Featured Article on Taiwan 543

So for all of you who are curious as to what kind of good boba there is in Taiwan, besides Chen San Ding (in my previous blog), here are three more places you must try. Check out my featured article on Taiwan543.net. I'll be updating this blog more often when I get a chance!


Welcome to the Land of Bubble tea

For those of you who aren't fans of boba...

Aite, let's get one thing straight, everyone KNOWS I LOVE LOVE LOVE BOBA!!!! Unfortunately, not every person may like boba as much as I do. Therefore, this entry will be dedicated for those of you "not-so-fond" of boba.

If I can recommend any place in Taiwan where you can get JUST as cool and awesome drinks like boba, it'd have to be this place:


Yu Dao Ai (玉到愛) "Meeting Love/Happiness Taste"

This place is special because they make your drinks with something called Aiyu jelly (愛玉), which is a kind of jelly made from fig seeds. This is a common type of jelly to find all accross Asia. It's not only popular to put in your drinks, but also various desserts!

• location
• since there are various locations around Taipei, you can find out where by clicking here!
• price range:
• ~30-60NT (~$1-2 USD)
• jelly "chewy-ness":
• 3.5 out of 5 -> It's more of a squishy texture rather than a chewy feel. But nevertheless, you still have to somewhat chew the jelly before swallowing it. There is also an option of adding grass jelly or tea jelly into your drink as well!
• milk vs. tea:
• Purely milk/Creamy ->You have the option of using processed milk or fresh milk. It's more expensive for the fresh milk drinks (~40-50NT) but it's also better for your body! The milk doesn't have much of a nasty aftertaste either, and is pretty creamy!
• There is also the option of tea with your Aiyu jelly, but I havent gotten a chance to try it yet.
• overall service quality:
• 4 out of 5 -> There was only one person taking care of the store when I got my drink. He was pretty nice about explaining the difference between many of the drinks.
• what's so special about this place?


• What makes this shop special is that they put honey in their milk drinks and that you can also add any combination of jellies you like into your drink: Aiyu jelly, grass jelly, and/or tea jelly. You also can get your drink personalized with as much or as little honey or sugar as you want! They have 4 different levels of sweetness (0% sugar, 20% sugar, 50% sugar, 70% sugar, and 100% sugar). These different levels of sweetness can easily satisfy any customer's preference. 
• recommended drinks/specialties: You should try their honey milk with all three jellies combined! It's their signature drink! 

Bubble tea in Taiwan/ 陳三鼎 (Uncle's Boba shop)

After reading this hungry girl's guide to Taipei blog, (http://hungryintaipei.blogspot.com/) i figured it's about time i updated this boba blog.

I've been inspired to start blogging once again about delicious bubble tea. Since I am in Taiwan right now, I'll be blogging about the bubble tea shops in Taiwan. Let's see how this goes...

Let's just say within my neighborhood, there are at least 6-7 bubble milk tea shops. Maybe i'll make a vlog for that instead hahah.

Anyways, Taiwanese boba is different from any boba you'll ever have in America. The Taiwanese KNOW exactly what the texture and taste of boba should be. So since it's 1.38am in Taiwan right now, I'll leave you guys with a boba shop you guys HAVE to visit if you ever get the chance to visit Taipei. :D

Chen San Ding (陳三鼎)

• location
  
• Alley 8, Lane 316, Section 3, Roosevelt Rd., Zhong-Zheng District, Taipei City (if you dont know where this is, you can always google map this)
  
• price range:
• ~30NT (~$1 USD)
  
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 5 out of 5 -> I'd have to say this boba is made with perfection. The boba is soaked in brown sugar, yet chewy to the max! Unfortunately, if you don't have much of a sweet tooth, then I wouldn't recommend you trying this place.
  
• milk vs. tea:
• Purely milk ->This place is known for their fresh milk brown sugar boba drink so there is no option for a milk tea sadly. The milk is refreshing though, and tastes nothing like whole milk (at least not the strong kind we're used to in the States).
• overall service quality:
  
• 4 out of 5 -> As you can see in the picture above, all the locals love this boba shop. On a weekend, the wait can last around 20-30 minutes. Because of this long wait, there's an actual employee that tells you where to stand/ move in line. Great traffic control, except if you're catering this many people, traffic is inevitable. More interestingly, the man pictured on the cup (I call him "Uncle"), who I assume is the owner of this shop, will sometimes be your cashier.
  
