Maruwu Seicha - SF Japantown — Restaurant in San Francisco

Matcha lovers rejoice! For those of you who are obsessed with matcha and looking for something else to try other than the beloved Matcha Cafe Maiko, then Maruwu Seicha is the answer!

Maruwu Seicha is located in San Francisco's Japantown in the Japan Center West Mall. With a focus on high-quality matcha, their menu features a variety of match-based drinks, soft serve, and desserts. For those of you looking for something to take home with you, they also have a variety of matcha and other Japanese treat available for purchase. The establishment itself is on the smaller side without any dedicated seating (but you can find plenty of seating around the Japan Center and even right outside the stand). Ordering takes place at either a self-serve kiosk or with an employee. Be advised, given the popular of Maruwu Seicha you might find yourself waiting in line for a bit, but overall they move fairly fast and the customer service is great as well!

I decided to sample their menu on a busy Saturday afternoon, and found that placing my order with one of their employees was actually faster than the kiosk (I suspect because those at the kiosk take a little bit more time to decide on their order). I went with their lychee matcha and a matcha-hokkaido milk mix soft serve (with honey and matcha added on top). Although not pictured below, I also went back at a later date and tried their matcha lemon soda as well.

The matcha-hokkaido soft serve was delicious not too sweet and very smooth, the added matcha and honey on top was a treat. If you wanted me to compare it to Matcha Cafe Maiko's one, I have to be honest I wouldn't really be able to tell the difference. Instead I'll just emphasize that the soft serve of both those places are amazing, but if you're for some different flavors, then Matcha Cafe Maiko does offer a rotation monthly menu.

Drink-wise, I personally liked the matcha lemon soda more myself as I felt the tart lemon paired better with the earthy matcha (and the carbonation was a plus), but if you like lychee and matcha then the lychee matcha surely wont' disappoint. I did enjoy the lychee matcha, but felt at times that one flavor overpowered the other, hence my go-to now will be their matcha lemon soda (that is until I sample some of their other offerings).

If you're looking for a new matcha place to try out in the Japantown area, then definitely check out...

I LOVE my matcha and make it at home every day, so I was really excited to try this place. They just had their grand opening yesterday.

I had the matcha latte, which was wonderful. It had a very pretty emerald green color, which (most of the time) signifies high-quality matcha powder (as opposed to army-green, which signifies a lower quality powder of matcha). I got it at 50% sweet, which was plenty sweet enough for me (I wish they had a 25% sweetness, but they did not) and got extra matcha in mine. It was pretty pricey, but was definitely one of the best matcha lattes I've had in the bay area. It was very strong and not watered down at all. It could have been because of the extra matcha, though. Next time I will try it without it. An extra helping of matcha powder was $3 (!!), which was a bit nuts. That's almost a $10 drink right there.

The matcha soft serve was also really good, although I wish the matcha flavor was a little bit stronger.

The hojicha latte was also really good, but too sweet for me at 50% sweetness. The hojicha flavor was strong, though.

We also got two of each cheese tart (Hokkaido, matcha, and chocolate). They were very good, but pricey. I wish the chocolate was more dark chocolate flavored. I've never had cheese tarts before, so I can't compare these to anywhere else, but they were tasty and reminded me of Japanese cheesecake. They also weren't very sugary, which I appreciated.

I REALLY wanted to try their strawberry matcha latte, but it was not listed on the kiosk and apparently not available. : ( I hope to try that and their matcha tea (not latte) next time.

Looking forward to returning later this month when in town and trying some other things. All in all, I'm very impressed, but it is pretty pricey. Quality is definitely higher than the other matcha place in the...

Matcha soft serve -- 10/10. The matcha was very intense... definitely the strongest and best matcha l have tried in all of SF. Note that the matcha's intensity will be different every single day. The matcha in this photo was the darkest green they have ever sold. Nowadays, their matcha is a lot lighter. But even when their matcha is not that strong, the potent, rich matcha flavor is still there... most likely because their matcha (as they claimed) came from Kyoto.

Uji Matcha Cheese Tart - 2.5/10. Tasted weird. The cheese and the matcha did not go well together. The flavor pairing did not make sense.

Strawberry Matcha Latte - 8/10. The matcha was strong. The milk was well balanced and sweetened.

The strawberry puree was something special. I believe the strawberry puree was made from scratch. The three combined together makes it very harmonious, as the sweetness from the strawberry puree and the milk contrasted very well with the bitterness in the matcha.

Hojicha Snow Top -- 9/10. The milk was a bit too sweetened for my taste. The snow top was unique --the umami-ness from the cheese was concentrated and very unlike other cheese foams. The snow top here is a cheese foam that was very dense, but very light -- the dense flavor profile was there, while keeping the texture light and fluffy - something that is very tricky to get right. The hojicha was strong, rich, and aromatic. The snow top is a must have, as the umami-ness from the snow top is very much needed to bring the sweetness and bitterness of the...