Nana’s Green Tea
Nana’s Green Tea – The Japanese trend is coming back full force in Vancouver again. This time the wave is hitting hard with large franchises coming in. It leaves the Korean’s food craze on a temporal standstill while we jump on the bandwagon to see what these franchise have to offer. Eg – Uniqlo, Miniso, Uncle Tetsu, Numerous Ramen Shops and now Green Tea Desserts! Nana’s first location in Vancouver had opened up in Kerrisdale early in 2018. The wait time during midweek during the day wasn’t too long and I manage to snag a table. Looking at the selection of all Matcha – my eyes were bright and my mouth was salivating to try this place since it’s quite popular in Japan and the selection was so vast. As I looked at the cost, I was surprised at how reasonably priced it was. So I ended up trying both the Hoji-Cha and Matcha Shiratama parfait. It’s rice flour dumpling with agar and matcha pudding below. Last but not least the Warabimochi Frappe. For obvious reasons, the parfait is a popular thing to try out since it’s so pretty, and the frappe would be a nice comparison to the one at starbucks. So starting off – I might get people hating me…I’m sorry! Perhaps I am being bias or spoiled but I was sadly disappointed by all three items. Although the colour was nicely green but the matcha taste in the parfait was very much like a green tea ice cream you can get from Mario Gelato. It’s not Matcha. It’s green tea! The parfait’s matcha pudding didn’t taste anything – more like non flavoured jelly – it reminded me of grass jelly. The same goes for the Hoji-Cha. I was expecting a nice robust roasted rice taste that was fragrant with a nice hint of creamy sweetness. However, this one was also the same. It tasted more like a light flavour milk tea with the same tasteless pudding. The only thing I enjoyed was the cornflakes that helped cut down on the sweetness. The frappe was overly too sweet that I taste nothing but syrup again. Keep note that I may have been too spoiled since I have had the privilege to savor different high grade matcha, and I had been to Japan to try similar desserts like Nana, and it blew my taste buds away! I had written a review about this in my newsletter before – Nakamura Tokichi. Yet, if I had to decided on what is the best Matcha latte or dessert that I have had in Vancouver, it would still be – Ichiyo’s Matcha Bar It’s top grade matcha is one of the best I’ve had and their desserts and drinks truly demonstrates the true taste of Matcha whereas others use too much sugar to cover the taste and bitterness after taste in the lower grade. I’m waiting patiently for two other Matcha places to pop up in Richmond and see how it compares.
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