Tea Houses- Boba- Snacks? Why has this been kept secret?

mmm-yoso is not on vacation.  That is the name of the blog, silly. Cathy is a-blogging and Kirk is taking a much needed rest, and really is on vacation.

Oh, I am sooo the White Girl on this blog...I had no idea exactly how Caucasian I was.  Sure, I had the whole "chee fee" incident, and I didn't know sago were the same as boba and...well, I didn't know much about boba...and, I had seen "tea houses" and "tapioca drinks" and figured 'eh, Asian Starbucks wanna-be's'.  Really.  I figured those 'tea' places served hot tea and those silly boba drinks.  Lots of young Asian kids hang out there; I saw some drinks coming out in plastic cups and also figured well...you do know the signs say "Starbucks Coffee", right? So it must be the same- tea and those boba  drinks and Starbucks makes coffee and all those frou frou drinks.  No big deal.

ANYHOW...Years ago, from the place inside 99 Ranch, I got a tea and milk and 'pearl' drink and it was good tasting, although I thought chewing on the giant boba (tapioca pearls) was kind of like chewing on snot, albeit flavorless snot, but the boba part held not much fascination to me...I love tapioca pudding, but the actual boba in a beverage...eh.  Well, I liked the tea part, then the milk and there was a lot a lot of liquid sugar...and I don't like sweet.

Then there was an epiphany.  I was having lunch with Mr.  C, at Bolsa on Mira Mesa.

and we had our 'standard' Pho stuff:  

and we started talking about boba drinks. In my mind I was thinking, 'oh yeah, sweet stuff with snot chewies on the bottom'. However Mr. C has never steered me wrong, and he started telling me that the place in the same mall as Bolsa, Tapioca Heaven, had the *best* milk tea boba of anywhere. So, I was polite.  I had the milk tea at Tapioca Heaven and it was *wonderful*.  It tasted like ...tea...with milk...and there was a choice of boba  to put in it- regular brown, small brown, green and strawberry. You could ask for no sweetener.  Who knew?

The most fascinating thing I noticed at first inside of Tapioca Heaven was that they had free wi-fi.  Hello!

Then I noticed something else, much more important- they have snacks.  Fried snacks.  Inexpensive fried snacks. But Mr. C and I had just finished a nice lunch at Bolsa and I didn't want to eat any more, even a snack.

and so, I wrote Kirk a note. "Why haven't I heard of these places that sell boba drinks with snacks?" I asked.  "They are wonderful- so much more fun than a Starbucks, which does fascinating high calorie coffee based beverages and sells some 'meh' tasting sweets and sandwiches, but by no means sell fried goodies".

The reply, from The Missus, was "Oh boba, that is so last century". 

Ahem.

So anyhow, I was on a quest.   Since Mr. C had told me that  the boba milk tea at Tapioca Heaven was the best, I decided to make that my standard...to see if any tasted better anywhere else.  Of course, I needed to try snacks also.

So The Mister and I went to Tapioca Express. See, it used to be next to Bolsaa-on Convoy.  Bolsaa isn't there any more, so you won't be confused. It is going to become some Cajun-y place in the summer.

When you walk into Tapioca Express, the wall is lined with the menu of beverage choices.   At the register, where you order and pay, were two typewritten pieces of paper with a menu.  The Mister and I had to try a bit of everything.

Chicken nuggets, chicken wings, fried squid, all with a choice of no spice, medium or hot. (we tried all three,the no spice was great and the medium was good too, the hot was just a little too much in the sense that you couldn't taste the chicken as well as with the medium spice).  Steamed pork dumplings and also fried donut holes with both whipped cream and also a vanilla cream dipping sauce.  Each of these snacks were less than $4 each. This is wonderful snacking- or a meal.  I saw one guy with something that looked like loco moco and I will go back to try that.

Next we went to K Sandwiches, got a boba milk tea, hot milk coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Also, since we were at K...I got a pate chaud; its only $1 and so flaky and fresh and filled with a wonderful pork pate mixture.  A friend, who  was born in France and is working out here,  said it is very authentic and good.

We also got a BBQ pork Bahn Mi  ( think it is Number 9 on the menu) for $3.69.  Here is a cross section view of both.

Snacks, free wi fi and boba drinks.  Fascination. 

So, the other day The Mister and I went to the Tea Station on Clairmont Mesa.  Its in the same mall as Lolita's and Teri Cafe and that Pho place everyone says they go to.

They have sit down service inside, and a menu .

