The reusable milk container immediately caught my eye! I'm a sucker for reusable kinds of things...coffee cups, bags, and now, boba drink cups. At the store, if you purchase a medium sized drink, the container is currently $5.99. Otherwise, it'll cost you $7.99, which is still a bargain. The going rate for a clear, reusable milk container online is about $14! If you bring the container back on your next drink purchase, you will receive a 5% discount. That is a little more than tax free in Hawaii! My friends and I enjoyed chatting away in the cute little cafe for at least a couple of hours, while sipping away at our yummy drinks and munching on our delectable desserts. Because it was about 8:00pm and my bedtime was approaching, I ordered from the Non-Caffeine menu: Brown Sugar Tiger Milk with coffee jelly at 50% sweetness. "Why Tiger," I asked? When the brown sugar is poured into the milk, it creates striations similar to the coat of a tiger. The Tiramisu, Japanese Cheesecake, Strawberry cake, and Mango cake were all splendid! That is the beauty of eating with others. Sampling more than one flavor! Of all the cakes, Mango was my favorite. The hint of mango flavor, not too sweet, light and airy, paired with my sweet drink very well. Next time I'd like to try a flavored tea drink. I must get back here earlier in the day! If you're lucky, you'll also receive a 25% discount on your drink, thanks to Yelp...just check-in and show it to the cashier. Congratulations to the new owners, Kevin and Janelle!! Top Tea & Espresso is a great addition to Liliha Square shopping center! Cheers!! read more

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I love finding new boba places to try out and glad I was able to find Top Tea + Espresso. We can at around 9:30 PM and it was pretty empty. There are a lot of tables and counters for you to seat. It looks like it can be tight if there are a lot of people. At the register you have the menu which consist of tea's, smoothies and coffee/hot tea. We decided to order a brown sugar milk tea with boba and cheese foam. One topping is $0.50, two is $0.75 and they provide a variety of toppings like boba and jelly's. Cheese foam and ice cream is an extra $1. I ordered a taro milk tea with cheese foam and Oreo crumbs. My drink also came with a small shovel to mix the crumbs and cheese. I found that a plus. The best part I think is the custom bottle that you can buy and reuse! It cost $5.99 additional with the drink. If you come back and use the bottle you can get 5% off your purchase. The taro milk tea was very good. I got regular sugar and it wasn't to sweet. It was just right. The cheese foam mixed with the Oreo crumbs goes well together and worth the try. With so many options there's a drink that will fit your needs. Don't forget to check in if it's your first time as you'll receive 25% off your first drink! read more

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I love their Tiger plant milk brown sugar boba!!!! I usually mix with soy milk that is thick, creamy flavor I just wishing that they have less plastic and more vegan options for our planet, environment, animals and health read more

Top Tea + Espresso - My favorite tiger plant milk boba!! - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Hubby and I have been obsessed with brown sugar tiger milk with cheese foam. We were going to Friend Cafe almost every weekend to have it. To our dismay, we saw that the location closed. Luckily, we found out through IG that they have reopened as Top Tea +Espresso at a new location! So on the first day of the decade, we made sure to make time to grab our favorite drink. Parking: there is street parking along Liliha Street and parking at the shopping complex. Customer service: great service on their 2nd day of operations. There was a line, but it went fast. We were so happy to see the same menu from before. Boba: so so good! They have toppings like cheese foam, oreo crumble and gelato to enhance your milk Tea. We miss how they make their brown suga boba with the tiger milk tea. You really can't go wrong with ordering. Overall, this is our favorite spot to get milk tea from. So glad that they reopened. read more

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Craved boba and stumbled upon this gem! The best part is they have the cutest clear carton container option for your boba and it's reusable! I went with the tops black milk tea with boba! Delicious! I love their selection and the way they can adjust the sweetness level if the drinks The 25% off yelp check in is a great bonus Would def come back every time I visit! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Hubby and I decided to come here for drinks. I was craving a lychee green iced tea with boba. I had to dock off one star because the boba wasn't completely soft. I got a few pieces that were a little tough. The tea itself was delicious and refreshing. I ordered it with green tea with 25% sugars. Lychee is always my go to flavors for tea. The tea was so good that I finished my drink quickly by the time we got home. Our server was super nice and friendly. Parking is directly up front around the corner. I would definitely come back to try other tea flavors. So worth trying out this place. Not too sure how the smoothies taste but the tea is amazingly delicious here. read more

