I normally don't do this whole Yelp thing, but my experience at Torotea was so oddly annoying that I created an account just to share. Initially I heard about this place on instagram but in my personal opinion and what seems to be a common theme off other yelp reviews is that they are pretentious as hell. Thats the perfect word to describe everything here. Waited outside for a bit then was guided inside but I guess I didnt realize there was multiple registers, even though visually I could only see one, so I just wait behind the party that was already in there and then I was rushed to move to the actual cashier and I dont want to be rude so I dont initially rush to the cashier to make it seem like I'm not cutting anyone and then the tallish female worker basically yells at me to go to the cashier and I'm just taken aback by this weird process. Its my first time here, I wish they were alot nicer and softer at guiding customers than rushing me and raising their voice at me for not knowing. The setup is weird that is not my fault. I cant remember the girl who does this to me maybe vicky or something idk, something with a V at the front of the name and shes tall. I cant remember anymore. There are samples which can be appreciated at some point but why am I so squished and cramped up at the register that I cant even properly look at anything and I feel anxious trying to maneuver my way. I am just one person I cant imagine what happens when there is multiple groups up at the front.
This place markets themselves as a high tier high quality tea shop and comes to find out half of these ingredients in their drinks are syrups. There is no real fruit, even the milk they are using is POWDER. How is this high quality? By the way the cashier at the front is the one telling me all of this because the menu is confusing for me. When I ask for other recommendations the cashier doesnt seem to know what shes talking about and she seems annoyed at my questions. Like how am I supposed to know what an Ember or a Misty is, please do your job? I asked about the popcorn milk tea on the menu because they say its their most popular drink yet they proceed to tell me that it is made with popcorn syrup and powder cream milk? Maybe I'm just used to going to actual real tea shops with real ingredients and not just mixing sugary powdery syrups in my drinks but I ordered it anyways because the cashier keeps telling me it's their most popular drink and I still don't know what to get. I also order some other milk teas for my friends just so we can try to compare everything ourselves.
I wait 20-30 minutes, its time to pick up my drinks and the girl at the front is the one who gets my drinks. She just leaves it there on the board after putting it in the cup holder and walks back to the door, but because they have someone taking orders on the side of the counter there is no room for me to even grab my drinks without interrupting whoever is ordering and nobody moves when I make it obvious that I am trying to get my drinks.
Another weird setup that does not make sense to me. So i just stand there until they are done because there is no space to do anything, and then I try to grab my drinks as fast as I can that I also forget to grab straws but good thing I keep some extras in my car.
Fast forward to trying the drinks, tell me why these drinks taste tea-less. It just tastes like milk and sugar or milk water and sugar. The only milk tea that tastes different is the one with the popcorn syrup because of that syrup There is absolutely no strong tea flavor, maybe a hint of tea flavor. The toppings are fine we actually enjoyed the topping and the chewy texture but the tea taste is nonexistent and is so lacking. I am so disappointed by the drinks but also the customer service because it is so poor. The girl at the door was rude and the cashier was clueless/confused. It doesnt look like anyone here likes their job and after my experience this will be the last time I am here for a while. The whole shop is lifeless (on top of being tea-less) and just is a whole lot of nothing once you get past the aesthetics. The aesthetics are nice, but not nice enough to look past the obvious. What you see on their instagram is NOTHING to what you actually feel at their shop. On their instagram it is calm, soft, and quiet. When you're actually inside the shop yes it looks nice-ish but you're being yelled at, pushed and pulled around, no space, bumping elbows, music blasting, no help at all here.
I know they are in soft opening but they have been in soft opening for awhile now. I would not wait for these drinks, please go somewhere else if you're looking for stronger more real/organic ingredients and not just creamers powders syrups. It was not worth paying the steep pricing for what you get. If im going to be paying high tier pricing I expect to be consuming organic high tier quality ingredients in return read more