We sat down and were waited on! At the other places you would walk up and pay and wait for your drink, kind of like Starbucks.    

We tried the tea flavored dumplings ($6.50)

The flavors were different between the green ones and white ones both the dumpling and the filling, but you can see in the second photo (click- all the photos enlarge) a cross section and that the dumplings were quite meaty and full, very fresh and I believe one was chicken and the other pork.  They were delici-yoso!

We also had to try the fried spicy chicken ($4.50)

Lightly crispy, nice spice (you can tell them the level of spice you want).  Fresh.  Great.  Gosh, it's adult chicken nuggets!

Tea flavored spiced pork slices ($6.50), served with 3 side dishes, it says...either they figured we could not count because we were White, or rice is one of the sides.  Whatever.  Plenty of food.

Oh, and we got beverages...

So, anyhow, the secret is out.  Tea, milk tea, boba, not Starbucks...all with free wi fi and snacks...fried snacks.

We have now gone to many of the tea places around town, not always with a camera...and we try the fried chicken at least.  Nothing has been bad or disappointing.   

Some of the beverages are unusual- sesame, lavender, rose, yogurt..just about everything Starbucks doesn't have.  { Snow ice, or snow bubbles are merely finely *fine* shaved ice with flavoring-kind of a Slushee®, for the White folks out there.}

Tapioca Heaven definitely had the most tea-tasting milk tea, but getting any of the beverages without sweetener helps.

Oh, and now I kind of enjoy chewing on those tapioca snot-like things....it's part of the whole "boba experience"

Tapioca Heaven Cafe 9225 Mira Mesa Boulevard Suite 115 San Diego 92126

Tapioca Express 4646 Convoy, #106B San Diego 92111 (858) 363-9889 website

Tea Station 7315 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858)268-8198website

Comments

[clayfu]

tea station is easily the best tea out of all of them.

everything is freshly brewed delicious

[nhbilly]

You should try out lollicup they make good drinks. LOL rice is a side at a non Asian restaurant at an Asian restaurant its consider part of the main course.

[Andy 美國土子]

these boba places are hit and miss these days...one store may make it great and the other, horrible.. glad you found a place you like.

I remember ages ago.. like back in 2000.. the boba places originally made their boba milk teas with sweetended condensed milk. they have all gone by the wayside in favor of cheap powdered creamer =(

I've eaten at maybe 6-7 Ten Ren's branches (I think Tea Station is a Franchisee of Ten Ren) branches (including the one in your picture) and you know what? I can never taste the tea despite their it being called tea flavored!!!!

and the thing that bugs a little about tea station, is that they are inconsistent between restaurant to restaurant. The last Tea Station I went to, the pork chop rice did not look like that.

Try the pork stew rice or the pork stew with bean curd.. those are not bad.

Some of the Ten Ren's franchises have a drink called a Jade Teazer.... that is so yummy.. basically a green tea blended milkshake, Chinese style.....

[Cathy]

Hi, Clayfu. I did like the selection at Tea Station, but trying the standard black tea milk with ice, it just didn't have the tea flavor I was looking for. The selection there is good and I did like the coffee milk tea- could taste all flavors. More experimenting I guss. The food selection was excellent.
Hi Bill- We don't have Lolicup dowen here, but I am traveling north (to Fountain Valley)on Memorial Day, so will look for (and blog about) every place we stop at. The whole three side dishes thing threw me. I don't consider rice a side, esp with the pork and all...
Andy, I have heard that teh food quality varies, but, fortunately haven't experienced that yet. This Tea Station did have Ten Ren products. 99Ranch does all of its drinks with the sweetened condensed milk still, Sam Woo inside there either uses sweetened condensed or half and half- it's in the fridges with glass doors you can see in the restaurant. Totally different taste, I agree. I will try the stew with bean curd and ask about a jade teazer- sounds yummy! Thanks.

[nhbilly]

If you're around Bolsa the lolicup is located on the corner of bushard and bolsa it's a small shop behind buildings that face the street and adjacent to a closed down asian market. Pho Kimmy is right down the street too ;-)

[Cathy]

Pho Kimmy? ...hee hee...
Oh, sorry. I just looked up Lollicup and we have one in Chula Vista and one in National City. I can't beleive I missed both. But you know where I will be doing lunch soon... thanks for the road trip tips!

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Haha! Cathy, I loved how you called yourself such a white girl! :P Yeah, boba stuff is so a decade ago! hehe.