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I went on New Years Day during their grand opening (just never got around to posting a review LOL). I actually never went to their old location before so I didn't know what to expect. Staff was very welcoming when we came in and I asked the girl at the register what milk tea she would recommend and she said the Brown Sugar Milk Tea so I ordered that at 50%. It was good but just a little too sweet for my liking but I personally don't like my drinks too sweet so I'll make sure to order even less sweet next time. Boba was yummy and chewy and a good consistency. My mom ordered the Ginger Milk tea because she loves ginger but also that was just an uncommon menu item compare to other boba places. She really enjoyed it and would go back again just for that. So to any ginger lovers, I would recommend ordering that. Overall as first timers, this was a great boba place. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Brown Sugar Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Top Tea is probably the best bang for your buck on the island! Wow, their milk teas are so good at such an affordable price! I was so tired of paying like $7 for a milk tea and we saw that they had the DIY Boba Kits, so we came to check it out and GODDAMN it was all so good! The DIY Boba Kits ($14.95) have everything you need for four milk teas (you can choose from black or green) and it was so fun to make! My mom got the large Brown Sugar Black Milk Tea and I got the Ube Taro Milk Tea. WOAH. The Ube Taro Milk Tea was soon good. I love the ube wall that they put around the cup, because the flavors were strong and you get a bit of real ube in every sip, once you shake it up! The workers were both so sweet too, and were very patient when we took forever to figure out what we wanted haha There's also plenty of parking in the shopping center which was a huge plus for someone like me who hates looking for parking! read more

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Boba drinks are perfect! Server was very patient and informative even though I was getting tongue tied a little. Thank you to him. It seems like a pretty chill place to just enjoy your drink at. Highly recommended read more

Honestly the staff are imbeciles. Horrible time management, by the time we got our "blended" drinks they were basically juice.

Came here a few times before, but came back this time for the fancy milk carton bottle. Lol. Bf got the brown sugar black milk tea, which has caffeine and is non-dairy (perfect for him). Yum! And I got my coconut smoothie, which used to be my go to wherever I went. Very delicious! Lots of other drinks to choose from. We'll be back! read more

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Cute little place hidden in the little market with plenty of stores and shops to browse from. There's lots of flavors to choose from and options of types of cups. The soda can cup is a $1 upgrade (large) and then the box cup is a $5.99 upgrade (medium). The box cup doesn't seem worth it to me but it's a cute aesthetic! We ordered and got our drinks less than 5 minutes. They do participate in the five rewards program so you can enter your number and get points towards a free drink! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Winter Melon Black Milk Tea (right) Lava Flow Smoothie - pina colada with strawberry (middle) Black Milk Tea (left) all with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

After driving by a few times, me n' my hubby finally got the chance to drop on in. Was bummed when Friend Cafe closed, so I'm glad they made a comeback with Top Tea! We walked in minutes before closing to friendly staff who were ready to take our order. The look of the menu is a bit busy n' colorful, however, I've been on a brown sugar milk tea craze so of course I ordered that with boba n' a cheese foam. The hubby ordered a taro milk tea with boba, a cheese foam n' Oreo crumbs that comes with a mini shovel. I L.O.V.E. when the boba is warm when the drink gets handed to you, which it was, n' I like it when the boba stays soft while the drink is cold, which it did. The flip top lid makes it easy to eat the Oreo crumbs. Both drinks were good although to rate my brown sugar milk tea alone, I give it a 4 out of 5! Staff: friendly Interior: clean n' a good amount of seating Wait time: 5 mins after placing order, no line Parking: same lot as Times Supermarket Overall: enjoyed our drinks! read more

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Got 3 large drinks: Wintermelon Black Milk Tea with Coffee Jelly, Mix Fruit Tea (Green Tea) with Grass, Lychee, and Rainbow Jelly, and a Honeydew Milk Tea with Boba, all 50% Sweetness Level. Especially love the Mix Fruit Tea with all the add ins, and would definitely order the Honeydew and Wintermelon again! Only thing is I didn't care for the coffee jelly (it's very firm and cut into small pieces), but next time I'll try something else. Really wish they had tea jelly like Mr. Tea! They have the cutest reusable plastic clear milk carton shaped cups, but you can only order these if you go to the store in person (you can't order the cup or upgrade your drink to be in it if you order through Yelp delivery/GrubHub). Definitely want to get a cup next time, they're so cute and the drinks are so yummy! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Honeydew Milk Tea, Winter Melon Black Milk Tea, Mix Fruit Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Quiet little boba tea shop in liliha square. They offer Uber drinks and other flavors lychee,cumquat.honeydew. you can sit on the rotunda tables and have your drinks. This used to located in the kenrock building a couple of years ago. Come down and have a refreshing cold drink in the afternoon read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Double shot expresso - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This place does not disappoint. They easily have the best ube milk tea on Oahu!! The place is clean and service is fast. Tip: Ube taro milk tea with lychee jelly or boba is top-tier!! read more

