A new matcha cafe has soft-opened inside Crystal Mall, and we stopped by to take a first look.
Matcha Tea Lab is now serving drinks and house-made baked goods inside Crystal Mall (first floor) in Burnaby.
We first reported on Matcha Tea Lab last fall when the cafe announced it would be opening in the mall.
Now that it is up and running, we visited anonymously to see what the experience is like.
The space is small and cozy, with a clean, minimal aesthetic featuring white walls and simple modern decor.
There were no chairs during our visit, making it more of a grab-and-go setup, though the intimate counter area still gives the shop a warm feel.
The menu is focused entirely on matcha and hojicha, with every drink whisked fresh by order using ceremonial-grade matcha sourced from Uji, Kyoto.
Prices range from $8.50 for a standard matcha or hojicha latte up to $9.80 for specialty items like the Coconut Cloud and Jasmine Cloud.
Other options include a Strawberry, Mango, Yuzu Cream, Einspanner, Azuki, Black Sesame, Banana Bread, Blueberry, and a Matcha Soda.
The fruit purees used in the drinks are all made in house.
On the food side, Matcha Tea Lab offers house-made cookies and mochi muffins.
Cookie flavours include Matcha White Chocolate Macadamia and Hojicha Walnut Dark Chocolate, while the mochi muffins come in Black Sesame, Earl Grey, Hojicha, and Matcha.
We ordered the Matcha Strawberry, which arrived as a layered drink with house-made strawberry puree on the bottom, oat milk in the middle, and freshly whisked matcha on top.
During their soft opening phase they were having 10% off all drinks.
During our visit, the owner mentioned that a recent batch of cookies did not come out looking as nice as usual, so she gave us and another customer a matcha walnut and hojicha cookie for free.
When we took out the cookies from the bag, they looked fine in our eyes.
But free cookies? Ok!
One thing worth noting is that Matcha Tea Lab is a no-tip cafe and does not charge extra for oat milk.
The grand opening weekend is set for February 21 and 22.
The first 50 customers on Saturday and Sunday will each receive a free drink, and every customer who purchases a drink over the weekend will get a free mochi muffin.
The shop is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Matcha Tea Lab now joins other recently opened food spots in Burnaby like No Frills Heights, and Panda Pancakes.
For more new and upcoming food spots in Metro Vancouver, take a peek at our tracker here, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Address: 1828 – 4500 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC (Crystal Mall)