Kiss of Matcha — Restaurant in San Francisco

I wasn't planning to leave a review because it wouldn't be a good one, but I keep seeing food instagrammers recommend it and I just had to post my opinion.

I originally came here because a Matcha Maiko finally opened in SJ, so I no longer have to drive up to SF for it! I was really excited to try this place and was thinking it could be my new spot for matcha in SF.

The store is cute and decorated very nicely but there are very few seats inside, so you'll likely have to stand outside or go back to your car to eat your goodies. I really liked the presentation of their ice cream and parfaits. They have a good selection of items to order. My friend and I each got a soft serve ice cream in the bamboo cup, a matcha latte and hojicha latte, and a croffle. The croffle was the best thing we ordered.

Those are pretty much the only good things I can say about Kiss of Matcha. Their soft serve is a weird texture; it's frosty and melts too fast. I can tell they use a lot of matcha cus the ice cream is super green and I felt too caffeinated after, but the flavor of the matcha isn't very apparent in the ice cream? And the texture just doesn't make it appealing. Both of our lattes tasted like milk, no matcha or hojicha flavor.

I was severely disappointed and I would never recommend this place to another fellow matcha lover. My sister came here and I warned her but she went anyway since it was already part of her itinerary. She also did not have a good experience and agreed this store is a huge catfish. Maybe if you like your ice cream and lattes with little flavor, this is the place for you. I think Matcha Maiko and Izumi are much better options in the Bay Area. I really want to give 1 star but I did enjoy the croffle and service was good/ok so I've generously...

Super cute matcha store on Clement with some of the best matcha soft serve I've had in the city (I prefer it to Maiko which has more locations and Somi Somi). You can order ahead but scheduling a pick up from their website or skip the line at the store by scanning the QR code to order. The store itself is very small with limited seating and service is efficient. There's a server at the counter endlessly whisking matcha so you know it's all freshly prepared. I ended up eating my parfait on the street then carrying my latte while I walked around Clement to check out all the stores!

Espresso soda: not recommended unless you like a savory, carbonated coffee Matcha latte (iced): I thought this was too milky which was a shame because I'm sure their matcha has very good flavor. I liked that you could adjust the sweetness level and amount of ice in the drink to customize it to what you like. Kiss of matcha parfait: I picked this over the bamboo parfait because I really wanted the shiratama balls! They were super chewy and delicious. The matcha soft serve is the best I've had in SF so far - creamy with a strong matcha flavor and not very sweet. They top it with a kuromitsu syrup (brown sugar) which was very toasty and delicious. I liked the warabi mochi which had a very nice texture and the croffle was crispy but fluffy! Finally I always love cornflakes in my parfait for the crunch, and they rounded it off with azuki beans and brown sugar jelly. The brown sugar jelly was good and had a nice toasty flavor but not necessary with all the other yummy things in the parfait.

I really liked this place and wish they had...

I LOVE Kiss of Matcha. It's my favorite matcha place in the bay area and I always come here when I'm in the Richmond district. The matcha soft serve is by far the strongest matcha soft serve I've had here (they also put matcha powder and a matcha syrup on it to give it even more matcha flavor). If you don't like strong, slightly bitter matcha, you probably won't like it. But I love it. Just be warned: it will keep you awake for hours afterward (I'm highly sensitive to caffeine, though, so YMMV).

Their drinks are also really good. My favorites are the strawberry matcha latte (so much better than Boba Guys) and the regular matcha latte. They hand-whisk the matcha there, so it's more authentic than some other places. They also offer hojicha lattes and drinks, which is nice.

Their croffles are also really good. I love the matcha one the best.

I'm not super big on their parfaits. I got one one time just for the bamboo cup, but wasn't a fan of the red bean at the bottom or the corn flakes. They also offer Too Good to Go bags all the time, but I've only ever gotten vanilla ice cream in cups with corn flakes or other toppings (never any matcha).

I just wish they had more seating. I enjoy sitting there and looking out the window while drinking matcha when seats are available. There's only about 4 spots in front of the window. There is a bench outside to sit now, though, which is nice.

Highly, highly recommend this place if you love...