It's about time the Matcha trend hit San Diego. This past March, Geraldine Riaduara, a University of San Diego graduate opened Holy Matcha and the North Park community couldn't be more thrilled about it. Personally, I had never tried Matcha and my growing curiosity led me to the restaurant to see if the green tea creation lived up to the hype. Not sure if you wanna hop on the bandwagon? Here are my observations and thoughts on San Diego's latest Matcha green tea cafe, Holy Matcha.
Atmosphere
If you follow @holymatchaa on Instagram you already know this place screams "take my picture". Every detail from the pink velvet booths and foliage wallpaper to the fresh flowers and the light-up sign is picture perfect. The warm energy and excitement from the employees about their menu items made a lasting impression. I not only wanted to whip out my phone to photograph every corner but also try one of everything on the menu. Unfortunately for time and money's sake, I held off on the full menu and selectively picked some of their staples.
Toast
I'm gonna be honest, it's pretty hard to make toast, and easy to make at home breakfast, amazing. However, Holy Matcha did a fairly decent job. On the almond toast, the almond butter tasted extremely fresh and the banana was a pleasant addition. As for the avocado toast, I usually prefer mine topped with an egg or something on the side, but my brother tested it out and gave it an A+.
Donuts
So what is this healthy cafe doing selling donuts? These treats, although seemingly unhealthy at first glance, are organic, vegan, gluten free and soy free. According to one of the employees, the secret to the wholesome nosh is the rice flour used to make them and to my surprise, they actually tasted really good too!
#SpoonTip: Order the strawberry donut (shown left) to avoid extreme matcha overload.
Drinks
Worried about venturing to a restaurant that only offers one drink? Although the Matcha is 100% worth trying, as a self-proclaimed lemonade enthusiast, I was stoked to see the special of the day: The Strawberry Lemonade. There's no telling how long this special will stick around, but I thought it was a delicious and bubbly alternative to the matcha offerings.
Matcha
Now for the main event, The Matcha. Bloggers and food enthusiasts are going nuts for the Japenese green tea that provides amazing health benefits like increasing energy, fortifying the immune system and high antioxidant properties, to name a few. Holy Matcha offers two kinds of matcha (premium and ceremonial), a matcha latte, matcha lemonade and matcha horchata. I ordered the iced premium matcha and loved it! I'm already looking forward to trying the rest.
So, would I recommend Holy Matcha? If you're a picture-perfect, trendy, health-nut looking for a new place to enjoy breakfast or a tea break... then absolutely. If not, then a regular coffee shop may be more up your ally.