Top tea is located in the same area as liliha times. The parking lot is very tight and narrow but luckily after going around once I was able to find a stall. When arriving, they have a monitor with the menu on it so that you can choose your drink before entering! Right now they are offering 10% off drinks or points on Fivestars. After ordering we waited outside and they brought us our drinks. I got the mixed fruit black tea and ube milk black tea. I thought the ube in the tea went very well together. The tea was great and not overly sweet at 75%. If your getting any ube drink, you have to order a large. The mixed fruit black tea at 50% did not have much fruit flavor except for lemons. It reminded me a lot of lemon tea except for the fact that it wasn't sweet. I also added boba to the drink and really liked the texture of the boba with it being a little chewy. They even have the option to buy cute containers to put your drink in for an extra cost. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Mixed fruit black tea and ube black milk tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Great affordable drink prices here. The store is on the side so it was a bit hard to find at first. I came here for their buy one get one free for New Years special. I got their strawberry mango smoothie which was very good. I was surprised because I thought they used powder to make the smoothies. The smoothie tasted pretty fresh and was not too sweet just the way I like it. I tried my sisters drink which is the milk tea drink not my type of milk tea, but at least my sister enjoyed it. read more

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Top Tea + Espresso formerly Friend Cafe is tucked in the corner of Liliha Square Shopping Center. They have a ton of drink choices but I had the black tea with Boba lightly sweetened at 25% and it was perfectly made. Plenty of free parking easy for a quick pick up is also a reason I will be back. Awesome guys thank you!! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Black tea 25% sweet with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

We liked the ube taro & ube black tea. REAL ube walls in large size only! Shout out to the great staff, making sure our order was correct & they brought our drinks out to us, very thoughtful! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Ube Taro Milk Tea w/ cheese foam & Ube Black Milk Tea w/ boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Average boba place but that doesn't mean it's terrible! Great customer service with a discount for students and locals!!

I work nearby this place and it's always a special cold treat especially on hot days. Located at Liliha Shopping Center, it's easily accessible if you're a commuter in the area especially if you walk and live/work nearby. I'm actually not a big fan of boba-itself but I love the smoothies and my friends & family love the milk tea. It's also really convenient that they take phone orders. The service is always quick and friendly, and their drinks are high quality in my opinion. I feel like it's a hidden gem because of its location but more and more people are making this part of their after school commute or frequent boba fix. You can also choose your sweetness level for most drinks. My favorite is their mango smoothie, but my friends and family also like their milk tea's. The space is fairly small but clean and well-kept with a nice and easy to read menu, which I believe is important. If you're ever in the area feel free to stop by! read more

Fresh/ warm boba, amazing flavor, got my order correct. They have amazing service! Super friendly staff. 10/10 recommend read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Thai Black Milk Tea w/ boba x2 & vanilla ice cream - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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A friend that lives near by here suggested I try this place out, so I made my way from the west side to give it a go. Well worth the trip! You kind of already have your "go-to" drinks when you drink boba, but whenever I try somewhere new, I want to try something a bit different. I honestly came for the cute cups. Lol, samples of them are right at the register and it tells you how to order them, you just have to tell the salesperson you want a cup. I got the Black Milk Tea (w/ boba, cheese foam, and Oreo,) it came with a cute shovel so you can spoon some of the topping and eat right before you drink. SO good. My daughter, the picky eater, didn't want a fruity drink, so the lady custom made a drink for her with vanilla and oreo and boba. I tasted it and it was really good. Thank you for accommodating my picky kid! My husband, the milk tea snob, tried the Brown Sugar Tiger Milk (Non-Caffeine & Non-Dairy) drink with boba. He really liked it and said it was in his top ten. Which says a lot because he hates everything we go to. lol. I here they might be opening one near us. If that's the case, it'll be one of my new go-to boba spots. read more

