ReLeaf Matcha Café

I love matcha and black sesame flavored anything, so I can’t resist getting a drink and some ice cream from ReLeaf whenever I visit Mitsuwa. Their hard ice cream (I can’t speak for their soft serve) is very high quality and their sundaes are both tasty and visually stunning. I’ve never had their cold drinks, but their hot drinks are to die for. A lot of big coffee chains (e.g. Starbucks, Peets) add strange things to their matcha lattes, like icing/​frosting, or put in a poor ratio of match to water/​milk. You can depend on ReLeaf to get everything right.
Recently, I tried the match-​azuki latte; and although I was very hesitant at first because I’m not a huge fan of azuki beans, it was absolutely, unbelievably, out-​of-​this-​world delicious. One of the best drinks I’ve ever had in my life. I went back and asked the barista if he could tell me how I could make it at home, since I live over the border in Wisconsin and don’t get to Mitsuwa all that often; and although he could have refused, he gave me all the information I needed (hint: put a small spoonful of sweetened azuki paste in with your latte. Not too much or it’ll be disgusting!). I hope they add a black sesame latte to their menu someday!

As I ate my tasty and filling curry katsu lunch at the Mitsuwa Marketplace food court, I stared longingly at the surprisingly quiet re Leaf ice cream counter. I guess the diners on this afternoon were more focused on scarfing down lunch rather than dessert, but I’m an equal-​opportunity consumer. Food followed by dessert! Fortunately I still had a bit of room for dessert after eating my lunch.
re Leaf has a counter of scoopable ice cream selections, as well as the soft serve dispenser with green tea and vanilla flavors. I went with one scoop of the green tea ice cream served in a regular cone. The price is right — under two bucks, and the matcha ice cream was yummy. I’ve enjoyed green tea ice cream during my trips to Japan over the years, and now I can say I have had some fine green tea ice cream in Chicagoland. Just do it!

I have never seen a food court so popular but I guess Mitsuwa is a natural draw.
I stopped by Mitsuwa just to try ReLeaf’s green tea soft serve but it was not meant to be. A note on the counter that said the soft serve machine was broken. Green tea ice cream was an option but I came for the soft serve! I called later to ask when the machine would be fixed. No one knew what «soft serve» was even though it was written on their menu.

I always hit up re leaf after eating a meal at the food court. You always have room for dessert, right?
I either get the matcha swirl or the matcha parfait. Who doesn’t love matcha? I love that the matcha doesn’t taste like the fake green tea flavor you would get at like an American place. I highly recommend it if you still have room in your stomach! The parfait is a lot so you can share it with someone.

I ordered the iced matcha latte and it was a very simple, yet delicious drink. I can’t wait to try their froyo. You must come if you’re a fan of all that is green tea. Plus, the prices are great!

Was just walking around in Mitsuwa when I saw this and had to try it since I absolutely love matcha. The soft serve machine was broken and they mentioned that it had been like that for a month already (how can it still not be fixed!?!). That definitely made a difference on the azuki float that I had. My friend enjoyed his mango matcha milkshake though. It was also kind of pricey but that’s to be expected with matcha being «in» right now.

Came across a photo on Instagram and thought of trying their dessert here since it was 5 minutes away from my Grandma’s house in Des Plaines. I tried their Matcha green tea soft serve and matcha parfait. I love their soft serve ice cream, the matcha green tea was on point! Not too bitter, it was really good and creamy. It was so good, I finished it right away. Next, we also tried their parfait, it’s got mochi, red bean paste and croissant cookies, it was also good. The girl who made it designed it really well; it looks nice on my photo. I will definitely come back for more soft serve! I love this place!

I have not tasted the ice cream at this place yet, but the strawberry matcha is AMAZING. I wish we have a ReLeaf in California, but we do not. The closest thing we have to ReLeaf is Matcha Love, but their drinks are not as good. I would highly recommend getting the strawberry matcha even though they do not have it on the menu #secretmenu. My friends got the mango matcha and it was alright for my taste. Last time we visited this place, I got the matcha matcha and it was too strong for me. So definitely strawberry matcha.

Highly over rated? I’d say so.
It’s just ice cream, boys and girls. Good quality ice cream? Yes, I’d say so. This is an ice cream shoppe; of course the ice cream tastes good. Is this better any other ice cream shoppe? Meh. They have Asian flavors. And this is located within an Asian food court next to the Asian grocer. They have a good location is what they have.
The red bean ice cream is sweet enough and has bits of red bean. The mango sorbet is tangy. That’s my review.

New York City is getting a lot of credit and press lately that they have the very first matcha café in America, but they’re wrong. Maybe they have the first «stand-​alone» matcha café, but Re Leaf has been around for years thank you very much.
I love this place. They have authentic matcha that comes out fresh from a machine that converts the leaves into your hot or cold beverage. I prefer the hot matcha shots myself – so good.
They also have an array of other drinks and treats using the matcha, including ice cream, and the service is always friendly! Go here now.
PS: Re Leaf, you guys should start an Instagram and capitalize on matcha being trendy right now and hashtag like crazy. :)

We are in the middle of the winter season in the Midwest, so I’m assuming the menu items are significantly reduced for that reason.
We ordered the soft serve green tea on a cone. For $ 2.75 each, it was just ok. I wouldn’t honestly say it was delicious at all. I guess it’s the best you can can in the Chicagoland since Japan is really on the opposite end of the globe.
They do accept credit card, but the minimum purchase has to be $ 5.

