Tina and I were driving around in New Jersey when we realized that we were only a few minutes away from Ale in Fort Lee. Meet for matcha? Sure! Where? Ale suggested Vera Caffe, which is a new cafe located on Main Street in Fort Lee. Vera opened in January this year and the cute cafe has quickly gained a solid fan base, including Ale, who was talking warmly about the iced matcha latte and the insta-friendly decor.
We ordered each our Iced Teddy Matcha Latte, which came with a small ice bear floating on top. My matcha latte had strawberry-flavor, and wasn’t too sweet, which I really liked. Apparently, you’re supposed to mix the different layers in the drink, which we didn’t realize until after we had slurped up the milky fruity layer and was stuck with just matcha for the rest of the drink. I didn’t mind, because it was a good quality matcha that tasted really nice, but Tina found the matcha layer a bit too intense on its own.
Vera also offers two desserts right off the menu from the popular Spot Dessert Bar in New York City. We decided to share The Harvest, which is one of the most famous desserts from Spot. The Harvest is a potted plant with cheesecake filling, fresh berries, and Oreo crumbs on top. It’s served with earl grey milk tea that you can “water” the plant with, and a scoop of raspberry sorbet. The staff told us to try to get a little of each flavor and texture in every bite for the optimal experience, and I agree. While the cheesecake and the oreo crumbs might be too sweet on their own, they are nicely balanced out by the tart taste of the raspberry sorbet.
The more I get to know Fort Lee, the more excited I get about the place. Fort Lee has a large Asian community, making it one of the best places for Asian food in that part of New Jersey with plenty of authentic Korean, Japanese and Chinese restaurants. If only it wasn’t so difficult to get there, I would go more often as there are so many nice restaurants and cafes to explore.
Vera Caffe, 302 Main St, Fort Lee, NJ 07024, United States