If you go to Tea Station, try their signature teas but iced. It takes longer b/c they'll brew the hot tea first, let it steep, then add ice and sugar. It's pricey though. Like $5, but sooo much better in quality.

And for Lollicup, I second the recommendation for the one on Bolsa. Try their matcha green tea slushy, it's literally like eating green tea ice cream. Other boba places don't seem to make it as green tea tasting to me.

There's also a Tapioca Express on Harbor Blvd, just off the 405 exit, going South, it'll be on the right side.

[Janfrederick]

In Mira Mesa there is a place that offers something called a rice burger. It is basically meat between two fried disks of steamed rice. Hoo Mama is it good. I tried the regular hamburger and my wife had spicy chicken. Both were great. Next time we'll try the pulled pork.

Ocha café
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd Suite 107

[Trent]

The Lollicup in Chula Vista is not the best, the main advantage being that it is down the street from the Drive-in Theater. That can make for a fun evening's entertainment. Another nice thing is the variety of add-ins.

[Andy 食神]

thanks for the tip Cathy! I will check out the 99, looking for real sweetened condensed milk!

[Cathy]

Hey, WC- Kirk thought the title should be "White Girl Does Boa"...that made me giggle... I will try the iced signature tea. I like havingit made special (I ask for a press pot at Starbucks when I drink inside- it's the best. I guess I will be at that Lollicup on Bolsa this weekend, too...and I am always looking for tea- tasting tea...matcha green slushy tasting like itself is even better.
Thanks for the tip, Janfrederick- The Mister started researching Ocha and rice burgers before we met for lunch today. It will be done!
OK Trent, I'll take it with a grain of salt...and other add-ins.
I hope your 99 is the same as ours down here, Andy. I would think so. I just was there for the $2.29 lunch (it is shrimp fried rice on Wednesday) and decided on a coffee with sweetened condensed milk. It all went together.

[chizzed]

Another random yet very enjoyable post!

I've been interested in trying all of the boba places in the area since I first visited a friend who was in his freshman year at UCSD. We all went to Tea Station on Clairemont Mesa and I was just stunned by how good it was compared to what I normally had back in the Bay Area. After transferring to UCSD for junior year, I kept convincing friends to come out with me to try other places.
As of my knowledge, the only two places I have NOT tried are Bobalicious on Mira Mesa and Tapioca Heaven on Mira Mesa. Ironically, that's where I live. But back to the point. Out of TapEx, Green Tea House, Tea Station (the Mira Mesa branch is worse than the Clairemont Mesa one), Tea 'N More, and the other less memorable places, Tea 'N More is my boba place of choice.

There are a couple factors that made Tea 'N More my de facto boba milk tea place, first off being the taste of the drink, taste of the boba, the music being played, location, restaurant space, and staff attitude. I could talk all day about boba places in SD! Well, I'll go in order.
I don't know what other people do when they choose which drink they want from the huge selection of teas, but I have always had the taste for just plain boba milk tea. Not green milk tea, no fruit teas, not taro or red bean, just plain boba milk tea. I've tried the other ones, and I will admit that having a mango icee really hits the spot on a hot summer night, but somehow I am always led back to my BMT. I'm no connoisseur on what exactly the tea is supposed to taste like, but as far as my experience goes, you can usually have more of a Taiwanese style milk tea (which is generally lighter colored and sweeter) or a Hong Kong style milk tea, which has more of a tea flavor. The BMT at Tea 'N More is more Taiwanese in the taste of the actual drink, and is hardly ever disappointing, depending on who is in the back making it. The boba itself is just sweet enough and not too bland. I believe that when they make the boba they use brown sugar of some sort, like Tea Station (however, the boba at TNM is less sweet than Tea Station).
The music being played will vary on the staff there. Occasionally you will hear Asian (mostly Chinese) music such as Jay Chou or something, but other times you might hear the stereo playing hip-hop and R&B.
The location of the place, it is right next to Ranch 99, closer to the Convoy side. Very convenient if you are coming home from dinner with friends and want to grab some boba either to sit down or take home! I think they just renovated the place and it is very spacious right now in comparison to Tea Station which is always full and too small... and lots of smokers outside! What the heck. There IS free wi-fi and people definitely make use of it. Almost every other table will have someone with a laptop, studying or goofing off with youtube or something. This is why the side tables are popular and not so much the middle ones, because of the power outlets. The staff attitude isn't really anything special and you aren't greeted with a large smile when you enter (like Buga! nothing beats the service there).

