Maruwu Seicha - Palo Alto

This place deserves five stars in my opinion for the matcha quality alone. Always packed and glad they are expanding. I got the Black Sesame Hojicha Latte. Great texture and drink-has the grassy flavorful taste towards the end (bottom). Menu is pretty big. Beginning taste is pretty sweet. There's no outdoor seating, but plenty of indoor seating. Place is packed and I came in during the middle of the week. There's a line, but orders go by very quickly. Well staffed.

I Didn't like the taste of my cold matcha latte with soy milk. It was sweetened at my request but, really (?), did they do it? I was half way through and it stopped being sweet and became bland. Is this high quality Uji matcha? Pretty green color to the latte. I prefer the places in San Francisco I frequent: Matcha Café Maiko (Chinatown or Japantown - outstandingly delicious) and Shoji (on New Montgomery/Fidi SOMA - premium matcha and coffee drinks) or even the teahouse in the Japanese tea garde

So good we went here 2x in a month! Here's what we tried during those two visits: * hojicha latte with matcha soft serve - excellent * black sesame hojicha latte - good but personally prefer just plain hojicha * fresh taro matcha latte - good but I wish it had a stronger taro taste * matcha pistachio gelato - the pistachio taste kinda got lost but the matcha taste was very distinct, love it * cheese tart - Hokkaido cheese was the best though the Uji matcha, fresh taro and yuzu matcha were good

Ordered a few times for matcha americano with matcha jelly and boba. $8.50 for a large is on the pricier side. This area is extremely tough to park during peak hours. Friends have been getting it via doordash...they pack it better, and don't need to bump and grind in downtown Palo Alto. Although it could jump to ~$11 a drink, it is definitely worth it to not deal with the traffic and parking. Seating inside is available but limited. Self order kiosk and in-person available.

Pretty packed on Saturday. There was a long line but not sure why because you order using the QR code then the drink comes out pretty quick. Seemed like a lot of items were not available though. Lots of indoor seating but it's so crowded I'd rather walk around outside. Parking was easy a couple blocks away. Ube Matcha Latte with almond milk and boba - this cost me almost $10! very good with quality matcha but way too pricy. maybe once a year I will treat myself.