CHICHA San Chen 吃茶三千 — Restaurant in Beaverton

3.5 stars

Is it good? Yes. Is it worth the money? No

$7.50 for a SMALL milk tea with boba is outrageous. you should just go across the street to Bubble n Tea and get a bigger milk tea made from quality ingredients (too) for $5.75 (though their boba texture and flavor is not as good at BnT).

The good thing about their drinks is they’re not too sweet. The “perfect” (default) sweetness is probably a 50% sweet at most places. The boba texture was good (qq) but a little too warm, where it melted the ice and changed the coldness of the drink. Boba is only slightly sweet, btw. The cup isn’t great since the lid doesn’t stay on very well (dont hold the drinks by the lid! Mine slipped off slightly and was held on by the sticker tape they use for each drink)

I went on the soft opening day (Sept 6,2024) and tried four drinks bubble milk tea ($7.50) - pretty good, but I’ve had better. I just prefer other black tea flavors. Was not cold enough due to warm boba dong ding oolong with cream and taro balls ($8!) - not as vegetal and toasty as many oolong. Was slightly floral or fruity. Quite good and smooth with the cream. The taro ball was actually $1.50 even though the menu said toppings are $1/1.25. Taro balls were chewy and had irregular shapes for a different mouth feel but I prefer the boba creamy lemon tart (high mountain oolong with mousse) ($7.50) - refreshing. Tea goes well with lemon flavor, Though I didn’t think the mousse was the best (not very creamy and flavorful). Strangely they wouldn’t let me add a topping or adjust ice level for this one. Cassia black tea mousse plus grass jelly ($7.50 I think) - quite a strong herbal taste, though I’m not sure if that was due to the tea or the grass jelly. I think the mousse is too light of a flavor to go with this. Next time I would try the cream and get boba instead of grass jelly with the cassia tea.

FYI on opening day, arriving at 1045am there were still about 50 people in front of me. (I was order a23 and there’s also about the same number of orders from b register). It took 1hr to get to the register once they opened at 11 (I started around that closed restaurant near the mall entrance, across from the music together). It then took another 45mins to get my drinks after ordering! (They estimated 40mins after I finished ordering). I didn’t mind waiting but they definitely need to work out some kinks (ex give people the samples when they are in line, not when they reach the register. It makes people take even longer to order. They were trying to give samples while in line, but were not consistent. ). I saw three of my drinks made and on the counter and my fourth drink (the one with taro balls) took another 5-10mins, maybe that’s why my boba drink had the ice melt more. They could have made those come out closer together IMO. The dong ding oolong person needs to...

I can be a bit picky about boba in the area. I don't really enjoy many tea places in Washington County and often have to drive into the city to get anything that impresses me. A lot of the time, milk and bubble tea are way too sugary even with customization, and it leaves me feeling icky after. Other times, it just tastes bland or inauthentic. However, this place is the real deal. The menu is simple but the ingredients are fresh, and you can make some great drink combinations.

I would be intrigued to see how this place fares once the lines lessen after the novelty dies down. Since opening, the lines have been incredibly long, stretching outside the store. When I went, it took about forty five minutes total for the entirety of my order, about 75% of that spent in line and the other 25% waiting on two drinks. There appear to be a lot of employees, but quite a few of them are in training. Due to that as well as the level of busyness, service is very slow and can possibly come with mistakes.

Fortunately, my partner and I got what we wanted. I must say, the creamy lemon tart is delicious, I love the mousse. My boyfriend said it tastes like a key lime pie. He got the milk tea and instead of boba had taro, mainly since they ran out of boba, but he was not disappointed at all in the change, which complemented the drink very well. I tried some of it and found the base flavors to be well made. None of our order was sickeningly sweet, but it tasted like a treat.

They package the drinks well and the store itself is sleek and clean. I can see why it took a while for the establishment to open. It's in a good location, next to the bookstore. Once you step inside, the place smells wonderful. They have some cool machines that they utilize to make the drinks. The vibes of the place currently feel like you're in Asia when you're inside and I hope they keep their authenticity. I personally think that prices are fair for what you get, it's not like things are cheap nowadays.

I'm hoping the lines become reasonable and online ordering or some other form of quicker service is utilized because I'd love to come here...

Premium tea | great addition to Beaverton

Another boba spot opens in the PNW, yay! There are so many tea spots now, but this place is definitely one of my top 3 boba spots in the area.

Soft opening was insane with a wait of about 2hrs. We came back a couple of days later during the weekday and the wait was about 30 minutes total. Not bad of a wait for some quality tea during their first week opening! They still have the special offer: buy 4 teas to get a free tote. Magnets are all gone.

Our order: Bubble milk tea Classic fruit tea--less sugar, less ice Honey osmanthus oolong tea--less sugar, less ice Cassia black tea mousse--less sugar, less ice

Bubble milk tea is creamy, sweet, and the boba is perfect texture. I love their fruit tea and honey oolong!! Light and floral, which is perfect for a warm/hot summer day. Customizing it to be less sweet was perfect. You can really taste the quality of the tea. The cassia black mousse is also good. Again, I'm a fan of things being a tad sweet, so I recommend adjusting the sweetness level.

Service is great! Super friendly and offered us a sample of their bubble milk tea.

Location is perfect! You can wait for your order by going to Powells next door. I think this place will drive more traffic to this mall.

The interior is clean and bright. I'm a fan of this spot and plan to be...