Matcha-holic 🍵

The eateries and shops around Clarke Quay are in the growing list of casualties in 2020. With the COVID-19 situation and unpredictable rain, there are no short term tourists around and fewer locals taking the time to eat out, leaving Clarke Quay practically deserted.

It doesn’t help that heavy rain leaves more than half the seats outside Tsujiri wet and non-functional. Essentially the only seats left are the long high table. At least you get to face the quay while enjoying your drinks and desserts.

From left to right:

O Matcha Yuzu: considerably expensive drink at approximately $7 for just a small cup. It’s a dual layered drink with yuzu juice below and matcha to top it off. It only comes as a cold beverage. It’s my first time trying this drink at Tsujiri, but I really liked it. The staff recommended drinking each layer separately before mixing it together. The yuzu layer was sweet, slightly tangy with hints of bitterness, but very refreshing. Tsujiri uses high grade, vibrantly hued matcha whisked to a lovely smoothness so you don’t get any clumps or bursts of bitterness. Perhaps the yuzu layer could be thicker though as by the time I mixed them both together, the yuzu flavour was almost undetectable.

Genmaicha: simple roasted tea with toasted rice brewed with a tea bag. A lot more fragrant than whatever you usually get at restaurants. Overall a very pleasant and clean flavour profile thats a good accompaniment to their ice creams and cakes.

Houjicha roll cake: my least favourite out of what we ordered today. Tsujiri’s isn’t the softest Swiss roll, but the Houjicha flavour was detectable in the cake at least. I thought the cream to cake ratio was too skewed towards the former, which I’m really not a fan of. I’d pass on this next time, but if you like Swiss rolls, they do have matcha and black sesame flavours available as well.

Chiffon cake parfait (O-matcha): choice of matcha or houjicha soft serves to go with the parfaits. These soft serves form the base and also top off the whole parfait. I really liked the chiffon cake, it’s soft and spongy, and the matcha flavour is yum! The o-matcha soft serve has a nice matcha flavour to it. It’s not too intense, nor is it overly sweet, so it’s in a good in-between zone that should satisfy the majority of consumers. Pairs well with the adzuki paste provided. The soft serve doesn’t melt too quickly either. There’s a layer of cornflakes in the middle, which were still crunchy despite being sandwiched by the ice cream! I’d definitely order this parfait over the shiratama ones anytime.

Taste of the matcha is actually strong in this cup, but it’s too sweet for my liking. I would order this again, but ask for less sugar. Apart from that, the matcha flavour is prominent and comparable to some matcha specialty shops in my opinion!

I wouldn’t have known about this tiny coffee shop if it weren’t for Burpple Beyond although I drive past the area almost every day. Olla Specialty Coffee doesn’t face the main road, it’s near Balmoral Bakery but faces the courtyard of the HDB estate.

Seating is limited, but it’s a very cozy little place. There are two tables and some seats against the wall with “armrest tables”, plus two tables directly outside. The outdoor tables were well sheltered from the rain so no worries even on a thundery day like today. The interior is lovely, and the baristas are friendly too. As we were seated outside, there was a slight accident with the first matcha soy latte drink that was made as it spilled while the barista was carrying it. However, instead of wincing in pain or cursing, the sweet barista was more apologetic that I had to wait longer for my drink! She immediately apologised and had a new drink prepared.

The matcha latte was really really good. It’s thick with a slight bitter matcha aftertaste. At $5.50 for two cups (or $5 if you opt for regular milk) with Burpple beyond, this is an absolute steal! I would totally return to Olla, perhaps to try their coffee and waffles this time!

Despite not being a specialist in matcha goods, Haakon serves up quite a nice cup of matcha latte! The matcha is quite thick and there’s a slight underlying bitterness. I would definitely get one of these to go with a healthy meal or acai bowl at Haakon!

I had this almost immediately after purchasing so it came to quite a different experience from the first time I tried this. The double chocolate Obanyaki is a limited edition flavour, and it’s named that way because of the two different chocolate fillings. There’s a sweet chocolate custard (the lighter shade) that will be the first thing you encounter in a bite, and deep in the middle is the melted chocolate. I really didn’t like the taste of the chocolate custard, as it was too sweet and curd-like for my liking. I think this would’ve done a lot better if they just had the molten chocolate filling in the centre.

There’s this new Chinese girl who’s working at 108 Matcha Saro who is super blur. She took our order for this and a matcha parfait but ended up giving us a red bean Obanyaki and keyed in the Houjicha parfait for us instead. Thankfully, the manager quickly stepped in to offer us the red bean Obanyaki for free, and also gave us a matcha soft serve cone for free for the trouble.