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Just got off work earlier today and craved Bobba Tea. Off we (my hubby and I) went in search for one in downtown area. Checked Yelp and found Top Tea + Espresso in Liliha Square. Pretty good review. I ordered the Lychee Black Tea with Grass Jelly. Hmmm so Ono. Pls y'all should try read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Whenever I'm in the liliha area I like to come to this spot. It's in the little shopping strip where times is and nice day Chinese restaurant. It's around the corner. It's clean and nicely set up, when I went before covid it had maybe 5-6 tables with a counter seating space near the register. Pretty small. All the drinks I've tried I've gotten at 50% sweetness but to me it's still pretty sweet but I don't mind. I am glad they give the option at least. If you haven't tried or need you milk tea boba fix, try here! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Strawberry milk tea no boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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All of the drinks we got were really good. I especially like the brown sugar milk tea, it had good flavor without being overly sweet. Their little plastic cartons are super cute too! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Brown sugar milk tea, matcha latte, and passion fruit tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Top Tea is located on the Liliha St side of the shopping center with Times. The parking lot is a little tight and unorganized, but I was able to find a stall when I went on Friday evening. My mom was on the hunt to find small gifts for my middle and high school aged cousins. I remember seeing the boba tea kit on Instagram awhile back, so I recommended this place to my mom. She agreed that it would be a great gift for them and sent me to pick up 4 packages of the boba tea kits. There was no one in the store, so I was in and out very quickly. I just wish that they had bags for me to put the boba kits. I guess they wouldn't expect people to be purchasing 4, but luckily my friend was with me to help me carry them. The kits are nicely wrapped and include 4 plastic cups, straws, the boba, and tea mix for $15. They also sell 2 different tea flavors (black or green). I hope my cousins will enjoy these boba kits! Maybe next time I will order a drink for myself :). read more

Top tea just opened in the Liliha shopping center where times have located. It's on the Liliha street side, so park in the lot and walk over to the street side. The neighborhood is a little on the rough side. We observed a couple yelling matches on our walk over, but once inside, it's fine. It's new and bright inside and the menus are displayed on screens above the counter. You have to crane your neck a bit to see the menu because the space in front of the counter is rather narrow. The first thing I noticed was that the menus looked almost identical to the menu at the old friend cafe on kapiolani before the building was demolished. It turns out that the owners were also involved with friend cafe, but I don't think the stamp cards can be redeemed here. Tbh, I only came here because I saw Aunty Nadine's post on IG and boba is basically a food group in my diet, right up there with vegetables and grains. The plastic carton reusable cups are cute and, yes, I got one, but I'm not dying to come back to use it. A 5% discount doesn't seem worth the drive and my milk tea wasn't that phenomenal. This place is just ok for me, I'd rather go to other places in kalihi if I'm in the area. read more

Found this place on my usual Yelp search for new boba places and I'm pretty satisfied! I've known of Friend Cafe and have been to the Kapiolani and Ward locations before and I liked them well enough, but what drew me to Top Tea was the cute milk carton bottles! Located in the small Liliha shopping strip where the Times is, There's a parking lot for it but it is a little tight. Nonetheless there's parking! Top tea is around the corner by Subway and the interior is very cute, modern and simple. The register area is a little narrow since there's also a bar seating lining the wall across the register. I got the Brown Sugar Milk Tea, 75% with cheese foam and oh man. I've come to really love BSMT with cheese foam and this was no exception. The foam was salted while the milk tea was sweet and it was a great complement. I like to swirl my drink so the foam mixes into the milk tea and it tastes so good. It's just a nice balance. One thing that was a little difficult was having the boba straw in the hole of the carton, it's a very tight fit and when you get towards the end you have to drink at an angle. If you find it too much of a hassle you could just unscrew the top of the carton and drink it that way. Loved the drink but the location isn't as convenient for me so I will return every now and then! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Brown Sugar Milk Tea with cheese foam in reusable carton - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I ordered through Bitesquad. I received a drink that looks like it was already enjoyed by someone else. Didn't even stick the straw in and its a 3rd gone. Waited an hour....for this. Super disappointed. Taste is great -- but thats all. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Didn't even open it yet...and its a third gone. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I'm super happy Friend Cafe reopened!! They are now known as Top Tea + Espresso, but it's the same recipe's as Friend Cafe. This is a pretty good location, around the corner of Times Supermarket in Liliha Square. There is a good sized parking lot so no need to worry about looking. This space is a little smaller than the one on Kapiolani, but there still is counter seating, and low tables for you to enjoy your drink at. Same furniture from the Kapiolani location, so you know you'll be comfortable while sipping your boba. This is my favorite boba place!! My usual order is an iced mango black tea 25% sweet with or without boba...depending on my mood. Lol. Their coffee is tasty, the watermelon freeze is delicious (if in season) and I've heard the desserts are yummy, but have not tried them yet. The workers here are amazing!!! I guess I frequent here enough that they know my order already. Haha! They are friendly, efficient and always cheerful. I wish them much success in this new location!! read more

