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I took a friend here with me during the 2nd day of their grand opening weekend on July 4. Now with the surge of new places opening up with their grand openings with promotions and all that - along with it being a holiday - this was a DOUBLY bad idea on my part that somehow didn't affect my 4.5-star rating here. More on that later. This place is situated in a plaza where Boiling Point and Xi'an Noodle see all the action, and OMO Thai Tea can only just hear commotion from a couple blocks away. Parking is really tight here, so I had to use street parking opposite Mira Flats, though parking rules were definitely thrown out the door in many instances for this opening day. Looking past the long lines and sardine-packed crowds, the inside has a display of merch on the right-hand side of the entrance along with a panda figure; the rest of the interior is several tables for seating and the kitchen behind the counter where all the drinks are made. The line system was crazy; it split in two for the two kiosks to the left-hand side of the entrance, and even then most of us didn't know where and how long to wait for our drinks. Thankfully, staff guided us throughout the whole order process. For their opening weekend, they advertised a BOGO event for four different drinks. My friend and I got their mango pomelo sago and their Kyoho grape jasmine tea smoothie to get the BOGO promotion, and I got a raffle ticket to get a big tote bag from them. That was pretty good until it got to waiting for our drinks. We placed our orders at 6:55pm, and - in some weird worldly fashion - got our drinks nearly exactly an hour later. The TV screens behind the counter noting which drinks were being prepared and which ones were ready wasn't entirely accurate either, as those working in the kitchen were making drinks very quickly and maybe a little haphazardly because of the sheer number of people getting their stuff. For each of our drinks: - The Kyoho grape jasmine tea smoothie was all right; it had a nice, sweet berry-like taste to it that was a tad too sweet. - The mango pomelo sago was our absolute favorite! Appropriately sweet, a nice balance between the mango and the sago, and cold enough to enjoy. Dare I say this one rivals similar drinks coming from Hui Lau Shan in Bellevue and even Hong Kong Bistro in Seattle's CID! The taste of this drink almost nullified the frustration of waiting an hour for our drinks. I've been hearing from other friends who visited here after me that it doesn't take as long to get drinks though that wait time still isn't justified n their opinions. I'm gonna have to come back here again for their other drinks when it doesn't get too busy.
I stopped by TeaByDo to check out this newer tea spot that seems to already have a strong following in China, and I tried the Signature Taro Ball Milk Tea, which I was told is their second most popular drink after the Mango Sago. There wasn't a line when I arrived, but there was already a sizable group waiting for orders, and shortly after I placed mine, the line grew quickly. I ended up waiting about 20 minutes, which felt a bit long for a tea shop, though not unusual for a place generating this much attention. The drink itself was fine -- pleasant, but not especially memorable. The name was a little misleading to me, since I was expecting more of a taro milk tea with taro balls, rather than milk tea with taro balls. That distinction matters when the tea is the main feature. The taro balls, however, were a nice surprise: chewy, flavorful, and a fun first try. Overall, TeaByDo feels very much in the same lane as HeyTea, particularly with popular items like Mango Sago and the polished, trend-driven menu. As with HeyTea, I left feeling that the hype may outpace the actual experience a bit. I'm glad I tried it, but for me, it didn't quite justify the wait. I'll also admit I make my own milk tea, so I may be a tougher critic than some. Still, I try to be fair: this was a solid but average cup, and not quite the standout I was hoping for.
Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy my drink much. The boba was over cooked and squishy. I did like the soybean foam top, but the tea flavor wasn't strong enough and it was quite sweet even with only 50% sugar. The other main negative for me was that they don't have any nondairy options for the milk tea. The staff were pretty efficient overall. Unless you have a coupon they want you to order at the two screens to the left of the door, which is fine but might be difficult if you have questions. No real seating inside - geared towards grab and go.
