Moon Child is getting a new home in the city centre

18:00, 19 Feb 2026Updated 18:33, 19 Feb 2026

A new café dedicated to one of the most popular drinks of the moment is opening in Cork city centre this weekend. The Moon Child ‘hideout’ matcha bar will open on Carey’s Lane on Saturday.

Owner Monica Steenkamp is known for serving up top notch matcha lattes at pop-up stalls at markets across Cork, including Mahon Point and Douglas farmers markets, and now Moon Child is getting a brick-and-mortar home. She has had a huge reaction after teasing the new opening as a ‘matcha bar hideout’ in the city centre, and it’s sure to be a hit given the boom in more cafés offering matcha in recent months.

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Monica told Cork Beo that is had been “such an exciting few months” and she did not expect so much positive feedback when she posted a reel sharing the news of the new café.

The South African barista has been living in Cork for nearly seven years, and fell in love with the traditional Japanese tea drink in 2021 while working at The Grumpy Bakers café.

After crafting her own flavour syrups, she knew “there was something calling me” to start her new venture. Moon Child was born in 2025 and quickly became well known for some of the best matcha in Cork.

She uses ceremonial matcha from Your Omma with a menu of original hot or iced matcha drinks as well as special flavours like earl grey, banana bread and jasmine matcha – yum!

Monica and Jenna serve up top-notch matcha drinks(Image: Moon Child matcha)

Moon Child Matcha Bar is opening a new ‘hideout’ café in Cork city(Image: @moonchild_cork)

Her new café – or ‘extended pop-up’ as Monica calls it – is upstairs at the former Cork Lotus Yoga studio reception. With the help of her right-hand woman Jenna, the area has been transformed into a pretty pink space for a ‘secret spot’ that Monica hopes will help more customers fall in love with matcha. The café will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 3pm, with her first day on Saturday February 21. And Monica will still be running her stall at Mahon Farmers Market too.

Teasing the opening on TikTok, she said: “POV: You found your new favourite matcha hideout in Cork City. We’ve been working behind the scenes to create the perfect little matcha hideout in the heart of Cork. Bringing the girlies the matcha you deserve.”

Moon Child is known for its pop-up matcha bar stalls at farmers markets across Cork(Image: ​@moonchild_cork)

The popularity of matcha is on the rise. Last summer a stall at the Marina Market opened dedicated to the stuff. The team behind Panda’s Matcha, a Cork- based company with its own version of the Japanese green tea, opened the first matcha bar there after perfecting the craft for over a decade. Owners Zuzana Bokova and Karolina Sirotkova set up their brand after falling in love with the vibrant green drink, which is said to have health benefits. They found no in-store option that matched the quality they were looking for, so they decided to start selling their own ceremonial-grade matcha powder by teaming up with a Japanese family from the Shizuoka region.

Also last summer, one of Cork’s favourite cafés is threw day raves dedicated to the viral green drink. Soma Coffee Company gave out free matcha drinks as they put on a booze-free street party in the city centre in honour of the popular Japanese green tea that’s got TikTok hooked.

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