Thé Moon
A Costa Mesa tea house evolves into a coffee shop and omakase-focused Irvine studio
We don’t use this word often, but Thé Moon earns it: “fascinating.” Launched in November 2024 as Thé Moon Tea House – the sole U.S. location of a small Canadian-Taiwanese boba/matcha/coffee chain – this Costa Mesa cafe rebranded in late 2025 or early 2026 as Thé Moon Coffee Shop, and began leaning into interesting collaborations and side projects. Though what initially caught our eye was a sign outside advertising Cheesetella cakes, we were surprised to learn that Thé also hosts coffee omakase and matcha tasting experiences in an Irvine office park “studio” space close to Smart Kitchens. All signs point to the same conclusion: This isn’t your typical Orange County coffee shop.
Thé Moon’s primary menu is divided into espresso drinks ($4.50 to $7.75), matchas ($7 to $8), and signature drinks ($7 to $8), with a handful of pastries in the $7 price range, sweet or savory toasts ($13 to $16), and granola bowls ($13). Exploring the tablet, you’ll also find non-caffeinated and non-dairy drinks that use fruits and sodas as their bases. Similarly, additional food items including affogatos, madeleines, financiers, and cheesecakes may or may not be available on your visit; we would have ordered an affogato, but it wasn’t currently listed on Thé Moon’s oversized tablet-based ordering system when we came in.
Instead, we opted for three beverages: Golden Moon paired passionfruit and mango juices with jasmine tea, and was customized with added boba (75 cents), delivering a tall, very fresh, judiciously sweetened non-dairy drink with fun tapioca and passionfruit seed textures. A multi-layer strawberry matcha ($7.50) began with a base of pureed fruit, continued with strawberry milk and matcha layers, ending with a matcha cream top and diced dehydrated strawberries – a sophisticated, thoroughly enjoyable take on an increasingly common offering. Last and arguably least was the black sesame latte ($7.50), which arrived with beautifully distinct milk, coffee, and black sesame cream top layers that were individually spot-on, but lost the sesame flavor once mixed.
We were generally very impressed by the two food items we tried from Thé Moon’s small collection. From a display case with four pastries, we picked an intriguing ube cruffin ($7) – a muffin-shaped croissant – which surprised us by packing both a sweet coconut-heavy ube glaze and a less sweet, more intensely flavored dark purple filling. This was the rare ube item that really allowed ube flavor to shine, and the croissant muffin base (served warm at our option) was excellent, golden and flaky outside, soft and just gooey enough inside.
Proscuitto burrata toast ($16) was a more qualified winner, solely because it arrived looking and tasting different than the menu suggests. Thé Moon’s official photo shows it with cheese, sliced ham, and blackberries, but ours arrived topped with blueberries and a strong, unwanted vinegrette, plus two crackers on the side. We enjoyed it for what it was, but would have liked it more without the overpowering vinegar – and with utensils to slice the long piece of bread into bite-sized pieces.
While our visit to Thé Moon wasn’t perfect, the drink and food highs were higher than the lows, and we left feeling like there were still items (affogatos and additional drinks, including seasonal specials) worth exploring at the cafe. We’re also very intrigued by the omakase and tasting opportunities in their Irvine studio space. If we have the opportunity to try anything more here in the future, we’ll expand this article with additional thoughts and photos.
Stats
Price: $-$$
Service: Tablet/Counter
Open Since: 2024
Addresses
369 E. 17th St. Suite 12
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
657.287.8428
17895 Sky Park Cir., Unit E
Irvine, CA 92614
(Studio only)
Instagram: @themoon_coffeeshop