Final Thoughts: 4.00/5
This place has been open for a while now, but previously they did not have boba, so we just never stopped by here. Today, after our dinner, we saw that they did have boba on the menu, so we decided to give it a try. Simple, solid 4 star for today.
Drink:
Da Hong Pao Milk Tea (with regular ice, lactose free milk, and 25% sweetness): 4.0/5
This was the drink I chose for today. For the flavor of the tea, I actually really like the strength of the tea with the milk. The tea flavor is really prominent and I like the smell of it. It appears they use the tea leaves and he smell of them are quite nice. It seems really fresh and light and mixes well with the milk. Something interesting is that they label their lactose free milk as just that. Perhaps they actually use lactose free milk for the dairy free option versus a milk alternative like almond milk or oatmilk. No concerns with the milk options, but just a note since lactose free milk seems to be more of an umbrella term. The sweetness worked
Chocolate Ceylon My W Hazelnut Chocolate Cheese W Cocoa Powder Figs: 3.8/5
My friend's drink today that I tried for review purposes. This was was also quite good in general. If you like the combination of chocolate and hazelnut, you'll probably like this one. It seems to be a blended drink. The flavors work well together and compliment each other. Of note though, this drink might have too many flavors happening in it because the figs did drown somewhere in the drink. Chocolate and hazelnut are two stronger flavors, so perhaps just leaving it at that would have been fine. Boba was alright for me too. Some flavor to it with a nice texture (some chew with that little bite).
Menu: Difficult to read
Their menu options are quite limited. I like that they have an indicator showing the strengths of their tea. This is really what I went off of because I like the taste of a strong tea, so I chose the one with the 4 leaves. Of note, there are no hot drinks available here, which would have been my desired choice as the temperature outside is super cold. Kind of interesting given they could have just warmed up the drinks. Something about their physical menu too is that the text is super small. I am super vision impaired and could not read the menu inside. My options were to walk outside to see the menu standing out in the front (also small text by the way) or have my friend read out the drinks for me. Perhaps making it larger would help or put the menu in various places around the café itself as the seating and waiting area is observed to be spacious.
---Side note for the menu: Descriptions on their DoorDash Ordering Menu
Descriptions of what each drink is or what they may taste like would be helpful too because they do have the drink names in multiple languages, but no description or anything. Your average person would perhaps have no idea what the taste of each drink is without something more than just the name. If you really do want a description though, go to their doordash ordering menu and you'll be able to find it there. This would have been very helpful on their actual in-store menu.
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Quality: Made in bulk perhaps
The drinks came out quite quickly, so I'm thinking that the drinks and teas are made in bulk, placed into the large dispenser containers and then poured into the drinks as they are ordered. I've learned that making some things in bulk shouldn't take too much of the flavor or quality away though. The taste of the drinks we got were quite good, so nothing too significant to note here.
Price: Fair for the item provided
For two drinks, the price was around $15, which is very average and fair for the size and item provided. Price ranges will be within $6 to $8. Their cups are on the larger side, but to be fair, a lot of it is just milk and tea.
Service: No interactions
We actually didn't have any interactions with the workers here during this visit. We ordered at a kiosk and the drinks were just put in the front once completed. You'll know when the drinks are ready because they do have a signOf note, the drinks did come out fairly quickly to which my friend attributed to them making their teas in bulk.
Ambiance: Spacious
The interior is very spacious and does have a strong scent of their teas. This place gives me Molly Tea vibes, but that might be attributed to the smell and drinks provided in general. Many tables are available here, so you can choose to sit here, drink, and hang out or you can choose to pick up the drink and go.
Location/Parking: Marketplace Cupertino
It's located in the plaza on Stevens Creek Blvd. On the map, it states Marketplace Cupertino. This parking lot is large if you think about the space as a whole. If you just think about the parking space where Gyukaku, Curry Hyuga, and Moon Tea are, the spaces are almost limited and kind of tight. We typically don't have a concern with finding a parking spot here because there is a lot of turnover happening. read more