The Matcha Craze Continues at Chuyi in 3.3 Building
Is our matcha craze over? Apparently not. Not even the recent total destruction of Sanlitun Dirty Bar Street (after demolitions began in April), with the sidewalk torn apart and the excavators roaring, couldn't stop us from getting in to try the latest addition of the popular Japanese dessert shop Chuyi. Fighting our way through the dust, we squeezed this matcha shop into our recently pizza-heavy schedule, looking for something "healthy" to offset the oil and carbs from our greasy pie diet.
You might think this is just another shop chasing the matcha wave, but the newly opened Chuyi is exceptional in a number of ways. First, hidden in the west of the 3.3 Building, it’s massive, with a spacious café-style shop with several private rooms, and even a huge fake cherry blossom tree in the middle of the restaurant. Second, their matcha-related drinks and desserts come topped with that rare, flashy, but ultimately tasteless ingredient: gold.
Yes, their photogenic treats can come dusted with gold flakes – an appropriate addition to reflect the changes being untaken all along the Dirty Bar Street. But unfortunately, like the gilded dreams of Sanlitun's developers, they ran out of gold during our visit. To make up for the unavailable item during our recent visit to Matchall, we opted to try the matcha ice cream cone here (RMB 22, top image). The matcha-flavored soft-serve ice cream comes out a deep and satisfying green and is served in a black cone. Overall, the ice cream's sweetness is offset by the toasty and bitter flavor from the matcha and is balanced by the sweet cone, which may or may not be made from charcoal. Either way, I could already feel the cleansing properties.
They also offer a matcha mochi (glutinous rice with creamy filling cake, RMB 28 for two), charcoal ice cream (both RMB 22), mille crepe matcha cake (RMB 32), matcha tiramisu, a matcha slushie (RMB 38), and matcha cheese tea. The Swiss roll (RMB 35), with its black sponge cake and green matcha cream on the inside, suited our sweet teeth. However, it was the passion fruit and matcha mousse (RMB 32, below) that proved the winning item among this barrage of matcha. Appearing as more of a work of art than a dessert in a dusty Beijing street shop, the black mousse had a tangy, acidic passion fruit flavor, while the two inner layers of soft matcha sponge cake gave a subtle sweet tea flavor. Even if you are not a big matcha fan, this treat may just convert you.
The store was almost completely packed on a workday afternoon, proving that plenty of customers were willing to turn a blind eye to the mayhem and noise caused by the construction outside – so many, in fact, that you should always expect to queue, sometimes even out of the door, which can only mean good things for Chuyi.
Chuyi
Daily 10am-12am. 1-1120, 3.3 Shopping Mall, 33 Sanlitun, Chaoyang District (185 1051 5858)
初壹抹茶日式甜品店：朝阳区三里屯路33号3.3商场西门一层1120号
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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photo: Tracy Wang, Dianping
