Matcha & Beyond

To continue the London matcha frenzy, we went to check out another matcha place in town called Matcha & Beyond.

Matcha & Beyond is a cute little shop located in Chelsea. As stated in its name, everything is matcha-related there. It’s a very bright little shop, and you’d be greeted by the Leon lights writing “matcha made in heaven” on the wall as you walk in.

When I say everything is matcha – everything is matcha. It basically serves everything a regular well-being cafe does, but all with a little magic touch of matcha. They source their matcha from the Uji region in the southern outskirts of Kyoto and are committed to offering high-quality matcha treats to the public.

Matchachino (£4)

To start with, I ordered a Matchachino. If you haven’t figured it out, it’s a cappuccino made out of matcha instead of coffee. At first I anticipated it to be just like a matcha latte, but this was much more intense. A strong taste of matcha hits you at every sip and it’s really rich – perhaps too rich. I couldn’t finish it and even struggled with the first half. It was overly rich and I actually felt sickly after half a cup.

Matcha Croissant (£2.95)

A buttery, airy, and flakey croissant dipped with matcha and white chocolate – how could one not fall in love with it?! It’s a bit messy to eat as you get your fingers into all that matcha white chocolate dip while having all those flakes falling off as you bite into the croissant. But overall, this was certainly a pleasant treat and highly satisfying. It fills you with a mix of buttery and sweet sugary sensation, plus a little magic touch of matcha!

Matcha Molten Cake (£5.25)

Seeing this on the menu, immediately I thought of Machiya‘s epic Matcha Molten Cake I had a while back. That one was euphoric, unfortunately this one wasn’t quite the same.

Cutting the cake open full of anticipation, the centre wasn’t runny at all. In fact it was rather firm almost like a paste. Once again, the matcha flavour falls under the more dense spectrum instead of being light & delicate.

Matcha & White Chocolate Cookie (£2.4)

As for the matcha white chocolate cookie, flavour-wise it was good but texture-wise it was a little bit dense. In terms of flavours, the matcha carries a similar strong intensity as the matchachino, but it was balanced out with the white chocolate chips. The blend of the two creates a fairly balanced flavour to the palate. However, we did feel like the texture of the cookie was a bit dense and firm, which resulted in being rather filling for just a piece of cookie.

In summary…

We felt like Matcha & Beyond was an okay cafe to stop by, but isn’t strong enough as a contender of the London matcha scene. I liked the concept of the cafe but feels that it needs a bit more refining to its bakeries goods. But overall, I do enjoy the vibe of the cafe and think it’s a cute spot to swing by if you’re local to the area.

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Tel: 020 7351 1333
Website: https://matchaandbeyond.com/
Instagram: @matchaandbeyond

Nearest station: Sloane Square