Van Woustraat has plenty of coffee shops, but Kikiboba does something different. It is a Taiwanese café with its own character: fresh wheel cakes, Taiwanese matcha, bubble tea and a store with books and design items. Street food culture from Taiwan, right in the middle of De Pijp.
The star of the menu is the wheel cake. That's a freshly baked, round waffle-like pastry with a soft filling, roughly a mega-cake but with more depth. Kikiboba offers them with two distinctive fillings: a soft cream filling for those who want it classic, and a kimchi potato filling for those looking for something a little spicier. Both are prepared fresh. This kind of pastry is rare in the Netherlands, which immediately sets Kikiboba apart from the average tea store or Asian café.
The drinks are equally thoughtful. Taiwanese matcha deliberately differs from the Japanese variety most people are familiar with. Lighter in color, more tea-forward, less heavy. Those used to the thick, creamy Japanese matcha latte will be surprised here, in a good way. There is also bubble tea, another classic from the Taiwanese street food tradition. The space itself is cozily decorated with Taiwanese art and soft pillows, giving it a warm and personal feel.
Taiwanese matcha is lighter and more tea-forward than the Japanese variety most people are familiar with, and that makes the difference palpable.
De Pijp is a neighborhood with a lot of international food culture, but Taiwanese street food is scarce there. Kikiboba fills that spot without making a big statement about it. It's just a good place: small, cozy, with food you don't encounter every day. Open Monday through Saturday, so Sunday is a day for something different.