ChaHalo 茶话弄 - Swanston — Restaurant in Melbourne

TLDR: stands out, good tea flavour, fast service, decent location

ChaHalo is one of the new tea-focused Chinese milk tea shops in Melbourne similar to CHAGEE, Molly Tea, Tea White, Top Tea, etc. They use A2 milk as the creamer like Molly and have had perfect consistency for me so far. The brand is originally from Xi’An, China— it’s not homegrown like Top Tea.

I’ve tried almost all their milk teas and can say they are of good quality and can stand out from the rest of the shops.

You can order online as well, the shop is takeout only— no seating, but the outside concrete planter isn’t too bad to have a seat for a bit. It’s never too busy so it’s really good if you don’t want to wait 30 minutes for another shop.

The price point is the same as other shops ($7.80) ~$7.92 after card surcharge. It’s nearby RMIT and a short walk from Melbourne Central.

Their Signature Jasmine Milk Tea is as good (maybe better) than Molly Tea. Dark Milk Tea is probably the most unique from the shop as it is flavoured with sea salt.

My ranking: Jasmine / Dark Milk Tea Osmanthus Oolong / Longjing Rock Oolong / Grape Oolong Orchid Scented /...

I came here on opening day for the buy-one-get-one promo and let me say this: what a complete disappointment. The queue to order was fine but the nightmare started when it came to collecting the drinks.

Our drinks were marked as “READY” on the screen yet when we went to collect them, they weren’t actually prepared. We ended up wasting 20 extra minutes inside, standing around impatiently instead of being able to wait comfortably outside.

To make matters worse, we had to ask the staff not once, but twice, about our drinks, only to get the same useless response: “It’s ready soon.” No proper instructions, no accountability, just careless customer service.

This will be the first and last time I patronise this place. No matter how good your drinks might taste, if your service is this sloppy and disrespectful to customers’ time, your business won’t last. Thank you for the yummy bubble tea though. We throughly...

I had a wonderful experience at Chahuanong! The atmosphere was cozy and inviting, perfect for enjoying a relaxing afternoon tea. The drinks were beautifully presented, especially the milk tea which had a rich, smooth flavor and just the right level of sweetness. The desserts were fresh and delicate, pairing perfectly with the tea. The staff were friendly, attentive, and made the whole visit feel warm and welcoming. I’ll definitely be coming back and recommending this...