I know firsthand that there are a TON of Tea Station die-hard fans out there so I won't try too hard to sway them. I enjoy TS myself every once in a while too :) But definitely, go to the Clairemont Mesa branch instead of the Mira Mesa one if you are trying to decide between the two. Oh, and the price at Tea Station is slightly higher because of the way they make it, even if you get a normal size.. maybe ranging from $4-5 for a drink as opposed to $3 at TNM. If you go to TNM during the day they actually give you a large size for the regular price.

Oh and Cathy, you're right about boba being so last year! It seems like the hot new place for young people to go now is Yogurt World, in the same square as Tapioca Express on Convoy. After reading your comments on Tapioca Heaven, I've decided to bring my friends there to try it out in the near future.

Aaaaand wow. I've just wasted a whole class period writing about boba! Good thing the professor can't see my laptop screen :)

[Cathy]

Hey, Chizzed! Ironically, I met The Mister for lunch inside 99Ranch today and thought about TNM, but then didn't go. I will, soon, though...and yes, basics of certain things everywhere are what I get- coffee at Starbucks (I will have a sip of The Mister's hot chocolate and order one eggnog latte a year, maybe try one of the new drinks. Once. Iced coffee or iced tea, no sweetener on hot days.). I am going to try Ocha Cafe, as recommended above. I love free wi fi and don't bother even looking for an outlet, but do use it if I happen to be sitting next to one. I will re-charge at home in the evening; it's only an iBook G4... ummm...finals are coming up- as I recall, clues as to what is on them are given at this time of year...pay attention in class! I'm only a blog and will be here no matter what. :)

[Liz]

I am drinking boba milk tea as I read your blog. You were so missing out about those boba drink places and their snack food. So yummy. We have so many them here.

[Cathy]

Actually, I started the post in January, Liz..and went back and forth about how to blog it. It is amazing that I wasn't aware of the snack food part of all the beverage. I have gone to a lot of them now and am back and forth between boba and Starbucks...but I see I have a lot to learn about the intricacies of ordering the beverages and I am appreciative of the hints given to me so far today.

[Brian Bautista]

chizzed is right ... boba is not the latest fad anymore ... it's all about the self serve yogurt places. The Yogurt World in the same plaza as Tapioca Express is garnering a lot of attention. You choose what flavors, how much of it, and add on any topping you want and is paid for by the amount of weight you've placed into your bowl. Island Banana is my favorite btw! There is also PinkBerry which is blowing up the scene in the LA area. There are 30 minute lines just to savor the treats they offer.

There's also a Tea Stop near the end of Mira Mesa Rd. and in the same mall as Excel Photo and Chuckie Cheese that also offers PC Gaming and regular Chinese food :) It's one of my favorites.

[chizzed]

hi brian,

Island Banana, huh? Maybe I'll try that out next time I hit up Yogurt World! I usually stick with the 'tart' flavors like mango or asian peach though. I really like those :)

[Cathy]

"Regular Chinese food", eh, Brian? Now I am curious. The Mister and I went to Yogurt World this past Monday and it was tasty. I only took a small amount- one pull of the machine knobs of peach and wild cherry (no toppings)- and mine was $1.64. It was exactly enough for me to eat, though. They seem to be on the lookout for anyone with a camera and were kind of weird, asking me immediately if I was planning on taking any photos. I never take photos of people anyhow, but felt intimidated. There must be some sort of competition fear going on or something. I think Pinkberry is coming to San Diego and I kind of don't understand the lines they talk abut in LA. Frozen yogurt is good and all, but I am perfectly happy eating the Trader Joe brand cream top yougurt and not having brain freeze afer each spoonful. ANYHOW, all of this boba stuff really is new to me, and I bet to a lot of other Caucasians out there, so that was why I felt I should do this post...and reasearch it thoroughly, of course :D

[Alice Q. Foodie]

Cathy, I don't think it's so much that we're white as it is that we're OLD. Talk about old news, Frozen Yogurt is like Back to the Future to me! Personally, I'm a fiend for the iced milk coffee from K Sandwiches but can take or leave the boba. Hilarious post, by the way!

[Cathy]

You are right, Alice. I used to go to Heidi's Frogen Yozurt all the time and so this new flavored stuff isn't so unique or crave-able to me (again, not giving out our ages here, are we?). The beverages made with sweetened condensed milk are great and go with the Vietnamese spices and flavorings in the foods. Had no idea those "Tea Houses" served such snacks and meals; fried, hot foods...I thought cookies and pastries maybe, just like Starbucks. Finding out about meals inside was eye opening. Thanks for the kind words.