*Note that 108 Matcha Saro is cash-only at the moment.

Skim milk available at this cute cafe, though their matcha latte wasn’t that fantastic, it was decent. It could do with thicker matcha to balance out the milkiness, but it’s not too sweet fortunately. They have tons of other interesting drinks like Muay Thai Latte (thai milk tea latte) and Sweet Potato latte, among many others. I’m really not sure where this cafe is going as they seem to have a mix of so many East Asian and southeast Asian influences as there’re Chinese, Thai and Korean words around the cafe. Overall, the staff are polite and nice, and it seems like a very quiet spot to spend a weekend afternoon (especially for parents who’ve dropped their kids off for tuition classes).

*FavePay is available at Caffe Pastore!

Good quality matcha latte at this little hideout along Tanjong Katong Road. I love how quiet and peaceful it is here on a weekday morning, at least until 10am. The matcha latte is quite thick, with a very slight bitterness. Would rank among one of the better ones and also affordable for a large cup.

This newly opened matcha specialist in the basement of Suntec City offers not only soft serves, parfaits, warabimochi, but also Obanyaki. Think Mr Bean pancakes, but more atas and more expensive.

I did find that the texture of the Obanyaki were much airier and lighter than Mr Bean’s, and I particularly enjoyed the matcha base pancakes with chocolate (limited time only!) and red bean with warabimochi fillings, as well as the regular base with matcha filling.

Overall, I probably wouldn’t shell out for the obanyaki once the chocolate one is gone, but I would return for their soft serves and warabimochi!

Perhaps the most innovative offering from their Obanyaki menu is a fusion of 108 matcha saro’s matcha pancake, red bean and matcha warabimochi. I found this very interesting, as the warabimochi added a chewy and smooth texture that elevated this pancake over the regular matcha and red bean version. The matcha warabimochi also added an extra bit of matcha flavour to the pancake, which I love. I have to say this fusion isn’t for everyone though, since my dad vehemently declared that warabimochi and obanyaki should be kept separate and that the textures didn’t go well together. Give it a shot and see how you like it!

This newly opened matcha stall has a few variations of Japanese pancakes (Obanyaki) available, one of which is a limited edition flavour launched in conjunction with their opening.

With a matcha pancake base and chocolate filling, I was sold. The obanyaki at 108 Matcha Saro is so fluffy and springy, even hours after we’d bought it. Plus the chocolate is rich, thick and so good. I love the matcha and chocolate combination and wish they’d make this a regular flavour on the menu as this is my pick out of all the flavours available!

1-for-1 soft serve opening weekend offer at 108 Matcha Saro in Suntec. If you’re familiar with Suntec City, you’ll be surprised to see how much space and how many new eateries are located here where Bali Thai used to be (and still is after a revamp). It’s a lot brighter in this space and we just feel a lot better here than before.

When I heard there was a new matcha specialist in town, I had to go try. Sure enough, there was a queue at 12.15pm but it moved really quickly. Since there was an offer on the soft serves, the poor lady manning the counter was visibly more overworked and kept churning out cone after cone. Soft serves come in matcha, Houjicha or a mix of both, and you get to pick the sauce that goes on top (matcha or brown sugar). The lady recommended opposite toppings - brown sugar for the matcha and matcha for the Houjicha soft serve so I went with that.

I feel it’s worth a mention that the lady at the soft serve counter actually still took pride in making each soft serve nicely, and responded patiently about what sauce should go on the soft serve despite how busy she was.

On to the soft serve itself, the textures are fantastic but they do melt quite quickly so don’t take too long to snap photos. The matcha flavour wasn’t intense but could still be tasted. The slight bitterness went well with the brown sugar syrup. The Houjicha flavour had a nice roasted aroma, making it more fragrant than the matcha. Paired with the matcha syrup, there was a bittersweetness which was simply delicious. The cones have this cute flower shape that prevents the ice cream from melting all over your hands, and the cones taste pretty good too!

Although 108 Matcha Saro is known for their matcha, both soft serves are good, which one to order depends on whether you prefer matcha or Houjicha more. If all else fails, there’s the mixed flavour too so you can try both at one go.

Not the strongest matcha flavour, but a very pleasant and ‘floral’ taste as other reviewers have mentioned. This drink only comes as a hot beverage and there is no iced version available. It was still a very delightfully well-balanced beverage that satisfied the matcha lover in me though. If you’re not in the mood for coffee, the matcha latte at Mellower Coffee is worth checking out.