• what's so special about this place?
• I've never seen so many Taiwanese people line up for a drink before. Taiwan is known for its street shops/shacks. These shops may not look like they're fancy or famous, but this is one shop where the line does not lie. This, my friend, is a true Taiwanese experience, where boba intersects with the Taiwanese culture.
• recommended drinks/specialties: This shop may have many other choices, along with their fresh milk brown sugar boba drink (黑糖粉圓鮮奶), but it's this original drink that really makes the locals, as well as the foreigners, bond over lines and boba.
  

Tea Garden - San Diego

It most deff. has been a whileee...

• location:
• Convoy St., San Diego
  
• price range:
  
• $2.75-$3.50 (teas)
  
• $3.25-$4.25(juice/snows/slushes/specialty drinks)
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 3 out of 5 <- they gave me older boba =(. [the really squishy and gross kind]
• milk vs. tea:
• more tea/less milky <- their milk tea is kinda Creamy but not really sweet. [reminds me of 85 degrees milk tea, but not as rich flavored]
• overall service quality:
  
• 3.5 out of 5 <- there's one cashier and the cashier is really slow.
• what's so special about this place?
• this place is quite spacey. They also have a lot of games and cards you can play with (even a CHINESE MONOPOLY set). So it's a really nice place to chillax and hangout.
  
• recommended drinks/specialties: you CANT go wrong with their Taro Smoothie made with fresh taro bits to perfection. Also, they have a huge variety of specialty teas that come in pots (perfect for some afternoon tea parties).

85 Degrees - Irvine

~I apologize about how i havent updated in a month, so here goes....

• location:
• Diamond Jamboree Plaza, Irvine
  
• price range:
  
• $2.25-$3.50 (teas)
  
• $3.00-$4.00(juice/snows/slushes/specialty drinks)
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 4 out of 5 <- pretty chewy AND a tad bit sweet
  
• milk vs. tea:
• more tea/less milky <- what distinguishes THIS milk tea from others is that their milk tea is rather Creamy and Rich
  
• overall service quality:
  
• 3.5 out of 5 <- it's so packed here that it takes a while for them to make your drink, but i mean this is more rather a cafe than a boba shop.
• what's so special about this place?
• this cafe/bakery known for its bread. fresh out of the oven. also, the drink covers arent transparent like normal boba shops.
  
• recommended drinks/specialties: I dare you to try the sea-salt coffee (i hear it's famous), i love the jasmine milk tea, and also the BREAD IS AMAZINGGGG!!!!

<3 LiLi

The Sweet Booth - Oakland

• location:
  
• Chinatown, Oakland
  
• price range:
  
• $2.50-$3.75 (teas)
  
• $2.50-$4.25 (juice/snows/slushes/specialty drinks)
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 4 out of 5 <- the boba here was pretty chewy AND a tad bit sweet
  
• milk vs. tea:
  
• more tea/less milky <- you can definitely taste the tea, but the drink itself is still rather sweet
  
• overall service quality:
  
• 3.5 out of 5 <- the name says it all. the store is the size of a medium sized booth/shack. Again, only two workers max; but the quality of the milk tea was quite nice. My only worry would be the cleanliness issue, since it's an indoor shack.
• what's so special about this place?
• you can have boba with almost ANY DRINK (see menu below). i had no idea you could get boba with sodas and OVALTINE!!!!
  
• recommended drinks/specialties: I dare any of you to try a soda-based boba drink or the OVALTINE boba drink. wonder how those would taste?! 0.o

<3 LiLi

SweetHeart Cafe - San Francisco

• location:
  
• Chinatown, San Francisco (on Grant Street)
  
• price range:
  
• $2.75-$3.75 (teas)
  
• $3.50-$4.25 (snows/slushes/specialty drinks)
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 4 out of 5 <- the boba here was pretty chewy AND very sweet, in fact it makes the overall drink REALLY sweet
  
• milk vs. tea:
  
• half and half -> you can taste the tea and the milk at an equal amount. However, the sweetness of the boba makes the overall drink taste rather sweeter than bitter
  
• overall service quality:
  
• 3.5 out of 5 <- it's a tiny little place, but there's a LOT of seats on the second floor. They tend to give a greater amount of ice and boba, compared to the drink, which causes an imbalance of milk tea vs. boba, and you'll have lots of left over boba x.X.
• what's so special about this place?
• the milk tea here is ORANGE colored!!! One of few places where the milk tea looks like a Thai Tea haha. Also, Sweetheart Cafe is one of the more famous places to check out for boba in Chinatown.
  
• recommended drinks/specialties: Try their smoothies & popcorn chicken! My favorite drink is their fresh Strawberry Banana Smoothie! =)

<3 LiLi