Bubble tea - think again

I found this...made me laugh!

Funny marketing for Bubble tea, wonder if I will be able to enjoy it like before?!

Bubblicity

Where there's bubble tea, there I'm ^^
I googled it before going to Ireland and found a place to get it.
The bubble tea place in Dublin is called Bubblicity, and is located very central, not far from Trinity College and Grafton street.
There are many different kinds, as you can see on the menu.
Milk and fruit ones~
Not too pricey either. And as for the taste, far better than Swedish places, but not half as good as the London ones. To compare it with the Asians is out of question.

The taste was fairly enough, what i wasn't too pleased with was the bubbles - the tapioka ones. some were perfect, others overcooked, and some undercooked. That's why the grade dropped and impression of this place dropped.
Still, if I'd visit Dublin again,  I would visit the place again.

Overall grade: ★★★

Drink Moomin

Moomins were one of my fave cartoons as a child.
And a few weeks ago I found this photo online (cred to owner).
I was actually planned to go to Moomin café while visiting Tokyo last June but I couldn't due to lack of time. And I kinda regret it seeing the photo, but now I have added one thing to my to do list next time I visit Tokyo.

Moomin bubble tea

I so want to try the green tea one!! ^^

Bubble Tea in London

As I visited London last weekend, I went on a small Bubble Tea quest.
I visited 3 shops, and two of them belong to the same brand.
The ones I visited was Bubbleology and Chaboba

At first I only thought I'd be able to visit Bubbleology's shop in Piccadilly area, but turned out my friend likes bubble tea too and we "bumped" into the other location in Notting Hill while shopping/sightseeing ^^

Bubbleology in Piccadilly was most croweded, then again it's a central district with lots of things going around.
There i ordered matcha bubble tea (Japanese green tea) with an extra shot of matcha.
It was the milk based one, I prefer those.

At Chaboba I tried their milk based coconut and my friend tried a fruit one, I think it was green apple flavour. Also both very delicious.

In Notting Hill and Bubbleology I tried their Oolong milk based bubble tea and my friend tried a special one with strawberry, it looked like a gigantic smoothie ^^
The Oolong I'd say is the plain bubble tea, original flavour... tried similar in Taiwan back in 2011.

All very good!!!
I really recommend these Bubble tea shops if you visit London! ^^
Also I think these are the best one I have tried outside Asia!!

 

Piccadilly/SoHo
49 Rupert St
London W1D 7PF
7 min walk from Piccadilly Circus station

Notting Hill
45 Pembridge Rd
London W11 3HG
4 min walk from Notting Hill Gate Station

http://www.bubbleology.co.uk/

8 East Yard
Camden Lock Place
London NW1 8AL

http://www.chaboba.co.uk/

NEVER again

Yesterday after work i went to Solna Centrum because i wanted to try the "new" bubble tea place called Bobo Tea.
At first, Yay... a real bubble tea place in Stockholm!!
Then, when I came there, not a single customer! Which is not a good sign but then again bubble tea is not a big thing here.

So i looked at the menu, slightly different from the ones in Asia.
In the end i chose the milk based one.
So what happened, well the guy who worked there mixed a flavoured powder with milk!! Just by looking i felt, what have i just paid for. Then he used what almost looked like a drink mix and mixed normal milk, powder.. and flavoured syrup! (in my case passion fruit..cause I had no idea what fruit would go well with coconut)

I took my first taste, it tasted like a REALLY bad milkshake! It was so sweet and tasted artificial. And the bubbles... let's NOT talk about them! I ordered tapioka ones (standard), that are supposed to be a little bit chewy, but these fell apart in my mouth, totally overcooked and felt like they were just growing in my mouth! It was disgusting!!

So my judgement, (1) that store should not be able to serve bubble tea! They bring shame to the name Bubble tea! (2) Their way of mixing it... I mean milk and artificial powder, it doesn't even look good or taste good. And in today's world to bring a new concept into town you need to do it better than that to survive or become successful (not just to break even)
(3) They have too much on the menu that doesn't fit, it feels like they googled instead of making a real research!
Also poor people who tries Bubble tea for the first time there! They'd probably end up disliking it and never try again, or at least get the wrong idea of what Bubble tea really is!!!

Well at least i gave it a try..which I regret,. 35sek for nothing!!

I shall never visit again. and i recommend others NOT to visit the place.
If you want some good bubble tea I guess you have to travel to London, Copenhagen or Asia!!
It is a shame because Bubble tea is something really delicious when it's made the proper way. And Sweden and Swedes need something new!!
Maybe they can shape up?! or change the way of making it... but maybe without a large number of customers it's too expensive? They should take a look at their business model to see what's feasible.

Just look at the bubbles, they even look defect!!!

Edit: As of June 2014 it seems it closed, I passed by Solna Centrum and I couldn't see it... or maybe they moved!? I was actually gonna try to give them a second chance...oh well...



Here's my review of the other place you can get bubble tea in Stockholm YOI bubble tea Stockholm review

Bubble tea in Seoul

I found a new cafe here in Seoul that serves bubble tea, it's really good too!
I wish they could open up in Sweden.
Today i tasted their taro milk tea with bubbles, 50% ice and sugar free! ^^

Bubble tea in Stockholm

While I was living in Canada a new Asian fastfood restaurant opened its doors, YOI
And they sell Bubble tea, something I love!! That another thing to add to the list if you visit Asian countries!!
So today after my meeting with my friend I went there to try it out.

I have to give them cred, the price is totally okay, consider Swedish prices.
Taste also was totally okay, I tried the milkbased coconut one.
But the bad thing was the bubbles, they were WAY TOO soft! it wasn't disgusting but it wasn't too pleasant,
so I'm not sure if I will try it again or not. Then again that's the only Bubble tea place in Stockholm! (Far as I know)

Edit: I tried it a second time in mid April, the bubbles was even worse that time around!!!
Next time, if there will ever be a next time, I will order bubble tea without bubbles!!

Edit 2: Walked passed the shop on other errands and saw that YOI has closed down


Edit 3 (June 2014): I found YOI inside K25 at Kungsgatan, they had bubble tea on the menu...


Read more about Bubble tea in Stockholm.... My visit to Boba tea in Solna (Stockholm)