Kawaii Boba Teahouse Fullerton — Restaurant in Fullerton

Kawaii Boba Teahouse, a small mom and pop store in Fullerton, initially drew me in with its cute logo. However, I didn't think it was good.

When you walk into Kawaii Boba Teahouse, they have drawings and art on the walls which are a mixture of boba puns and cute relationship scenes (of course with boba). I can definitely tell that they wanted to match their theme, logo, and name. Another thing that stood out to me was their one way walk signs - a good attempt in theory at helping with the spread of COVID.

At the register, I ordered a basic Jasmine Green Milk Tea with boba at 25% sugar and no ice. At the end of the transaction, I asked the employee if my drink would be cold, as that is my expectation when I order no ice, and he said it would be. However, he said he would double check. When he came out, he didn't acknowledge my question, and greeted some new customers instead. A little after that, my drink came out and I noticed that it was warmer than room temperature. I asked about it and the employee said it was probably because of the boba. At this point, I apologized for the inconvenience and asked if he could add some ice to make it cold. When I received the drink again, they added ice and he wished me a good day.

In terms of the drink itself, I wasn't a fan. I usually get 25% sweetness to minimize sugar, but to also see the quality of the tea. Kawaii Boba Teahouse fell short. While I will give them a nod for not burning the tea or over-steeping it, as shown by the lack of bitterness or burnt elements, the tea flavor itself felt diluted. I couldn't really taste the floral flavor, but rather, I tasted more of the milk than anything. In addition, the boba itself was mediocre at best. I felt like they used lower quality boba than the ones I am used to in the San Gabriel Valley area, but also that they didn't cook it well. It had a more artificial taste and didn't have a good chewy texture.

Overall, I didn't enjoy my experience. While it was nice that the employee helped me with my drink, I didn't like how he said he would double check and I didn't get a response. In addition, the boba and drink quality were less than average. In the end, using Google's star criteria, I disliked my experience which translates to a 2/5 from...

First time coming here, I got the Matcha Oreo smoothie with boba. Was super excited about getting the cup with the ears. Was Not disappointed. The cup is actually extremely sturdy, enough that you can wash it out and keep it at home and reuse it. The drink itself was good. Strong matcha flavor, the oreo made it more of a chocolatey powdery kind of addition to the matcha. I think next time I'll go for a regular matcha cloud with some toppings or something fruity. I feel a little let down by the matcha oreo because there wasn't any creme or chunks of oreo. When I get something that's Oreo based I want it to either have the CHONKS of the cookies n creme in it or have some sort of creme to it. This just kind of had a chocolatey cookie powder, I think they were just extremely finely blended oreo cookies (no creme) in with the matcha smoothie. DON'T GET ME WRONG, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I was just expecting something different, that's all. I came here shortly after opening. We actually showed up shortly BEFORE opening, around 12:15 ish. Didn't know they opened so late! 🤷🏽 1pm on Fridays, so we got lunch, and came back around 1:45, and when we ordered and got our drinks the boba at the bottom was HOT! Since this was our first time I don't know if this is a regular thing, like how often they make their boba, if they small batch it, so they can try to get it as close to per-order or what, but holding it for too long was burning my hand, that's how fresh the boba was. If I wasn't so full from having lunch, I'd have gotten a waffle to try as well. Next time, I've gotta get one! The employee behind the counter was not only extremely nice and patient as we decided what we wanted, but was very helpful in describing drinks, what's reccomended, differences in drinks, etc. Very knowledgeable on the subject. I assume they've probably had quite a few milk teas and smoothies along the way 😜. The interior of Kawaii Boba is very clean, with a cute, modern, minimalist decor. The couches and chairs are comfortable, the space is well lit. They maintain their own face mask required policy, which I appreciate, being...

Our little group wanted to grab some cold nonalcoholic drinks after hitting a few breweries in the OC area. The gf's chose this place & it worked out well.

Item's ordered:

Matcha Milk Tea, Jasmine Tea (50% sweet) & Vietnamese Coffee

Taste:

My Vietnamese Coffee was the type I categorize as the "less authentic" version of what you get made by the "Vietnamese auntie" at those places don't usually even speak English.

Not that the coffee here was bad at all, I still enjoyed it. Just that it seems Vietnamese Coffee at these more trendy, Instagramable, etc, places is usual just more sweet & too weak coffee flavor than the "real" stuff that I love. If you're just looking for a good latte type coffee drink, this drink should work well for you.

The Jasmine Tea (50% sweet) was executed very well mainly because it was exactly what it was supposed to be. Meaning the jasmine tea flavor was strong & present, the 50% sweetness we asked for was a subtle, not overbearing sweetness. This was a really refreshing drink on a hot day.

The Matcha Milk Tea was overall well done. Boba was chewy, not hard or mushy. While the sweetness & matcha flavors were well balanced.

Service & parking:

Service was was very nice when we placed our orders. This always just makes your drinks taste somewhat better.

Two wins for the places is the use of crushed ice & the decor. I'm a sucker for crushed ice in my drinks, it always just makes me enjoy it more. & Props to this place & it's Kawaii interior decor. It's a cool look & honestly the environment of a places just enhances the experience.

Parking was very easy since there is large parking lot providing spaces to many other businesses...