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I went here after buying lumpia diagonal across the street, and to balance the salty savory taste of the lumpia I wanted something just as profoundly sweet. I called in an order of three drinks and was able to pick it up after less than ten minutes. The store was doing like 5 or 10 percent off of everything and said they're gonna switch to 5 star soon (I think). Very indulgent, super sweet almost at the point of needing to be watered down but still delicious. I got the ube with ube walls or something and enjoyed the creaminess, as well as the almost clumpy texture of the ube on the side. The whole thing was a treat and, combined with the lumpia, made me want to take a nap after. My brother got a drink with boba and said it was pretty good, but I decided to stick with just the drink. It came out to a good price with the discount and was pretty big as well. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Our boba venture took us to Top Tea. Upon entering we realized they were formally friends cafe that was located on Kapiolani across Ala Moana center. My wife got the brown sugar milk tea with boba, and I got the brown sugar tiger milk tea with coffee jelly and cheese foam. 1st time check in on yelp gets you 25% off your 1st drink. Also we noticed one option for topping was you can add a scoop of gelato to your drink. Opted to try that next time. The cool thing we noticed about Top Tea were the cups they had available. You had your basic cup with a paper sealed cover, a plastic reusable milk carton looking cup that you can always bring in and get 5% off, or a cup with a soda can cover. We opted for the milk carton cup so we could get the 5% off if & when we comeback. We were also informed that it fits a medium drink. When we got our drinks, they informed us to shake it. Another cool thing, is the cup is twist off cover so it makes it easier to stir with your straw. Onto the drinks. Flavor is good, still a little watered down but that's just our preference. They do give a lot of boba, and coffee jelly. Cheese foam was good, and tiger milk was a little too sweet for my liking even though I went with 50%. Still, we'd comeback especially to make use of our 5% discount with reusable cup. We did make use of it right away. Since we still had time to kill to pickup our daughter, we sat in sitting area. Then just before we left we used it to get her a matcha with boba drink. Small place, a lot of seating. Service was excellent. Price wise for our 1st 2 drinks total was $21 even with the yelp check in discount. We thought that was kinda pricey, assumed it was because of the milk carton cup. But when we reused it for the 5% discount, it came out to under $5. Located in Liliha shopping center, parking was kinda scarce. read more

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My son is boba head. If he could make it a 5th food group he would. So after begging for boba, we found this place on Yelp due to us being in the hood for a basketball game. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this shop. On the outside it doesn't look like much but the inside is cute and dare I say has a modern aesthetic. And even better their drinks were great. Service was quick for us that afternoon too so didn't wait long for drinks to come out. If I'm in the area again I'd definitely come back. read more

I only order winter melon tea so take my review with a grain of salt but I personally love it here. I'm very picky w/my WMT and have tried multiple locations and only really liked 1 or 2 places. So finding this gem of a place was great for me because not only is it easy to drive to but the price is reasonable. Please don't ever raise your prices!!! read more

Located in the same shopping center as Times. Busy busy parking lot. Good selection, friendly staff. Got a milk tea and honeydew smoothie with boba. Both delicious! read more

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Tried here for the first time and the drinks were yummy. The lava flow seems like a popular choice. It was tasty

I love coming here. I used to go to the Kapiolani location before it closed. This location is a tad cozier than the previous one, but there is plenty of parking at Liliha Square. One of my favorite drinks here is the Yuzu tea. It is flavorful and feels refreshing. When I had a scratchy throat, I would get the Yuzu tea. They also have gelato at the counter too. There is a variety of flavor. I usually get the cookies and cream. I recommend coming to Top Tea. The location is clean and the menu items are good! read more

Wow I haven't made a review in a while. Well just got back into drinking boba and stuff lol. This place is fast and efficient and service is top tier. They're nice and helpful especially during these times. One party in at a time. Even when it's busy line moves quickly mango green tea with jelly is yummyyyyy read more

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