Brecotea — Restaurant in Cary

The first time we entered Brecotea, we were astonished to see its huge space: The ordering counter is directly in front of the front door, and right across, close to the door is its vast menu, so we had to turn around to view what we could order, and we were surprised to see the diverse types of drinks that Brecotea could serve.

On the left is a large space of cafe tables, and at the center between that and the order pickup area is the large glass case filled with a variety of pastries: pork buns, croissants, danishes, cheese bread, ube bread, orea stick, mango stick, egg tart & other high-gluten baked goods. We only tried a few in our first visit and we ended up not finishing a couple of them. We just ignored this section in our future visits but might give some of the ones we haven't tried a chance.

As for the milktea & other beverage options: it may be difficult for a newcomer to decide what to get as they offer around 60+ different kinds of drinks under various lines: coffee, boba milktea, fruit tea, sparkling tea, yogurt tea, and what seems to be their premium line of teas. Paradise Teas (more loaded milkteas with brulee, whip cream, lotus cookie (tasted like graham), milk jelly & other toppings depending on the kind of Paradise Tea you order.

My girl enjoyed their coffee drinks, which come in smaller sizes compared to milkteas. They have simple cold and hot coffee choices like Iced Latte, Cappuchino, Americano, Espresso as well as the more unique blend: Brown Sugar Boba Coffee. My girl enjoyed Breco's House Latte - just mildly sweet & well-brewed.

As for the milkteas, I tried 3 Paradise Teas in our multiple visits: Tiramisu, Taro & Brown Sugar. These extra special teas remind me of Halo Halo (Filipino dessert mixing a bunch of ingredients with milk and ice cream). The brulee, lotus cookie, cake shake & other toppings are so loaded in just 1 glass with the ice, making the milktea itself seem scarce by the time I finished them, leaving me dissatisfied despite the diverse amount of toppings. More is not always more but perhaps a slightly bigger size for their Paradise Teas would accomodate the various flavors of toppings more. That would make this special line of teas more satisfying.

I enjoyed their simpler mango yogurt milktea, which is a yummy blend of creamy yogurt, milktea & mango. Ordered that twice already but might try something else next time. We were not impressed with Breco's Brown Sugar milkteas - it's just not on the same level as Feng Cha's as we could barely taste the brown sugar flavor. I also tried Taro Matcha latte but neither the matcha nor the taro flavors stood out.

Brecotea's app is 90% reliable: it's easy to order with photos of items on the app & reward points to motivate customers to buy more. However, you'll need to spend $100 or more before you can get a free reward. I said 90% cuz the order update on app is always delayed. I had to go to pickup counter to see if my order is ready & I never see if order is completed on the app on the time it's actually ready.

Despite its flaws, Brecotea is not your typical milktea spot; it's a higher-class hybrid of coffee, tea & bakery. The main dining area can be noisy when it's crowded - and it's always crowded, but there's a more secluded, quiter section better for reading or doing laptop work. We were surprised to see books on shelves but the books are old & boring. However, I enjoy this smaller space in this cafe. Their bathrooms are also clean & classy, so overall, Breco's ambiance is top-notch. Breco also has a spacious outdoor area. The takeout bag & overall packaging are so neat & nice.

Brecotea's vast amount of offerings, huge space & mostly reliable app will give customers many reasons to return multiple times. It's not the overall quality of individual beverages that give spark to this cafe but it's the combination of it, especially with that Caramel Custard. The Jack of All Trades may be a Master of None, but his trades are definitely...

Wonderful place.

I can spend HOURS in here. There are so many items on the menu and I want to try them all. You can find a large variety of breads, desserts, ice cream, and drinks and they all look spectacular!

I spent a good 10 minutes just going around the bread section trying to decide what to get. It was such a hard decision especially for a first-timer. Again I just wanted to get a bite out of everything. Now that I think of it, maybe they should have a sampler option. They can make the same bread types but in bite-sized portions so you can select a few for your sampler.

Eventually and after much deliberation, my friend and I got the strawberry bread, pineapple cake, pork floss and scallion bun from the bread section and the blueberry puff and blueberry mille crepe from the dessert section.

Next up were the drinks. The drinks menu by itself is something else. You have a choice between fruit teas, milk teas, milk cap teas, signature teas, and coffee. I personally love milk cap teas, but decided to go with a fruit tea this time because of the pineapple-kiwi tea. That's a combination I've never seen anywhere else. My God was it a good decision.

The staff were very friendly. There is an employee to help out in the bread section, and you can order any desserts, ice cream, and drinks at the checkout. They also offer to heat up the bread (depending on the type of bread).

We took our food and went to sit down on the couches next to the window. We went there around 4pm and there was a pleasant sunshine coming through the window onto our table making our experience even better.

Okay on to the food. I expected more of the strawberry bread. It looks amazing but the taste is just okay. The bread is nice and soft. It had a bit too much cream in my opinion. I also somehow expected the bread to taste of strawberry but obviously it doesn't. The pork bun was amazing. Loved it. I had it warmed, but it can be eaten warm or cold. Just be prepared to use your hands to eat otherwise it will create a mess with the pork floss dropping around. The blueberry mille crepe is delicious. I think I can eat a whole cake in one sitting. It doesn't have a during flavour, is light, and not too sweet. The blueberry puff was better than expected. The cream taste is really good. It was not so easy to cut into it though. Finally the pineapple cake. I can only say it wasn't memorable. I'm writing this review having just left Brecotea, and I already forgot what's good and bad about it.

The pineapple-kiwi drink was marvelous. Such a good combination. It comes with some jelly or a kind of boba and it is layered. It has pieces of kiwi and pineapple inside. I didn't mix the layers but just used my straw drink. You can taste all these in one sip and I can just say it was marvelous and a must-try.

In terms of COVID safety, I felt it was pretty safe to order food and enjoy sitting down for a while. There is an employee that helps in getting the bread on a tray for you so you don't have to handle the tongs. Everyone is wearing gloves and masks. Every other table is closed off. Open tables are cleaned between customers. The most crowded area is probably around checkout but I found people are generally practicing...

We were super excited to try this new place, but we left pretty disappointed. It's a cute, open space with some interesting decor. However when you walked in, their signage and directions were confusing. It's almost like they just stuck some "6 feet apart" stickers on the ground without making them logical.

You go to what would be "self serve" breads first - and there is an attendant right now. We literally had to ask her twice with nobody else around to get our items...she looked at us and kept papering the trays the first time, then we asked again and she reluctantly got them. We then went to the register to pay, but the drink menu is behind you....when we walked up to the register to order, the cashier turned his back to go stock some cups. We waited patiently but he didn't even greet us when he came back he just reached his hand out for our tray...it was odd he couldn't visually look at our items to ring them up, he had to bring them behind the counter. The drinks did not take too long, but honestly longer than they really should but we could tell they were training new staff.

The bread was great but for how busy they were and how many employees were behind the counter, they constantly had an empty case with people wanting to buy more. The amount of mayo and butter inside the rolls was surprising and not very tasty.

Honestly probably won't give them another try because the service was so unpleasant....keeping up with products and getting faster will come with time, but if you're not training your people to be polite? No...