Matcha Cafe Maiko is located on the second floor of Tangram Mall in Flushing, a popular spot for Harrisites to eat out after school. Despite the multitude of food options in this mall, Matcha Cafe Maiko caught my eye, particularly due to their long line that stretched across the mall. Known for their visually appealing, Instagrammable Matcha-flavored sweets, I was curious to see what the hype was about and decided to try a couple of their desserts.
Their menu looked very appealing, with a decent variety of desserts including soft serve, shaved ice, and featured drinks. What caught my attention was the range of different ice cream flavors they offered. Aside from the namesake Matcha flavor that they are best known for, the cafe served an assortment of Asian flavors such as the limited-time Japanese Melon, Ube, and Hojicha. As someone who relishes all of these flavors, I decided to try all four to compare them since they allow you to swirl flavors together. We ordered a Matcha/Ube swirled soft serve as well as a Matcha latte float that had a Japanese melon/Hojicha swirled soft serve on top.
Matcha/Ube Soft Serve: 8.5/10
Nine dollars for a soft serve sounded ridiculously expensive at first, but the portion was quite large and suitable for at least two people to enjoy. The quality of the ice cream was incredible: a super creamy and rich texture that melts in your mouth. As a huge fan of Ube ice cream, I enjoyed the Ube flavor a bit more, but the Matcha was also delicious.
Japanese Melon/Hojicha Soft Serve + Matcha Latte: 6.5/10
The cafe had an option to add soft serve on top of a latte for an additional price of three dollars. We decided to add a swirl of Japanese Melon/Hojicha on top of a Matcha Latte. Again, although the prices may seem on the costly side, I do think they give a generous amount of ice cream. This ice cream was just as good as the Matcha/Ube swirl. The Japanese Melon tasted sweet, refreshing, and similar to Melona ice cream. Hojicha is a roasted green tea, and my favorite kind of tea, so I was interested in the idea of having it in ice cream format. It did not disappoint, and somehow the flavor was able to translate well from hot tea to cold ice cream.
On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed by the Matcha Latte. It wasn’t sweet enough for my personal taste, and I found it rather bitter. It wasn’t terrible, but compared to the matcha ice cream I had, the matcha flavor felt lackluster.
Overall, I was impressed by the quality of their desserts. However, be prepared for unexpectedly long lines. Still, I would recommend ordering the ice cream, especially if you’re a fan of Asian flavors. I can see myself coming back.