Decided to check out this new bubble tea place since it was all over Instagram. I tried the healthy option of avocado kale mango and it was soooo refreshing. It wasn't too heavy and the 30% sweetness was perfect. Price wasn't bad either, it was standard. It wasn't too busy since it was a weekday. Definitely will be back to try other items
2 months ago
This spot had a lot of buzz when it appeared so I was excited to try it! I came after work on a weekday and it was pretty busy, but it didn't take too long to get our drinks. You order at their kisoks and then pick up the drink when its ready. I got the grape jasmine smoothie and added taro balls to it. The drink itself was pretty good and refreshing, but nothing that spectacular. I also thought the taro balls were pretty standard - these are tinier than your usual ones. read more
Seattle-Area Boba Shop Review #120 Teabydo, AKA Chabaidao/ChaPanda is the next Mainland Chinese boba shop to invade Bellevue. Now we just need a Chagee and maybe a Nayuki to complete the quintet (Heytea/Teabydo/Molly) of premium "New Style Tea" Chinese boba houses. This particular location has apparently been open for a couple of weeks now and is well past the grand opening stage. Puzzling, given how unprepared the place was when I dropped in on a weekday for a drink. Arriving just past 11:10, the first thing I did was walk up to one of the two convenient kiosks to order (as there was already a small line for in-person ordering). I noticed the drink menu looked very short, and glancing over at the screen at the front counter, I could see the kiosk was missing around 2/3 of the drinks. Not that I cared too much since the drink I was aiming to get was there. Finalizing all the adjustments and toppings, I started to check out, only to be greeted with an error screen. Yay technology. So I had to line up a bit, no problem. Stuff happens. Finally getting up to the front, I tried ordering the same drink, but with light ice as the menu states I'm able to do. Nope, apparently the menu is wrong and they only have full ice and no ice as options. Okay, fine I'll try regular ice. I want to add boba though. Nope, it isn't ready yet. At this point it's more than 20 minutes after opening, and there's no boba yet? That's fine for a local independent boba shop, but this is ChaPanda! They have almost 9000 stores, how have they not figured things out yet!? Given the wait time for fresh boba, I decided to leave and revisit later in the day, this time ordering at the counter without an issue. While waiting for my drink, I noticed a couple of flasks over by the pickup area, filled with tea leaves for sniffing. There's a Gardenia Green Tea, which smells floral and grassy, an excellent combination. There's Jasmine tea, a little disappointing given a heavily over oxidized smell overpowering what should be bright flowery notes. Then finally the Oolong, giving off a mild smell with some almost rancid elements. Not a good sign, given that's what I ordered... Oolong Milk Tea with Soybean Cheese Foam, Large, Regular Ice, 50% Sugar w/ Boba ($8.98) - Let me start by saying - wow this drink is EXPENSIVE. More expensive than Molly. More expensive than Chicha San Chen. Yeah, the drink is larger than the other two, but is the quality as good? In terms of tea, the answer is decidedly no. The tea has basically no fragrance, which on a positive note means that's no rancidity to be had. Instead, there's a slight funky tanginess and saltiness from the cheese foam on top, then a captivating roasty nutty note from the soybean powder mixed into the foam. I actually really like the inclusion of the soybean powder - I haven't seen another boba shop with this unique addition. While basically drowning out all the more delicate tea flavors, I found it very enjoyable to drink. Otherwise, the drink gives a relatively rich and creamy mouthfeel, pairing with a sweetness that's very sweet but not cloying. I would probably opt to reduce the sugar if I visited again. Clearly, the focus of TeaByDo is not the tea base, but rather the accompaniments. On a positive note, the ice level was also fine at regular. It's actually similar to light ice at most other boba shops - enough to completely cool the drink while leaving only a couple of chips left over. I can see on a hot day, this drink might actually need more ice than regular. While this drink is located in the "Classic Milk Tea" section rather than "Fresh Milk Tea," I feel like this drink still has tons of dairy, not even including the cheese foam top. At least, my stomach certainly was feeling it an hour later... The boba TeaByDo serves is heavily marinated in a brown sugar solution. It's very sweet and flavorful with brown sugar minerality, probably one of the most flavorful boba I've had in a while. This soak gives a really soft, velvety, and sticky texture on the exterior that doesn't harden or firm up even when cooled down fully. That unfortunately means that the interior is also on the softer side, decreasing some of the requisite chew and bounce. It's not too far gone, and I certainly wouldn't describe it as being mushy. What's puzzling is that with most pearls being softer, there were some shrunken pearls which were actually too firm. Maybe they don't stir the boba enough while cooking? Milk Tea Rating: 4.5/5 (More of a 4/5 but I personally really enjoyed the flavor of the soy bean flour) Boba Rating: 4/5 TeaByDo is a mixed bag. The drinks are pretty good, but they still have some major issues that should have been solved during the soft opening phase. Assuming that they do have it all figured out, I'd be willing to return to try out more. (Normal Rating would be 4*, but subtracting 1* for all the issues they had) Bathrooms - I didn't see any, but I also didn't ask if they had one. read more
