Tapioca Express: The Place to Be for Flavored Tea.
May 09 '02
The Bottom Line Cheap, tasty, wide variety. And they have that neat automatic lid-sealy machine.
Normally, I don't write restaurant reviews because, well, Irvine's not exactly Los Angeles, and there aren't too many people from L.A. that are going to hop down to Irvine for a quick bite to eat...or a good time. I think the citizens here have done a good job of ensuring that, and they seem to be pretty proud of it.
So, I reserve my restaurant reviews for when I have an extraordinary experience...either good, as it is in this case, or bad, as it was in the case of Irvine Shabu Shabu.
In addition, Tapioca Express is a bit of a small chain, and I've heard that there is one in between here in L.A. that people there might be more likely to visit.
If you haven't noticed it yet, the newest drink craze to be sweeping America is bo ba. (It's kind of strange to write that, knowing that in Chinese, that means extremely large breasts...which is a fad that is totally unrelated to tea.)
It's called by many other names, tapioca tea, pearl tea, bubble tea, whatever. They're all the same thing. A variety of flavored milk tea, with large tapioca balls, and a complementary large straw to drink them with.
Tapioca Express is at the top of my list of tea places for three reasons. 1) They're WAY cheaper than all the other places around. 2) They've got a much wider variety of tea selections. (You ever see Earl Grey offered at a bubble tea place other than here?) 3) The food.
Price
Since the pocketbook is usually the determinant factor in where to eat, we'll start with that.
At other area tea places, prices range from $4 to $5 for a flavored tea with tapioca. At Tapioca Express, I think the most expensive tea they've got on the menu is $3. Normally, I get a drink that's in the $2-$2.50 range, which is pretty much unheard of for a trendy beverage place. (Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Starbucks!)
If you're in the mood for a snack, $3 in addition to your tea should tide you over, and you'll have your hunger satiated in about the $5 range, and you won't feel nearly as messed up as if you went to Taco Bell or McDonald's.
Variety
I was going to call this section "Vari-e-tea", but I fear the lynch mobs. They're just waiting for me to slip up...
There are something like 120 flavors of "tea" to choose from here. I use tea in quotes because I think by the time the flavoring, and milk is added, there's probably about as much tea in most of these drinks as there is in a Long Island Iced Tea.
Anyway, you know there's tea in it, because if you choose to have Black Tea as the base one time, and Green another, you'll notice a big difference in taste. You can also choose whether or not to add the tapioca. It's a bit of an acquired taste. Some people don't like chewy things in their beverages. And it's fun to watch them try and cope with it. =)
But, with all the options involved you've probably got somwhere on the order of 300 technically different flavors of tea to try here. (once again, take some, Starbuck's.) If you feel like chocolate one day, vanilla the next, strawberry the day after that, you can do that. These generally aren't flavors you associate with tea, so make sure not to confuse this with the standard hot tea you get served at your average Chinese restaurant.
Another cool thing that you won't find at some other tea places is the nifty lid. They have a machine here that seals the lid onto the drink cup, so you have to punch through it with your straw. Just remember that water doesn't compress, so don't leave your thumb over the straw or you'll leave it no room to escape, and blow tea out the side of the lid.
Food
The food here is the thing that made me write this review. Although they've only get 3 items on the menu, the Chicken is really, really good.
They throw a bunch of chicken pieces into a batter, and fry them up pretty good, toss them into a bag, and you use these elongated toothpicks to eat them.
Supposedly, they come in three different spice levels: Mild, Medium, and Hot.
They lie. There's only one spice level. Hot.
I made the mistake of asking for hot the firsst time, and while the milk tea will cool you off after the first couple bites...you're always going to run out of tea before you run out of chicken. While the chicken is DAMN spicy, it's also very, very good. I don't know what's in the breading, but it's excellent.
So, I went back the next day to hopefully taste more of the chicken this time, and I ordered a mild. But there is no mild. So I sweated it out, and enjoyed what I could before the pain kicked in. If you don't like spicy food, you'll definitely want to pass though. Although my roomate does tell me that the other location he's been to actually has a distinct difference between Mild, Medium, and Hot.
Overall
If you're looking for a good place to sample some bubble tea and don't want to spend upwards of $5, this is a good place to go, and if you're of the lucky sort that likes their food with a kick, you're in for a treat here.
The atmosphere's a bit bid, as the high school/college mega poser set likes to do a fair amount of posturing and grimacing around here, but if you don't come too late at night (Open til 1am most nights.) you'll be able to avoid them.
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Epinions.com ID:
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Member: Clayton Chan
Location: Irvine, CA
Reviews written: 655
Trusted by: 346 members
About Me:
Broke the 700 pound mark on my leg lifts.
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