I was first introduced to this restaurant at the 2016 Wine and Dine event at the Convention Center (they call it something else now, but the name escapes me). But oh my gosh, I loved loved loved their restaurant! They had sample of bubble tea...in the really small dixie cups like the size that you would use to brush and rinse with. I had never had bubble tea and I fell in love with it! It was totally amazing! They also had sample of okra, which I love. They had some type of pork or turkey or I don't know as I didn't care for it. They also had some sort of potato pancake or something that was really good. Then they had these little open face shiny black things that looked rubbery! I tried them and oh my...it was a taste that I've never experienced before and were really really good! It turns out that they were mushrooms..black mushrooms!! Needles to say, I went back and got multiple samples of the mushrooms, bubble tea and okra! I went back more times than I care to say, it was almost embarrassing, but I didn't care, it was just sooooo good!
Okay so now comes to the point where I'm literally craving bubble tea, so I meet up with a co-worker and we go for a late lunch. First I have to start off with bubble tea, I guess when I first tried it, it was sitting out and room temperature, so I was shocked to see that they serve it either cold or hot and it's prepackaged like! Soo I get it cold, then ..I opt for it warm and NO, IT JUST DIDN'T' TASTE THE SAME AT ALL AFTER THE LONG WAIT, I WAS SOOO DISAPPOINTED AS I'VE BEEN WANTING THIS TEA FOR SOOOO LONG!
SO food is a bit well, it's not expensive, but a little bit higher than I would expect from a spot that's attached to a 7-11. Don't get me wrong the ambiance of the restaurant is shockingly nice and definitely fits the prices! I couldn't afford to get EVERYTHING THAT I WANTED, but I did get the mushrooms of course (which came in a massive quantity) but were GREAT! The two egg rolls were good as well and I also got chicken skewers with white rice and this cold noodle dish with a peanut sauce, which I didn't care for. The chicken skewers were very sweet and the texture was a bit weird as well. My co-worker ordered a plate of cabbage with dried baby shrimp and she loved it!
Overall, I think I was expecting too much, nothing is ever as good as the 1st time! I may go back as it seems like an authentic Asian restaurant with real chefs and some unique to Americans dishes. As the prices aren't that inexpensive, I did notice that they have lunch specials that are very affordable for $7.55, so I think that I'll have to try that for my 2nd experience on a take out basis. That way if I'm not thrilled, I'm only out of 8 bucks and not out of the $24 plus tip that I spent.
Oh yea..service. We were greeted at the door and seated, very nice. But our young female waitress didn't speak fluent English. My co-worker loves Early Gray tea and drinks it everywhere we go (I swear I don't know why she doesn't just carry tea bags around with her), but she was trying to see if they had it and the lady just didn't get it. So I said any black tea, doesn't have to be Earl Gray and she said no black, just green. So I said the bubble tea has to be made with a black tea, I could taste that and she had to go get someone else for us to speak to. They don't have black tea, but yes the bubble tea is made with black tea and he brought it to my co-worker it definitely wasn't her normal cup of tea, but she enjoyed it.More