First Bite: Nomi Matcha and Açaí

I'm a big fan of matcha. Perhaps it's because of my intense love for anything Japanese. But there is something about matcha that I find very endearing. It's my go-to treat whenever I indulged in something (too) sinful  as a cup or two of this green wonder would make me feel less guilty. But what I love most about matcha is how it evolved from a drink made from a very precised tea ceremonies into a modern and casual treat which ranges from drinks to desserts. I've also tried some savory dishes infused with green tea! Though there are hits and misses here and there, I'm always open to trying out new matcha places. And a few weeks back, a new matcha player opened in BGC so...

Hello, Nomi Matcha and Açaí!

Nomi, or drink in Japanese, is the first food venture of three Japanese friends who thought of giving the well-loved matcha a modern take. 

Situated at the ground floor of W City Center along 5th Avenue, the first thing I noticed was its brightly lit space and its light-colored interiors with touches of green and pink. 

I also giggled at the witty decals on the dividers. 

I had an impression that Nomi is a matcha dessert cafe based on the posts I saw online; but I was surprised to know that it also offers savory dishes like rice bowls, curry and omurice. And as much as I would love to try a bowl or two, I was too full from lunch and only had room for sweets. 

I went with S'mores (PHP250) while my friend J went with Tiramisu Dream (PHP180). For drinks, we went with Surprise Me (PHP170) and Matcha Frosty (PHP170). 

Service was impressively fast. Our drinks and sweets were served in less than 10 minutes. 

I was looking forward to take a photo of my drink but I was a bit disappointed with what was served. I was hoping that I'd still see the "surprise" flavor/juice separate from matcha but it already blended or mixed together when it was served to me resulting in a dark green hue instead of a divine layer of red and green. Taste-wise, it was refreshing! I had no idea that watermelon and matcha would work well together. Both flavors were well-defined yet blended harmoniously. (Note: Guests won't know what flavor or juice will be infused with matcha hence the name "Surprise Me".)

If you're not fond of sweet drinks yet appreciate matcha, then you'd enjoy Matcha Frosty. It's your usual 'legit' matcha slush. 

Its sweetness level is about 30% with a more pronounced green tea taste. 

Tiramisu Dream is worthy to be called as such for it was dreamy! Moist with matcha syrup layered with cream filling and in-house lady fingers, every matcha lover should order this. Each mouthful was bliss. The divine marriage of the sweet filling and strong kick of matcha was something I'll definitely dream about. 

However, this dessert is definitely not for everyone. If you are still learning to love matcha, make sure to shake off some of the matcha powder on top as the green tea taste might be too strong for your liking. 

S'mores was still not included in the menu when we dropped by. Thankfully, I saw Angelo Comsti's post about it. As one of the personalities I admire, I respect his taste in food. If he says something is worth trying, it must be good. And this was no exemption.

The matcha ice cream covered in chocolate crumbs and marshmallow was torched in front of us which gave us the perk of having our mallow torched based on our preference. Let's just say, medium well. 

And because of our request to have it flamed three or four more times, this dessert turned a bit too sweet but still enjoyable.

I loved the gooeyness of the mallow and its sweet taste went great with the strong matcha ice cream. It would have been better though if there was more crunch or bite to it.

While we were getting high on how great our orders were, we were surprised by the Restaurant Manager, Dan, with a complimentary Matcha Churros (PHP130) and Matcha Cookie (PHP80). He also mentioned that aside from our orders, one of the current bestsellers is their matcha churros. 

And he was right! The churros was spectacular. Far from its local counterparts, Nomi's version is softer, rather moist and undeniably packed with matcha flavor. It also had that nice touch of sweetness from the milk chocolate drizzled on top. 

The cookie was very dense. J and I found it too sweet and we were only able to finish about a quarter of it. 

Michael, one of the owners of Nomi approached us as we were admiring the last piece of Matcha Churros and told us that they are still in the process of expanding Nomi's menu and they plan to have all dishes in the pipeline available by the end of the month. I guess I'll be visiting Nomi again soon! 

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Nomi's matcha is imported from Kyoto as one of the partners own a tea ceremony shop. 

Nomi is located at Ground Floor, W City Center, 5th Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.