I took a friend here with me during the 2nd day of their grand opening weekend on July 4. Now with the surge of new places opening up with their grand openings with promotions and all that - along with it being a holiday - this was a DOUBLY bad idea on my part that somehow didn't affect my 4.5-star rating here. More on that later. This place is situated in a plaza where Boiling Point and Xi'an Noodle see all the action, and OMO Thai Tea can only just hear commotion from a couple blocks away. Parking is really tight here, so I had to use street parking opposite Mira Flats, though parking rules were definitely thrown out the door in many instances for this opening day. Looking past the long lines and sardine-packed crowds, the inside has a display of merch on the right-hand side of the entrance along with a panda figure; the rest of the interior is several tables for seating and the kitchen behind the counter where all the drinks are made. The line system was crazy; it split in two for the two kiosks to the left-hand side of the entrance, and even then most of us didn't know where and how long to wait for our drinks. Thankfully, staff guided us throughout the whole order process. For their opening weekend, they advertised a BOGO event for four different drinks. My friend and I got their mango pomelo sago and their Kyoho grape jasmine tea smoothie to get the BOGO promotion, and I got a raffle ticket to get a big tote bag from them. That was pretty good until it got to waiting for our drinks. We placed our orders at 6:55pm, and - in some weird worldly fashion - got our drinks nearly exactly an hour later. The TV screens behind the counter noting which drinks were being prepared and which ones were ready wasn't entirely accurate either, as those working in the kitchen were making drinks very quickly and maybe a little haphazardly because of the sheer number of people getting their stuff. For each of our drinks: - The Kyoho grape jasmine tea smoothie was all right; it had a nice, sweet berry-like taste to it that was a tad too sweet. - The mango pomelo sago was our absolute favorite! Appropriately sweet, a nice balance between the mango and the sago, and cold enough to enjoy. Dare I say this one rivals similar drinks coming from Hui Lau Shan in Bellevue and even Hong Kong Bistro in Seattle's CID! The taste of this drink almost nullified the frustration of waiting an hour for our drinks. I've been hearing from other friends who visited here after me that it doesn't take as long to get drinks though that wait time still isn't justified n their opinions. I'm gonna have to come back here again for their other drinks when it doesn't get too busy. read more
I stopped by TeaByDo to check out this newer tea spot that seems to already have a strong following in China, and I tried the Signature Taro Ball Milk Tea, which I was told is their second most popular drink after the Mango Sago. There wasn't a line when I arrived, but there was already a sizable group waiting for orders, and shortly after I placed mine, the line grew quickly. I ended up waiting about 20 minutes, which felt a bit long for a tea shop, though not unusual for a place generating this much attention. The drink itself was fine -- pleasant, but not especially memorable. The name was a little misleading to me, since I was expecting more of a taro milk tea with taro balls, rather than milk tea with taro balls. That distinction matters when the tea is the main feature. The taro balls, however, were a nice surprise: chewy, flavorful, and a fun first try. Overall, TeaByDo feels very much in the same lane as HeyTea, particularly with popular items like Mango Sago and the polished, trend-driven menu. As with HeyTea, I left feeling that the hype may outpace the actual experience a bit. I'm glad I tried it, but for me, it didn't quite justify the wait. I'll also admit I make my own milk tea, so I may be a tougher critic than some. Still, I try to be fair: this was a solid but average cup, and not quite the standout I was hoping for. read more
Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy my drink much. The boba was over cooked and squishy. I did like the soybean foam top, but the tea flavor wasn't strong enough and it was quite sweet even with only 50% sugar. The other main negative for me was that they don't have any nondairy options for the milk tea. The staff were pretty efficient overall. Unless you have a coupon they want you to order at the two screens to the left of the door, which is fine but might be difficult if you have questions. No real seating inside - geared towards grab and go. read more
Decided to check out this new bubble tea place since it was all over Instagram. I tried the healthy option of avocado kale mango and it was soooo refreshing. It wasn't too heavy and the 30% sweetness was perfect. Price wasn't bad either, it was standard. It wasn't too busy since it was a weekday. Definitely will be back to try other items read more
Great place to get Boba in Bellevue. I highly recommend their mango pomelo sago drink, that was my favorite! The service was really good and the drinks came out fast. The space is very clean and open. The Taro ball milk tea was also very good. Overall sweetness was good for what they recommended which is 50%. Overall, I highly recommend and I would come back. read more
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More info about Tea By Do
1075 Bellevue Way NE
Space B-3
Bellevue, WA 98004
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