Nestled in a beige, suburban Overland Park strip mall, the vibrant Mocha Point brings strong Yemeni flavors to tea, coffee and small desserts. And after reading about its recent expansion from Saint Charles, Missouri, online, I couldn’t resist trying the shop.
With varying bags of coffee beans perched on a wooden shelf and comfy seating options available around the store, I knew when I walked into the store that Mocha Point was going to fulfill my hopes of a classic, cozy coffee shop.
I was impressed by the vast range of drinks and pastries from stereotypically American staples like lattes to niche options like honeycomb bread — a cream-stuffed bread. In keeping with his Yemeni coffee heritage, founder Ahmad Othman is “driven to share the rich flavors of Yemeni coffee and its cultural essence with the world,” according to his website.
So, I ordered my all-time favorite drink (a chai) and two small desserts.
The chai was more orange in color compared to the hazelnut brown I’m used to — likely due to the more concentrated ratio of black tea with spices to water. Even more, the drink was served piping hot in a durable tan to-go cup. While I waited for the drink to cool off, I tried my small desserts.
Although I set out to get the sabaya — a Yemeni pastry made from dough and typically garnished with honey and spices — and a shashukah feta wrap as appetizers to eat along with the chai, they were sold out when I arrived. Because of my evening arrival, I can only assume they were snatched up quickly in the afternoon rush.
Instead, I chose the almond croissant and strawberry tres leches cake. I’m usually not a croissant person, but after seeing the shaved almonds and powdered sugar sprinkled atop the buttery croissant through the display case, I couldn’t resist.
Generally, I've found croissants to be either overly moist or shockingly dry. Mocha Point’s croissant, however, combined the two to make a balanced texture. The croissant dough was dry and flaky, and my ceramic plate came in handy for collecting all the crumbs, but the almond filling made up for this dryness.
I relished the bites that included the inner filling and delighted in the crunchy almond flakes on top. However, the almond flavor wasn’t overpowering in the pastry; instead, it was present enough to fulfill my almond craving but didn’t dominate the classic butter paradise of the croissant.
The strawberry tres leches cake was an obvious choice as I saw the bright rose coloring and moist bread from underneath the counter.
Contrary to many desserts, where only mere strawberry flavoring is used, Mocha Point’s tres leches cake included chunks of strawberries. I was pleasantly surprised when I received the cake, and cherished the real fruit.
Even the inside of the cake was bursting with real flavor. I could taste the cream in between layers of foamy cake and the frosting on top, and although the frosting was an unnatural shade of pink, it didn't make me retch at every bite as many frostings normally do.
Because my chai had finally cooled off, I decided to take a sip of my go-to drink.
Chai can set the tone for a coffee shop’s drink options. If it’s too sweet? Don’t even try a latte — it would be pure sugar. If it’s watered down? Avoid an Americano; it would seem like a drop of coffee in an ocean of water.
Mocha Point’s chai, however, promised a flavorful selection of other drinks, because of the chai’s rich spice, concentrated blend and boiling-hot temperature.
While every chai is a black tea mixed with strong spices, including cardamom and cloves, the menu at Mocha Point highlighted the cardamom as a key ingredient in the chai. And they were so right to call it out.
I could taste more spices than I usually do in my normal chai, and I definitely noticed the piney cardamom flavor that was bitey at each sip. I liked this difference from previous chais that were overly sweetened, and the change gives me a reason to come back to Mocha Point.
And what’s the icing on the tres leches cake? The customer service. As I was enjoying my food, I noticed the family atmosphere that Mocha Point inspired. A barista checked in and asked me if I needed water during my snack — a service that many coffee shops, such as national chains like Starbucks, could never rival. Another barista helped a man carry two, three-liter containers of coffee to his car.
So — with delectable food and friendly smiles — let's just say that Mocha Point was on point.
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