VanFoodies.com

Matcha lovers rejoice! Considered the Starbucks in Japan, Nana’s Green Tea has arrived in North America. In fact, their first ever North American location will be right here in Vancouver! On June 6, their Kerrisdale location will open its door to the public.

Established around 10 years ago in Japan, Nana’s Green Tea was brought to us by Kazuto Kutami. He was inspired by the Starbucks concept while wanting to preserve the history and tradition of Japanese tea culture. Their matcha is sourced solely from Uji, Kyoto. To-date, there are more 80 Nana’s locations around the globe.

Food

Lucky for me, I was invited to a media preview of their menu. Here are a few items we’ve tasted:

(From left) Hoji-cha Shiratama Float, Matcha Chocolate Latte, Azuki Strawberry Latte

These are only taster size. Of the three beverages, my favourite was the Hoji-cha Shiratama Float. Shiratama in this case means sticky rice, which means there are mochi (aka sticky rice) balls in them. Hoji-cha is roasted green tea, so there’s some nutty flavour in the drink, as well as in the Hoji-cha ice cream. It’s quite unique and I don’t think I’ve seen something like this in Vancouver yet.

Azuki (red bean) Strawberry Latte is on the sweeter side, but not overly sweet. There is red bean paste and small pieces of strawberry in the drink so it’s quite fun to drink. It kind of reminds me of the HK style Iced Red Bean Drink 紅豆冰.

Although tasty, relatively the Matcha Chocolate Latte wasn’t super interesting. That being said, the matcha flavour was very strong, with just a hint of sweetness from the chocolate.

I should note that there are many other options for beverages on the menu. There are 12 matcha options, 5 for hoji-cha, 5 azuki, and 5 options for just green tea.

Fresh Tuna with Curry Tartar Sauce Donburi

The only savoury dish we tried. This donburi was very good. Tuna was flavourful; the curry tartar (think curry mayo egg salad) was fragrant with a hint of spices.

This is a full-sized serving, and I thought for $11.80 it’s a good deal. It would make a good lunch combo.

Matcha Shiratama Parfait

My favourite item of the tasting. It includes layers of matcha pudding, vanilla soft serve, cereals, red bean paste, mochi balls, matcha ice cream and matcha syrup. It’s like a matcha bomb! This is best to share between two people, so you can order more things matcha. And don’t forget to dig deep into the glass to make sure you get everything in one bite.

Matcha Gateau Chocolat

It’s not your typical cake texture. It’s a bit dense for my liking, but it had good matcha flavours. It actually reminded me of a baked sticky rice cake that my grandpa made for me once when he visited Vancouver.

Matcha Roll Cake

Another matcha bomb! The most surprising part was the matcha mousse in the centre. All the essence of matcha was packed in the creamy centre. It’s intense, in-your-face matcha explosion. I was expecting it to be bitter, but it wasn’t. The cake itself had nice, fluffy texture. I can have so many pieces of this.

Final Thoughts

Although it was just a sample of the menu, I got really excited about Nana’s. How can you not get excited about a matcha cafe in Vancouver?! Its menu is quite reasonably priced and I would definitely want to go back. For now, they are open 11am-6pm, closed Wednesdays, so it’s not going to be your late night matcha hangout. I do hope they would open more locations in the Lower Mainland soon, and perhaps…closer to home? 🙂
Nana’s Green Tea
2135 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver
604-263-5054
nanasgreentea.com