Consistently good ice cream and soft serve. (BTW, why isn’t there matcha soft serve closer to the city/​downtown?) My favorites are the matcha soft serve, black sesame ice cream, and lychee ice cream. As for the parfaits, they’re decent. I wish there was more matcha soft serve and less vanilla/​cream in it. The dango are super yummy and red bean is perfect. I never fail to grab a cone whenever I am at Mitsuwa!

Almost all of the menu items have green tea incorporated into them. I ordered the matcha matcha smoothie and the bf ordered the lychee matcha smoothie. The matcha matcha smoothie was SOOO GOOD, but the green tea flavor was undetectable in the lychee matcha smoothie. We were eyeing the green tea soft serve ice cream and matcha parfait so we will definitely be back to try them!
FYI: $ 5 minimum to use credit card

Where else can you get a scoop of ice-​cream for $ 1.50?
The green tea scoop sent me to a world of creamery, sugar and tea fields. From their variety of ice-​creams (minus the soft serve), the green tea had the ‘strongest’ flavor and was the tastiest in my opinion.
IF you are a coffee lover, check out the affogato. A scoop of any ice-​cream (but I would go with chocolate for that mocha flavor) topped with a fresh espresso shot. You’ll be amazed by how the crema layer mixes with the ice-​cream to create something wildly delicious. Can’t you just taste it now?

Good ice cream. Located inside Mitsuwa Market. I always get soft serve green tea ice cream. They also have various Asian fusion drinks, espresso, and small sweets.

I can only speak for the soft serves and ice cream but those are really the star here!
My partner loves the vanilla soft serve. He’s not a vanilla person but swears this is not your ordinary vanilla, I always get the Macha (green tea) soft serve, seriously it’s so good!

When I stepped up to the counter at Re Leaf yesterday, I didn’t even bother to look at the ice cream or read the entire menu. I saw «Matcha Latte» and that’s all I needed.
I’ve never had a Matcha Latte before, but have been hearing good things about Matcha [green tea powder] lately and wanted to give it a try. I ordered my drink with soy milk, handed over my cash (less than $ 3 for this drink?! a steal), and soon had a delicious iced matcha latte in my hand.
And it was good. Oh, so good. So good that I drank it too quickly and wanted more.
I didn’t order another one, but now that I’m writing this, I should have.
Oh well. Next time?
*drool*

Matcha Latte, Yo!
It’s served cold and it’s absolutely perfect.
I know you’re supposed to get the Matcha Parfait, Matcha Soft Serve, or any of the dozen ice cream flavors they offer, but this was my first time here and they had a lot of other things on the menu and I was trying this new thing where I limit myself to «just one thing» I want on the menu, instead of getting everything I want on the menu and having enough to feed a litter of people, because it’s probably the healthy thing to do and my partner hates when I surplus order.
So I started to ask the girl behind the counter what her favorite thing there was so I could be sure that my ‘one thing’ was the very best thing they’ve got and she cut me off at *maybe* my second word and literally finished the rest of the sentence for me.
Clearly, we had a connection and I could trust this girl.
She said her favorite was the Matcha Latte and I said, ‘Yes, please.‘
Two minutes and $ 2.50+tip later and I was sippin’ on one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. So good it could’ve even rivaled drinks with alcohol… so that should say something.
The only unfortunate part of my visit was that I heeded the ongoing advice of my partner and got «just one thing»… not that the latte wasn’t enough for one serving, but my partner definitely drank about 85% of it. Sad face for me, but he doesn’t really like going out to eat or drink (my two favorite things) and he really loved this drink and I could see it made him happy so I let him at it since I knew I could go back anytime and get more and also because I knew I’d be hitting up Pastry House Hippo after and that I was definitely NOT going to heed any advice about getting «just one thing.»
Their other famed menu items might be just as good as the matcha latte, but I think I’ve found my sweet staple at Re Leaf.

When visiting Mitsuwa, you must stop by Re Leaf! I always get a matcha latte (sweetened), which is ten times better than Starbuck’s green tea latte, and for less! I even get this in the summer since it’s just so good. Also, the soft serve is delicious. I like to get the matcha/​vanilla swirl as it’s a perfect combination. They also have a variety of ice cream including flavors like red bean and ginger (which I sampled… not a fan. Might be an acquired taste).
Make sure you bring cash!

Thank goodness for Re Leaf at the Mitsuwa foodcourt. It offers a great venue for a tasty treat post shopping or chowing down on a main dish — if you can spare any room in your belly!!!
Their prices are fantabulous! After lunch today, I paid $ 2 for two scoops of red bean ice cream. They offered to give me two scoops of different flavors but nu-​uh! Red bean is way too amazing to share the spotlight!
Super cheap and super savory!