Matchaya – A New Spot in Singapore for Matcha Lovers

In the gently refurbished space in ICON Village lies a new Matchaya opened by Kaelyn Ong and Kevin Chee. This amazing couple gave up their full time job to be matcha specialist, that’s really something! I knew them through food tasting sessions and they have definitely put in so much time and effort to build this brand of theirs.

Seriously, we can’t really find good matcha drinks in Singapore prior to the opening of Matchaya. That’s the reason why they decided to hunt down the best ingredients from Japan just to make a matcha latte that they are proud of. Each flavour went through at least 100 taste-tests before launching to the public. From weekly pop-ups to now a permanent space, there has seen steadily growing interest in the health-conscious, preservatives-free and organic matcha desserts.

Certified organic premium ingredients from different prefectures in Japan have been combed to produce a variety of Japanese milk tea. Keeping the sugar level to a minimal, there are four milk teas for your to choose from – Matcha Milk Tea, Houjicha, Royal and Kuromitsu. The Matcha Milk Tea ($4.90) is pleasant and juggles the sweet and bitter notes well. I would prefer to add another shot of matcha (additional $1).

There are also desserts like macarons, brulee toast and ganache tarts. My dining partner likes the Black Sesame Tart ($6.20) with a thick and fragrant black sesame ganache. For me, I am super in love with their houjicha soft serve ($5.90)! I drink houjicha daily but it has always been very mild but for this soft serve, the nutty flavours hits on the right spot. It is smooth and creamy with a lovely roasted flavour unique to houjicha. With a crisp buttery cookie on the side and pure houjicha powder sprinkled on top, I am so coming back for this.

Perhaps, it’s time for me to ditch my coffee mug for a matcha whisk.