Nana’s Green Tea — Restaurant in Seattle

June 2023 We were visiting Pike Place and decided to walk over and get some ice cream. We had already visited the Bellevue location and came here to pick up an online order for pints of Black Sesame ice cream (the Bellevue location does not sell this). They have a window counter open to the sidewalk for online order pickups, no need to go into the store. Just ring the bell and a staff member will come help you. The staff here are friendly, quick, and efficient. The window counter does have napkins and to-go utensils for your online orders.

Note the street in front of the cafe is a single lane one way street with about 5 parallel parking spaces. But most of these spaces are reserved parking, so I wouldn't count on the parking. And the street does have thru traffic (mostly construction related), so I recommend NOT blocking the single lane street for a pickup order. The sidewalk is wide enough to fit several picnic tables. You have to actually get out of your car to get to the pickup window. This is NOT a drive thru.

The inside is spacious and cozy, more cluttered than the Bellevue location. I feel like part of that is the big cement pillar in a corner of the cafe. There are a lot of 2-people tables, both round and square, with chairs and bench seats. There's this one bench that has some little personal tables in front of it, right in the main walkway. The busing station is in the far back corner by the 2 unisex bathrooms.

The busing station has napkins, utensils, stirrers, sugar, to-go cups and caps, plastic takeout containers, and small paper bags. There are multiple bins for used dishes. And they separate trash, recycling, and compost (sadly no pictures for those that get confused on what is what, like me). The free water with paper cups is right next to the busing station.

When the cafe is busy, they impose a 60 minute time limit on seating. Not sure how they enforce this, but there are warnings. There are few outlets around, and I did see some people working on laptops. There is free wifi, and the password is on the little stands on the tables.

Compared to the Bellevue location, the quality of food is the same, though I noticed that the parfait and ice cream portion sizes are bigger here in Seattle. This time we got a Black Sesame mochi parfait and a soft serve matcha ice cream. The croissants were sadly sold out when we got there. The Black Sesame parfait was very good, and the black sesame jelly was more substantial and less watery than the matcha jelly. The black sesame flavor of the ice cream is strong. The soft serve matcha ice cream was more bitter than the scoop ice cream. Possibly because the scoop ice cream is made and distributed from a central location while the soft serve ice cream is made in house whenever needed, so the quality of soft serve ice cream is going to fluctuate based on who's making it. The only place I've been to with consistently good soft serve matcha ice cream is in the DMV area. Still my favorite place for soft serve matcha ice cream, but Nana's has really good scoop matcha ice cream.

Overall, would definitely come again. Though we personally prefer the Bellevue location in terms of parking, location, and...

TLDR: this place does matcha right! Not overly sweet! Great place for a quick bite or for dessert! Grab printed menu by register for pictures of food.

Hot dayum! This place is poppin'! Serves the infamous matcha flavored items and small meals!

Very brightly lit--almost like walking into a Macy's during a sales event! Food paparazzi are sure to like these conditions! The dining tables are rather small so watch out and don't swat your parfait off with your elbow or hand by accident! If you shout "bring me another!" after your glass has shattered I unfortunately don't think they'd give you one (unless you are Thor, then you'd definitely get at least two).

Seating can be hard to come by. Fair warning.

Parking is unfortunately street side or by garage for you automobile folk (pedestrians have all the fun, don't they?).

The menu is large and in charge! I suggest you grab a printed menu next to the register--it has pictures of almost all the food. Very helpful!

Service: order and pay at the front, you will be handed a number on a stand, seat yourself. Water is available to the far right in a dispense behind the wooden house structure in the dining area. Your table will be bused.

Matcha Mochi Parfait: the matcha ice cream is just perfect! Very smooth and creamy and has lots of matcha flavor that isn't overwhelmed by sugar. The red bean is sweet and has a satisfying creamy/chunky texture--I wish there was more than just a small scoop. The mochi balls are pretty flavorless by themselves but still wonderfully soft and chewy--this is quality mochi and not the kind that is too hard to chew/swallow or the kind that crumbles into gross bits in your mouth. I'm talking almost chewy like gum but still melts away. The green tea jelly is literally matcha flavored and not sweet at all and adds some nice flavor to the vanilla ice cream.

Salmon Sashimi Don: comes with miso soup and egg salad. This meal is very light by itself so I really consider it more like a snack than a meal. The little pitcher is filled with soy sauce and ginger to pour over your Sashimi Don--pour a little at a time, don't Leroy Jenkins it in. Miso Soup is a bit in the salty side but it makes up for the lightly flavored Salmon Sashimi Don. Egg salad is very fresh tasting and the bits of veggies inside offer a satisfying crispy...

We had just landed in Seattle, and we were just dying to have some traditional Japanese flavors! Avidly on the search for a tonkatsu sando and a black sesame dessert, we came across Nana's Green Tea. The interior was extremely inviting and warm. We walked inside and we were greeted by a helpful staff member. We were very happy to be informed that they had both of the bites we had been constantly craving, as well! Number one rule is: if an establishment has "Tea" in its name, it better have good tea... and Nana's sure did! We tried their hoji-cha, of course, and then we were recommended the genmai-cha by one of the members of their lovely staff. Both teas were absolutely lovely, the hoji-cha boasting its beautiful earthiness with a mild sweetness, and the genmai-cha perfectly showcasing the robust and toasty essence of green tea with brown rice. We also ordered a couple of pastries. We chose the hojicha roll cake and the matcha red bean roll cake. Both roll cakes were phenomenally moist, fluffy, and had an extremely satisfying filling. Great flavors, and that classic light sweetness of a Japanese dessert that we just adore! We then received our tonkatsu sandos, which were everything we wanted them to be. A deliciously fatty pork cutlet, perfectly breaded, paired with freshly shredded cabbage and tonkatsu sauce. All of these components were sandwiched between two fluffy slices of milk bread... everything we wanted in a sando! We then ended our meal with their insanely delicious black sesame warabimochi parfait. Rich and nutty black sesame ice cream, sesame bean paste, vanilla soft serve, and soft and chewy jelly mochi. All tied together with the pleasurable crunch of corn flakes. This dessert was awesome! Such a fun textural adventure, with great flavors, all perfectly intertwined. Nana's green tea definitely satisfied our cravings. We look forward to visiting again the next time we are in the...