Matcha in London has gone from a niche specialist drink to a high-street category in roughly 24 months. Half a dozen places have opened in the West End alone since 2024. Some of them are genuinely good. Most of them are tasting notes hidden behind a ratio of milk that drowns whatever ceremonial-grade powder they are putting in. This is the version of the list I would actually give a friend who asks where to drink matcha in London.
I drink matcha most days. Always usucha (thin, no sugar, oat milk on the side rather than in the cup). My standard is whether the cup tastes like matcha or whether it tastes like sweetened oat milk that happens to be green. Most places fail that test. The ones below pass it.
The top three I genuinely return to
1. HowMatcha, Notting Hill
In my top three. HowMatcha sits on the Notting Hill side just off Notting Hill Gate (Pembridge Road area, W11). The matcha is genuinely good, the staff know which ceremonial grade they are pouring, and the cups arrive at espresso strength rather than diluted into oblivion. They do hot and cold, the cold version with a clean ice density that does not water the drink down across a 20-minute walk through Hyde Park.
Best for: a serious matcha latte close to home if you live in West London. The corner is busy on weekend mornings; weekday early afternoon is the better window.
Personal context: HowMatcha is the matcha bar closest to my house in Notting Hill and a 4-minute walk from my daughter's nursery, which is most of why it sits at the top of this list -- proximity weights everything. My usual order is the Dirty Matcha (matcha latte with a shot of espresso pulled through it) or the Matcha Noir (the activated-charcoal black version, which is more striking than gimmicky once you taste a serious one). Both work cold or hot.
Notting Hill being Notting Hill, the corner pulls a cross-section of London regulars and the rotating cast of whoever is filming or visiting the W11 postcode that month. I have run into Anushka Sharma, Taron Egerton, Virat Kohli, and a steady drift of others over the last year -- usually mid-morning, always undisturbed. The staff are calm about it, the queue does not part dramatically, and the matcha keeps coming. That itself is part of why the place stays good.
2. Jenki, Selfridges and the City
Jenki has the highest ceiling on flavour quality of the three. The Selfridges Foodhall location (400 Oxford Street, W1A) is the easiest one to reach if you are anywhere in central London; the City of London branch is the one I default to on weekday afternoons. Their matcha programme is built around single-origin sourcing and they will tell you which farm the powder came from if you ask. The cup tastes like the powder, not like the milk.
Best for: a serious cup when you are already in central London. The Selfridges location is small and gets queued; the City branch is calmer.
3. Nagare, Carnaby
Nagare on Carnaby is a Japanese tea house first and a matcha bar second, which is the right order. The room is small, the staff are knowledgeable, and the menu spans matcha grades you cannot find at the chain operators. They do hot, cold, ceremonial bowls, and the occasional seasonal special. Worth the journey if you are anywhere near Soho.
Best for: a slower afternoon when the matcha is the destination, not the takeaway. They also sell tins to take home if you want to recreate the cup.
4. Kuro, Notting Hill
Kuro is the newest matcha-aware operator in Notting Hill and worth adding to the rotation. Smaller menu than HowMatcha, less Selfridges-foodhall polish than Jenki, but the cup quality is genuinely there and the room is calmer than either. They use a clean ceremonial-grade base for the lattes, the milk choice (oat is the default but cow's and almond are real options) does not get in the way of the tea, and the Notting Hill location is convenient if you are already in W11 doing other errands.
Best for: when HowMatcha is queued past the door on a Saturday morning and you want a matcha cup without leaving the postcode.
Look good, taste average
Smatcha, Westfield London
Smatcha at Westfield London (Ariel Way, White City, W12) has done the most aesthetically polished matcha rollout in the city. The signage is great, the menu is colourful, the layered yuzu drinks are visually striking. The matcha itself, less so. Cups arrive heavily diluted; the matcha taste sits behind whatever flavour layer (yuzu, fruit, syrup) they have stacked on top. If you are at Westfield with kids and want a fun-looking drink, fine. If you want to taste matcha specifically, walk to one of the three above instead.
Blank Street
Blank Street is everywhere in London now and the espresso programme is genuinely strong. The cortados and flat whites hold up against most independent cafes in the city, especially impressive given the volume they push through. The matcha is the weak product on their menu. Default ratios produce a cup that tastes mostly of milk; if you order one, ask for an extra shot of matcha or you are paying matcha prices for green oat milk. The staff will do it without complaint.
Best for: an espresso or cortado on the way to a meeting. Skip the standard matcha; if you must order one, request the extra shot.
What I look for in a matcha cup
Three honest criteria, in order of weight:
1. The matcha taste reaches the front of the palate within the first sip. If the first sip is sweet milk and the matcha shows up on the second swallow, the ratio is wrong.
2. The bitter finish is present but not aggressive. Ceremonial-grade powder has a balanced finish; lower-grade powder tastes harshly bitter or chalky. The good cups taste like the bitterness is part of the design rather than a defect.
3. The texture is silken. A properly whisked or shaken matcha has a microfoam-like body. A poorly prepared one is gritty or watery. The texture is the easiest tell that someone is doing the work properly behind the bar.
What I would not order
Two things to avoid even at the good places:
Pre-mixed bottled matcha. The whole point of matcha is freshness. Bottled matcha is a different drink that happens to share a name.
Matcha frappes with whipped cream. Sometimes fun; never about the matcha. Order an espresso frappe and call it what it is.
The bottom line
Matcha in London is real but the ratio of good-to-mediocre cups is roughly 1 in 4. HowMatcha in Notting Hill, Jenki at Selfridges and the City, and Nagare in Carnaby are the three I genuinely return to. Smatcha is fun looking but tastes average. Blank Street is great for coffee and ordinary for matcha unless you customise the order.
If you find a London matcha bar that should be on this list, send it. I keep updating the list as new places open and as old ones drift in either direction.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best matcha in London?
The three this writer returns to are HowMatcha in Notting Hill, Jenki, and Nagare in Carnaby. Out of a high-street category that has exploded in 24 months, these stand out because the matcha tastes of matcha rather than mostly milk.
Why does most London matcha taste bad?
Because much of it is hidden behind milk and sweetness, so the matcha itself barely comes through. The category went high-street fast and quality did not keep up. The good cups let the matcha lead; the average ones use it as a flavour note in a milk drink.
What should I look for in a good matcha?
A cup where the matcha flavour leads rather than being buried under milk and sugar. Freshness, proper preparation, and quality grade show up in the taste. If it tastes mostly of sweetened milk, the matcha is filler, not the point.
Which London matcha bars should I skip?
The post names places that look good but taste average, the high-street spots riding the trend without the quality. The three worth returning to are HowMatcha, Jenki, and Nagare; the rest are mostly photogenic cups that do not deliver on flavour.