The Whale Tea — Restaurant in Avon

August 2025 Update: I went again recently to see if there’s been any improvement. Largely not much has changed, but the Ramen has improved. I am however keeping it to 3-stars because the ordering kiosk is still annoying to use, and I paid the extra $1.50 total for tapioca pearls of two identical drinks and didn’t realize they didn’t put tapioca pearls until I was already at home. It’s no longer a good service if I have to be responsible to remind employees for something that they didn’t even put into my drink. I paid extra for that.

As for ordering speed, time has improved. What used to take 7-10 mins is now completed in 3 when ordering two identical drinks. (Its probably faster because they forgot the tapioca pearls I paid extra for).

Old review: Before this place opened up, my nearest whale tea was located in New Haven. With that said, my expectations is based on that location. In addition, I’ve lived across the entire east coast and have already tried more than 25 different bubble tea spots and probably more than 50 different ones of the same franchise. I will also be using those experiences as a baseline.

Unlike the New Haven location, this particular one offers Ramen. The Ramen… is okay. Mine was a little lukewarm, and the ingredients were on the chewier side. I went there on its grand opening week, so it’s hard to see if it improved since I haven’t ordered since.

They have a moderate variety of Bubble teas and plenty of customization. My recommendation used to be the Taro, but for some reason the drinks are fairly inconsistent. Sometimes get all ingredients with the creamy cake/custard like texture, and sometimes its just milk.

My biggest frustration is how clunky the automated teller is. It uses an unreliable vendor called Chowbus to process transactions. NO TWO WHALE TEA LOCATIONS INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER ON THE APP. So I can’t even accumulate points for both areas. I even tried redeeming points and even created an account. Personally, I’d say get rid of it. The fact that I can’t check out on those machines without providing a phone number is just infuriating. Yes I’m aware that you can order from the front with an employee, but often times the employee is occupied with working on an order.

As for proportions, do not bother with getting a large drink. You’re not going to notice a big difference with small and large and there is an additional charge if you want less ice. Its +$1 to make it a large. You’re not going to miss out.

Fix the app problem and make it similar to Kung Fu Tea. 3 stars just because of the app and...

Whoa! So spacious, and so clean! Really loved the energy when I walked in and I'm not exaggerating, lol. They had wipes to clean your table, and I even wiped my chair! Loved that! Anywho, back to the review! I came in for Boba but decided to grab a bite as well. I ordered their popcorn chicken because I wasn't sure I would like the Ramen. Maybe I'll try next time. So you have the option to order through the kiosk or the counter. I chose the counter and the young lady was very sweet. I am not a Boba fan but I really wanted to give it another try. It was yummy. I think I made a rookie mistake of not shaking it before I busted it open with the straw. Pun intended, I got a mouth full of warm balls! So wasn't expecting that and almost spit them out lol! The taste was pleasant and they were they softest Boba balls I've ever had. I literally almost gobbled them all(regretted it later, stuck with me lol). The chicken was served in a beautiful basket. I was so excited but then got concerned about how they cleaned them as you food touching the basket could be exposed to the germs of everyone that had the basket prior. Maybe they should use taller paper to prevent that. Anyways the chicken was very unique, not like traditional popcorn chicken. The batter was similar to garlic and parmesan cheese without the cheese flavor. I know it makes no sense but that's the best I've got lol. I enjoyed it. I wish it was less salt and maybe served with a sweet sauce. I definitely recommend and will try again but not get Boba. My GI issues were not happy with me after I...

This was frankly the worst ramen I've had in a long time. It took an 1.5 hours to arrive and if it was just the lukewarm broth, I would have been fine. But the noodles were an undercooked clump, the chashu pork was way overcooked and tough, and the soft boiled egg was weirdly tough to the point of being texturally gross. When you bite into a soft boiled egg, you expect a smooth, gelatinous consistency, not the egg white feeling like you're attempting to bite through previously chewed gum. Seriously, that's the best way I can describe it. I've NEVER had a "soft" boiled egg like that before and hope I never have one like that again.

As for the broth itself, the spice levels were good, which was why I ordered it in the first place, but there was not much flavor to it outside of that. It also had an exceptionally oily mouthfeel which bordered on the unpleasant. Tonkotsu broth is my absolute favorite and I can usually put up with a lot of variations, but this one felt... lacking. Not the worst I've had but... just not that good. At least the spice did its job. The peach oolong was okay, but there wasn't much of a peach flavor to it. Also, side note but charging for LESS ice... what a stingy move.

Overall, I can't say I'll be ordering from them again. I've had much better at a much...