🍵Matcha Reviews: ICHIGO 🍓
ICHIGO is a Japanese cafe-restaurant that can be found a few blocks away from Melbourne's city centre. The cafe has a bright open space with floor to ceiling glass windows and plenty of seating. The look of the cafe is mostly grey and white stone/marble, so it has a very modern and minimalist aesthetic. We visited early afternoon on a Monday so we were able to get a seat with no problems. The cafe is decently quiet with casual, ambient music in the background, so it is a great place to catchup and chat with people. It is even suitable for doing some productive work on your laptop if you're into that.
Usually there are about a handful of cakes on offer, but on the occasion that we visited, only the matcha pistachio jasmine cake was available. The service was friendly and we received our order in a timely manner.
The matcha latte was very well-blended and had a strong bitter matcha flavour, although we did need to stir the drink for quite a bit before we had it. The matcha latte had a nice dark green colour and was presented well. Because of the strong matcha flavour, I would not recommend this drink for people who haven't tried matcha before and don't know whether they like it yet. But for seasoned matcha drinkers, I think you'll be happy with the strength of this matcha flavour.
If you're finding it a little too bitter, I'm sure you could just ask the staff to put more sugar in. For $7.50, the portion of the iced matcha latte was a tiny bit smaller than what I was hoping for, however the drink was still enjoyable and the small straw they gave us helped it last a little longer.
I also thought that the matcha pistachio jasmine cake was on the pricier side, however the value of this particular cake will depend on what you're looking for. The portion was quite generous and could definitely be shared between two or (maybe) three people. Personally I wanted more emphasis on the matcha flavour so I'm not sure I would order this cake again, but the pistachio and jasmine flavours were quite present and interesting. Overall the flavours do go well together, but it just wasn't what I was looking for. If you're after an interesting flavour combination, then definitely give this cake a shot.
The textures of this cake were also very nice. The sponge was dense and moist, and the cream was soft but not runny. The cake was presented on an interesting stone slab looking plate, which was a unique aesthetic and one that I will definitely associate with ICHIGO from now on, although, I reckon they could've done with daintier forks for this cake.
Final verdict: EXCELLENT CATCHUP VENUE
Atmosphere and venue: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Presentation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Taste: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Value: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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