Let me preface this review by saying this is my first time posting but my experience was so absolutely abhorred that I was compelled to make an account to dispel whatever myths other posters may be propagating. I will divide my review into sections for better clarity.
Service:
When we first entered, my friends were told that the order for ice cream rolls would have been approximately thirty minutes, which is understandable because the process of actually making the rolls is quite arduous. This was not as much a concern for me because I intended to get boba anyway but I say this just to set the baseline expectations of the visit. I ordered a honeydew green tea with boba, said in those exact words in order to prevent confusion with their honeydew milk tea. I assumed my order had been processed correctly so I thought nothing of it until I decided to absently look at my receipt to kill the time. Honeydew milk tea. As someone who is severely lactose intolerant, I made sure to rectify the issue and asked the same person who took my order that I thought there was a mistake and asked instead for the standard tea, no milk. He was very nice about it, took my receipt and crossed out the milk tea and wrote green tea on it. He then went away from the cashier, presumably to change the order receipt as well. Then came the long wait. My entire group had also ordered a variety of different types of tea with boba, which could certainly have exacerbated how long it took for our orders to be completed, but it took approximately thirty minutes for the first person to get their order (and in total, an hour or more for everyone to get their orders). As a reminder, they initially told us that it would take thirty minutes for our order to be processed and completed (at the time, it was quite crowded and other people were already waiting for their ice cream rolls). To understand how the ice cream rolls are handmade: it is a process that requires taking the individual ingredients, mashing them up, layering them together, flattening them out, waiting for them to freeze, and then individually rolling them up. We ordered their teas under the assumption that the wait would be shorter. Because the teas were individually brought up from an out of sight kitchen area, I cannot say how the orders were filled (whether the teas were brewed or made from a powder) but I cannot conceivably understand how it could take that long to fill one order.
Quality of Product:
I will be the first to say my standards for food and drinks are fairly low; I eat out of necessity and I am not one to complain about tea because it is essentially hot leaf juice. What I received was not tea. It was so diluted to the point where I could not taste the honeydew, the tea, or any semblance or fruit or syrup. What I did taste, however, was milk. I'm not sure if anyone has tried diluted milk but it tastes absolutely horrible. Add to the fact that I am severely lactose intolerant and it made for another unpleasant experience an hour later. To summarize: it sucked getting in and it sucked going out.
The boba itself was variable. Some pieces were so soft that they broke apart fairly easily when chewed and other pieces were still hard and grainy.
In an effort to provide positive feedback, the ice was fine. Did its job. Kept my drink cool.
I decided not to talk to the management about my order because they had already confused my friend's order for something entirely different and at that point we were already so tired of the place that we did not want to wait any longer for a replacement. I also did not wish to conduct my inevitable bowel movements in a public bathroom.
In the end, as per the advice of my friend who told me not to waste my calories, I threw out the drink with at least half of it still remaining.
Ambience:
The establishment itself is rather cute; it is a well lit area with couches and little seating areas appropriate for any size group. There are tables for available to couples who made the misfortune of deciding to make their first impressions with each other here. To their credit, if the owners of this establishment intended to remove the social crutch of having some food product serve as the basis of initiating conversation (and instead force couples to bypass small talk and engage in deeper subjects), they succeeded. However, one must also recognize that with the amount of time it takes for an order to be completed, these cute couple seating areas are more likely to be occupied by a single patron waiting for his/her order. They also have larger seating areas, like couches, available with board games which I am sure was intended to be a way for the establishment to become a type of local watering hole. However, it is more likely that a full game of Monopoly could be completed prior to your entire group getting their orders. Bathroom was clean; no complaints there.
In short: Tastetea Roll
- Taste: Horrible
- Tea: Sludge
- Roll: I guess they had them read more