Bonsai Coffee Bar

Came in on a friday morning to grab a quick drink. The place was packed with students and people working on their laptops. There was a line when I got there, it moved at a fairly okay pace. I was in and out of here in 20 minutes (parking meter was set to 24 minutes). I read a sign that there is parking in the structure, but I didn’t know beforehand. I ordered an Earl Grey Matcha Latte and did half sweet. I’ve heard many people talk about their matcha and how the love it. I was so surprised because my drink really lacked flavor. I did order half sweet which the sweetness was okay, I just couldn’t really taste any of the matcha flavor. Overall the customer service was great, there is ample sitting if you want to work there. I think I would go back to try their other drinks, hopefully it was just off the day I went. I also saw they have some breakfast food items, so I would go back to try those too!

Large coffee shop with a cozy and lively vibe. Beautiful space, lots of people, and a good energy inside. It feels active but still comfortable to sit and relax. Matcha bad, tiramisu latte good. Nice place to spend time, work, or just enjoy a calm break during the day. Rear parking. Loud.

I was surprised with their matcha latte much better than I expected. The place was crowded, many students studying, doing their works it seemed. Not that relaxing, but worthwhile to try if you want a good balanced match latte.

I’ve had the matcha with cloud top foam and I enjoyed it very much. Decided to come back and try the vietnamese iced coffee. for context, that’s my go-to drink most places I go when offered on a cafe menu, so I have a pretty firm baseline of how it should taste. This was hands down the WORST vietnamese iced coffee I have ever had. For starters, I ordered and they called my name no more than 1-2 minutes after I ordered. That right there should have told me all I needed to know. For anyone who doesn’t know how proper vietnamese iced coffee is made, the coffee goes through a phin filter that takes at least a solid 5-8 minutes. So that tells me right there that they either use a pre-made mix or take pre-made coffee and condensed milk and mix it to order. pre-made mixes can be more bitter no matter how much condensed milk you add. I even had the cloud foam in it too and you could not taste it at all! It was so gross I had to toss it. They are known for the matcha, so perhaps just stick to that….

Bonsai was recommended to me but I was a bit disappointed overall. To start, metered parking can be difficult to find due to the busy area. The place itself is nice but a bit too busy for me. There was no place to sit so I stood outside and ate. As for the food, I ordered the bacon breakfast sandwich and regular drip coffee. I should have gone with the breakfast burrito instead. Coffee was ok. Overall, it was not worth the price I paid. Also, when I asked a couple of questions about the menu, the person taking my order was not helpful. Not sure if I would return again.