Gram Cafe - Aberdeen Mall - Soft Opening

Well, the picture looks lovely!  But I can honestly say, the food was awful. The pancakes tasted more like baking soda/baking powder (did they use a mix??), the whipped cream had a funny taste (really hope it wasn't going bad) and the iced matcha tea tasted more like barley grass than matcha tea.

                      

I'll just make the pancakes myself and share them with you all.  Keep your eyes out for my next food post!

Here is my review that I posted on Google: 

Sadly, the promo was much better than the actual food. I'd been so looking forward to finally having Japanese-style pancakes in Richmond.

My pancakes (caramelized banana) tasted more like baking soda/baking powder than pancakes.

I didn't want to throw out $16 so I smothered it in whipping cream (which tasted slightly funny - was it starting to go rancid??) to be able to finish. The bananas were over-ripe, you can see from the photo that they are quite dark. The iced Matcha tea was horrible-tasting. I've had unsweetened Matcha before - and know how it tastes. It doesn't taste like grass.
The price is ridiculous for the serving size and the quality that you get. I wouldn't mind the price if they actually got their ingredients imported from Japan, but I could tell they did not.
I feel bad saying this - but compared to IHOP, I'd choose IHOP. I realize that I went during soft-opening, and that they did ask for understanding as everyone is still in training. BUT, if this is the quality they will serve after training - I will seriously be disappointed.

Here's hoping that they improve...I'm not the only one who noticed that they seem to have used a mix rather than fresh ingredients.