Monday 5 July 2010

Bubble Tea at Jen Cafe, Chinatown WC2

One of the things I love about Summer in central London is going to Jen Cafe in Newport Place in Chinatown and having a bubble tea.  Sometimes called pearl tea or boba (apparently in LA), this stuff is so weird but so cool.  You can have all sorts of different flavours - tea flavours, fruit flavours, sweet flavours like chocolate, but they all contain rubbery, sticky tapioca balls, which you suck up along with the tea, through extra thick straws.  Trippy huh?  There is so much to see and experience in Chinatown, even if it is relatively small.  I love browsing through the supermarkets like Loon Fung on Gerard Street and what better way to do it than with a bubble tea in your hand?  Once you're done, head to Imperial China on Lisle Street for dim sum.  I have yet to find my favourite bubble tea flavour but the one pictured is pineapple, which was really nice, although be prepared - these babies are really sweet!  My friend Rachel had mint tea, which tasted a bit too much like mouthwash so stay clear of that one...
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5 comments:

  1. London Chow5 July 2010 at 22:29

    Love Jen's Cafe as well. Not so much for its bubble tea (it's called 'pao pao cha' back home) but rather for its roast pork noodles, which is essentially instant noodles with a couple slices of roast pork. If I'm not mistaken, it goes for a fiver.

    Not a bad deal if you are looking for something cheap and cherry.

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  2. TH5 July 2010 at 23:04

    actually it's pearl tea. Because fen yen looks like pear,in Mandarin we call it 珍珠 zhen zhu. people also call it bubbles tea because we put fen- yen , coffee mate, tea and ice cubes in the cocktail shaker and mix all together. when you serve in a glass, it comes out with foam. I am happy you like it. Most of my friends think peal taste wired.

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  3. LondonRob6 July 2010 at 09:11

    Thanks for the comments guys - so Koukla, is "pearl tea" the correct way to refer to anything that has the tapioca balls in it? London Chow - I am definitely going to taste those noodles!

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  4. Anonymous10 April 2011 at 14:29

    Hi,

    For authentic bubble tea I would recommend you to try Chaboba Bubble Tea in Camden Lock. My favourite is the traditional Milk tea. They also serve snow ice and popping bobas which are so delicious! Check out their fb or www.chaboba.co.uk

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  5. LondonRob22 April 2011 at 21:01

    Thanks for the tip - I will def be going to check this place out.

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