Boba Bear screams hipster. From the line-outside-cuz-its-a-no-reservations policy, to the live Instagram feed showing on their LCD screen inside, you know you're at an 'it' spot. Even the shisha comes in glowing pots that fade into different colors every few seconds, for a premium of course. The seats are half lounge seats and half stools, but mostly stools. So don't expect to be super comfy here - you can't really lean back here, and it's slightly packed together, though still better than Sahara with its Cha Chan Teng style seating. But people still line up here for a reason - the shisha is actually really, really good. Like Kevin L mentioned, the menu dwarfs most other shisha spots except Vibes, and they use higher quality coconut charcoal, which is rumored to last up to 3 hours (yea, so expect to stay in that line for a while). And although we didn't wait that long to change, the staff were very attentive and changed the charcoal for us for free, whenever we asked. The smoke is thick and the flavor is strong, and no backrest aside, life is good.
The original Boba Bear in LA got its name from Boba Milk Tea, or what we call bubble tea in HK lingo, is not that trendy anymore; so the drink list focuses on basics and some HK twists - we ordered a pitcher of VLT (stands for Vita Lemon Tea, but this one is alcoholic), which tastes great and is actually decent strength. Fun to share in groups. Speaking of fun and groups, if you post a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #bobabear, you will be able to see your post almost instantly, on their screen showing their Instagram - makes for some funny conversation.
Great place to come in groups, if you can ALL arrive early, because 1) the line is small before 8pm, and 2) they don't let you in if your group hasn't all arrived. 4 instead of 5 stars only because it's not as fun to lounge around in due to the seating, I'd pick Al Pasha if I wanted to slouch and shisha in a nice soft seat, but without a doubt, Boba Bear has some really good shisha. read more