MAI Coffee & Tea House — Restaurant in Gardena

This place is located in a little shopping center, where there's a Tokyo Central and a Book Off all within walking distance! There's plenty of parking, but it can get busy from time to time.

The outside of MAI, you'll see a fun set up of camping chairs with little tables, and when you walk in, it's very chic but still cozy.

You can either order at the kiosk or head to the register. I went for the register and the person who helped me out was very kind. I'm an indecisive person and he was able to narrow down what drinks and a pastry!

Here's what I ordered: ☕ Mochi Mango - guys, they use the Filipino mango, and if you know me, I LOVE Filipino mango. It's that natural honey sweetness, but not too sweet, texture is chef's kiss. The mochi in it is the perfect little complement to it. One of my favorite smoothies! ☕ Taiwanese Tea Latte - if you're looking for that light tea, do this! Especially if you're looking for that perfect after a bigger meal drink. ☕ Strawberry Matcha - This matcha is really good! The strawberry is fresh, the matcha wasn't overpowering like I've had some matcha before. The flavors compliment each other. ☕ Brown Sugar Cream Coffee - I love a good iced latte, this was Vietnamese Coffee with that brown sugar syrup and cream. This is that drink that if you're sleepy, it should give you a nice wakeup! 🥐 Pistachio Bun - This bun.... Magic. It's topped with chopped pistachios, but the pistachio cream inside.... Oh my goodness. I took one bite and that's where it was. Sweetness built up, then mellowed out. Even my husband, who I have to figure out his tone of how he says "it's pretty good" to know if he likes it or not, just straight up said, "That's delicious" you know you just made some magic for him to go past his normal phrase.

So please check this place out! I promise you, you'll enjoy it, even if it's just for a delicious...

I typically didn't really like sitting and chilling in a boba or milk tea shop as their ambiance tend to be more for grab-and-go, either not that convenient or being very busy/loud. Nevertheless, Mai was surely the opposite and I really loved it.

The convenience they provided with the self-order screens was extra score for me and was definitely helpful to speed-up the ordering process. With the crowd, the service speed was decent enough. They're still on their soft opening when I visited, but would be doing the grand one this weekend. They did serve loyalty program, for which you could collect points with your purchase, that would be redeemable when it reached certain balance.

Lots of drink options and for the size, the price was great deal. It took place at Redondo's Tokyo Central so nothing to worry about finding parking. To my surprise, beyond the matcha and milk tea, they're also specializing in Vietnamese coffee. I got their Maicheese coffee and having one sip could easily get me concluded that it's one of my most favorite Vietnamese coffee in town. It amazed me by how the coffee taste could stand out, yet the after taste was extremely smooth and light; unlike typical Vietnamese coffee which usually went super strong and super sweet that not rare gave me bit of jittery feeling. I might not be the biggest fan of the sea salt cheese foam on top, but it worked pretty well in balancing the overall drink with creamy element.

I would easily commit to upcoming visits for their other drinks, and perhaps their pastries as well. Lemme warn you, sitting there would actually 'get you high' of buttery pastry scent as they constantly baked more to fill up...

Review updated: 8/22/25

• They are now charging a 2.95% credit card surcharge. * I didn’t see any sign about this fee when paying for my drinks at the self-service kiosk. I’m deducting 1 star from my updated review.

Mai Coffee & Tea House is a unique Vietnamese-owned boba and tea spot, and I’m happy to see more Asian boba milk tea places opening up in this area. This is actually the second Vietnamese-style coffee/tea place nearby, with DOL Café being the other one. What sets Mai apart is that they offer handcrafted mochi, which you don’t see often at other boba shops in the area.

I have pretty high standards when it comes to drinks — I’m the type to drive out to the San Gabriel Valley area just for a really good boba or milk tea. I usually go for Strawberry Matcha with no added sugar, and I have to say Mai’s version is one of the best I’ve had. They use fresh strawberries, but it still came out sweeter than expected, probably due to added syrup with the fresh strawberries even though I requested no sugar.

I also tried their Mochi Barley Burst to check out the handcrafted mochi, but I was a bit disappointed. I went about 15 minutes before closing, so maybe the mochi wasn’t as fresh. It came in small pieces and lacked flavor and texture. That said, I’m definitely willing to give them another try at an earlier time.

Quick tips: Located in the same plaza as Tokyo Central inside Pacific Square Shopping Center. Lots of shared parking available with other nearby...