4. The cone is tasty and very sturdy for holding up all this yumminess. You can find this beauty right outside the China Town gate at Bake.
Matcha Tiramisu
Kova bakery makes so many gorgeous desserts that it’s hard to pick just one. However, if I really had to, I would choose this matcha tiramisu. I think this won me over so whole heartedly because not only do I love matcha, but I’m a sucker for tiramisu. The two together - EVEN BETTER! This dessert had a strong matcha flavour but managed not to taste too grassy. It was balanced with very creamy filling. A small piece is all you really need as it’s very flavourful! £3.50
Matcha Latte
Now for the true test of matcha awesomeness - the latte. I have certainly had my fair share of them. To be clear, my favourite matcha lattes are smooth, sweet (but not too sweet), and creamy. I’m not a fan of the very ‘grassy’ herbal ones, so if that’s more your thing then my top picks may not be for you. This is my favourite matcha latte in all of London (so far anyway)! It’s not the most beautiful, it doesn’t have latte art, and it comes in a pretty small cup. I tell you that, because despite all of this, it is the best. This matcha latte has the perfect balance of sweetness and creaminess. Whenever I order it, it’s gone within two minutes. This is the Dominique Ansel matcha latte - £3.80
Some Pretty Good Matcha
Matcha Latte
Now this is a close second favourite. The Attendant is a super funky coffee shop that just so happens to make a pretty and tasty matcha latte. I was nervous when I saw this one, as it’s quite dark and I was sure it was destined to be grassy. Spoiler alert, it really isn’t! This matcha latte has a creamy texture and just enough sweetness. £3.50
Matcha Latte
Another truly beautiful and lovable matcha latte comes from Coffee Island. Overall, I really enjoyed this latte, although the last few sips were a tad bitty. It comes in a lovely big cup and is served on the most lovely wooden crate trays. Right between the touristy centres of Covent Garden and Leicester Square this lovely coffee shop certainly isn’t slacking! £3.30 https://www.coffeeisland.co.uk
Matcha Latte
Caya is a lovely coffee shop with a workspace in the back that made me truly wish I was back at university. Alongside bottomless, yes BOTTOMLESS, tea and coffee - an hour in the workspace will set you back £2 or £15 for the day. A day of bottomless coffee - I could so make back my money’s worth! Anyway, they make a nice matcha latte as well. It’s nothing super fancy or exciting but it’s a solid matcha and a good price at £3.
Matcha Latte
Tombo London is a Japanese restaurant and matcha bar. A while back, they had a amazing Hello Kitty theme going. This place really knows their matcha and has some fun stuff on the menu! I’ve only tried their matcha latte and it was good. I think that what I really need to do, is go back and try some other matcha things on the menu to see the true beauty of their matcha skills. It’s also good to note that you can request unsweetened, if that’s more your thing. £3.85
Matcha Wheelcake
Wheelcake Island makes Taiwanese pancakes with creamy fillings, including, you guessed it, matcha! They import Japanese matcha to make their creamy matcha custard. The thing I truly love is that they’re made in front of you and served to you warm. It doesn’t get much better than that! I really enjoyed my wheel cake, however I would have liked it to be a bit sweeter. What can I say? I have a terrible sweet tooth! £3
Matcha Soft Serve
Soft serve society is a pretty instagramable location, so it may be on your radar. It’s a soft serve bar, so there are a couple flavours to choose from and loads of toppings! My favourite part - they have these lovely charcoal waffle cones! Their matcha soft serve was very tasty, just not quite as creamy as some of their competition. They also do some pretty crazy cool sundaes and freakshakes! £3.75
Some Not So Good Matcha
Matcha Mille Crepe
Boba Jam is a tea and dessert house with quite an exciting menu. I’ve been there more than once and really enjoyed some of the desserts. Unfortunately, this matcha and red bean mille crepe was not among them. It was really lacking in matcha flavour and the red bean added a sogginess to the texture that wasn’t pleasant. This particular dessert comes with a honey drizzle on the side, which sounds nice, but in reality just made the dessert far too sweet! £5.80
Matcha Latte
Darcie Green is a lovely location. I mean, it doesn’t get better than brunch on a barge! Their breakfast was darn good, but unfortunately their matcha latte fell flat. There was a lot of separation, making the drink quite gritty. It was also not at all sweet. Pretty, but the taste just was not there. £3.40
Matcha Latte
Coffee Republic definitely has one thing going for it - their coffees are HUGE. This medium is bigger than any large I’ve ever ordered. I liked the first sip, the second sip was ok, by the third sip I had realised that it was definitely too sweet. I feel like the sign of a not so good matcha latte is me not finishing it - and I left about half of this. It was ok. I wouldn’t go back and if I did, I would definitely be trying something different on the menu. Medium £3.50
Matcha Latte
AIDA Shoreditch is pretty much an instagram legend, known particularly for it’s very pretty pink rose lattes. Needless to say I was super excited to try this place! I dragged my boyfriend here with high hopes that were dashed for both of us. It’s a pretty funky location - a clothes store with a coffee shop at the front. I ordered the matcha and Lee ordered a dirty chai. I really don’t want to be mean, but these were the worst lattes I have ever had! The texture was so gritty that I felt I was eating rather than drinking them. The flavour was super grassy as well. I made Lee suffer a sip, just to be sure I wasn’t imagining things. I was not. £3
