Nana’s Green Tea @ 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya

Nana’s Green Tea

Lot LG 355, Lower Ground Floor Rainforest
1 Utama Shopping Centre, Bandar Utama, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel : 603-7496 6089

Business Hours :
Mon – Sun 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.

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Thanks to the wonderful invitation, I recently had the chance to visit Nana’s Green Tea’s new outlet in One Utama Shopping Centre that officially launched on 7 November 2014, 7 months after the first branch opened in The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley Kuala Lumpur.

Nana’s Green Tea is a pioneer of Japanese cafe dealing with Matcha, a fine Japanese powdered green tea, which believed can boost metabolism, reduce cholesterol and moderate stress responses. The logo ‘Nanasen’ is designed according to the motif of ‘Cha-sen’, a tea stirrer, and combined with the idea of ‘Nanaha’ that means seven leaves.

The first Nana’s Green Tea was opened in Jiyugaoka by a Japanese man 20 years ago because he was worried the habit of drinking tea, which was a culture in Japan since ancient time, might be taken over by the Starbuck’s coffee culture that grown so popular that time.

Despite the name, Nana’s Green Tea actually serves more than just green tea. The cafe offers a vast array of Japanese foods and desserts, with some of the must-try signatures highlighted here :

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Nana’s Green Tea serves 4 types of green tea, namely the Uji-Cha, Karigane-Cha, Hoji-Cha and Gemmai-Chai.

Uji-Cha is the highest quality of all Japanese tea with sophisticated bitter sweet taste. Karigane-Cha is harvested from the stem of Uji-Cha with wild bitter sweet taste and distinctive lush new fragrance. Hoji-Cha has the combination of toasty and nutty flavor that can be a good alternative for coffee. Also called as Popcorn Tea, Gemmai-Cha is made of Karigane-Cha and well-known for its roasty brown rice aroma with sweet and unique taste.

Hoji Shiratama Float (RM14.80), a Hoji latte topped with Hoji ice cream and mochi.

Matcha Kuromitsu Latte (RM10.80), a matcha latte topped with whipped cream and drizzle of caramelized brown sugar syrup for the sweet ending note.

Kinako Warabimochi (RM14.80), a jelly made of bracken starch dipped in Kinako, a sweet toasted soybean sauce.

Only available at 1 Utama outlet for the month of November, these fluffy and soft Japanese hotcakes, Kuri Mont Blanc Hotcake (RM16.80), were served together with my favorite chestnut cream beautifully squeezed on top.

Matcha Shiratama Parfait (RM18.80)

Such a beautiful artisan dessert, starting with a layer of kanten jelly and matcha syrup at the bottom, then topped with my favorite vanilla ice cream and a generous layer of crispy corn flakes. Finally garnished with a matcha ice cream, red bean paste, soft chewy mochi, whipped cream and a drizzle of matcha syrup.

Kanten is a traditional Japanese sweet that made of seaweed. It also contains dietary fiber that can reduces the absorption of cholesterol and maintenance of immunity.

Matcha ‘Nama Chocolat’ Parfait (RM19.80)

An artisan dessert with layer of kanten jelly at the bottom, then topped with matcha syrup, creamy vanilla ice cream, crispy corn flakes, and finally garnished with a matcha ice cream, matcha chocolate ganache, red bean paste, whipped cream and a drizzle of matcha syrup.

A generous portion of Karaage Curry (RM16.80) with house-mixed Japanese curry that tasted less sweet and had a little more spiciness in it, served together with the warm millet rice and crispy chicken karaage.

Nana’s Green Tea uses the ancient rice recipe that contains 10 different types of cereal mixed with polished rice. Nutrients such as minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber can be found in the millet rice that is good for the heart.

Such a decent portion of Chicken Teriyaki (RM16.80) with warm millet rice served together with sauteed chicken fillet in original teriyaki sauce and sprinkle of sesame. Came with also the refreshing red leaf lettuce, broccoli, tomato and potato salad at side.

Served hot, this bowl of Chicken Karaage Curry Udon (RM16.80) came with a generous amount of Japanese curry topped with my favorite chicken karaage.

Mentaiko Salad Udon (RM16.80), a bowl of udon noodles served cold with mentaiko, broccoli, corn, tomato, leaf lettuce and mayonnaise in cold soup.

Served hot, this Salmon Udon (RM18.80) was prepared together with broccoli and corn in fragrant cream sauce. A dash of black pepper was sprinkled all over the dish to give it a hint of spicy taste.

Nana’s Green Tea interior concept was designed by Kamitopen Japan. The cafe layout was constructed based on two Japanese concept, the Folding Screen and Folding Fan.

Folding Screen was traditionally used for the Japanese tea ceremony. Nana’s Green Tea purposely placed this element at the entrance to greet and welcome customers as they walk-in, and also expressed the thank you message as they leave the cafe.

Kamitopen transformed the structure of Folding Fan into mirror ceiling to convey the concept that Nana’s Green Tea is not just a place to enjoy meal, but to have good time with family and friends.

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More photos at FOOD Malaysia facebook page, a Malaysian food and lifestyle blogger since 2010

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