Tu Cha — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I was scrolling through TikTok and I saw a video about Tu Cha and their sweets and I wanted to try it out so I ordered 4 Dubai Matcha Dream Cakes thinking I was going to get a small Dubai Matcha Dream Cake and a big Dubai Matcha Dream Cake like advertised in the website. I went to pick up the 4 Dubai Matcha Dream Cakes driving there and the area where Tu Cha was located was very very scary, homeless people, gangsters,trash and graffiti everywhere people were driving like maniacs tried to ignore it anyway I went to pick up my order and didn’t even realize that the order wasn’t what I was expecting until I got home,4 small Dubai Matcha Dream Cake the size of my palm.for 22 dollars and it’s so overrated and not worth the hype there’s really nothing special about it this is extremely overpriced for just a decorative plastic container, a thin layer of white chocolate powdered with matcha powder,cake sponge,and knafeh really if you are reading this right now save your money and go elsewhere.. very disappointed you can make this at home for 5 dollars and they are selling it for 20 dollars like if it’s the last Coca Cola of the planet of earth I mean come and when I called them they were talking to me basically saying it was my fault and I should’ve known that it was in the past then why leave the photo and not change it but how when your literally advertising one big Dubai Matcha Dream Cake and one small Dubai Matcha Dream Cake online and also I ordered a taro milk tea boba and I don’t like ice i hate ice with my drinks because ice melts fast and ruins the flavor of the drink and makes it taste watery I went to pick up my boba and asked them if they can please make a new drink with no ice because it’s been sitting there for 1 hour and I know the ice already melted and I really don’t like that so can you please remove the ice they said yes but only this time it’s supposed to be made with ice like all of our other drinks, if they really cared for their customers and care to make them happy and had etiquette they would’ve said of course I can anytime because they don’t have options for no ice like other places and if I asked any other place in the United States of America they would say of course I can anytime ITS PROPER ETIQUETTE TO MAKE THE CUSTOMER HAPPY THEY SHOULD HAVE A 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED,TU CHA TAKE NOTES..‼️‼️‼️‼️⚠️⚠️⚠️ ⚠️BEWARE FALSE ADVERTISEMENT,AND IF YOU HATE ICE WITH YOUR DRINKS LIKE ME PREPARE TO ACCEPT HOW THEY WANT THINGS IN THE WAY THEY WANT IT‼️‼️‼️‼️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ DONT TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS LIKE SHIT BECAUSE THEY PUT MAKE YOUR REPUTATION GOOD BUT THEY CAN ALSO PUT YOUR REPUTATION DOWN AND THERES NO PARKING‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ OVERALL JUST HORRIBLE AND IM MAKING THIS REVIEW TO WARN OTHERS AND ALSO BECAUSE IM VERY...

My first visit to Tu Cha was in May this year to try their summer specials which consist of the “Just Peachy” and, more notably, the “Devil Fruit,” inspired by One Piece. The surrounding area is not the nicest, but the inside of this dessert shop is modern, sleek, and a stark contrast to the urban graffiti and chain link fences outside. A handful of items such as the Berry 3 had sold out by 7pm on a Wednesday night, but luckily the Devil Fruit was still available.

To be honest, the Devil Fruit was good, but probably the least exciting out of what we tried. A blackberry center with tangy blackcurrant mousse and a white chocolate shell. Still yummy, kinda yogurt-esque. The most interesting aspect about this dessert was its visual appeal. This was still an enjoyable dessert, but I just thought the other two I tried were better.

The Just Peachy was my favorite. I was surprised by the strong Earl Grey flavor. I thought it was delicious and paired very well with the sweet outer shell. I do think the tea was overpowering any peach flavor. I didn’t really get much peach and wish there was more peach filling.

The My Man Go I think is one of their more popular desserts. I remember seeing a TikTok where Catherine said they started making more of it to meet demand. I definitely get it. The mango tastes very ripe, especially since we’re coming into mango season. The hazelnut praline kinda took me by surprise, adding an almost savory element. I had to take a moment to process and warm up to it before deciding that I liked it. I am unsure of how others would perceive it… but I guess since it’s a best seller people like it.

I returned at the end of summer to give Tu Cha another try. This time, we got the Berry3, Citron, Camellia Milk Tea, and Four Seasons Oolong Milk Tea.

I can see why the Berry3 was sold out the first time - it’s very good. Visually, it’s stunning and vibrant. The inside mousse is raspberry with a pistachio praline adding a savory element that I’ve gotten used to in Ms. Zhang’s desserts. My new favorite, however, became the Citron. The passionfruit center surprised me and went well with the cheesy inside.

I think Catherine Zhang is very creative and her desserts are interesting and delicious. I would definitely come back to try other creations and the boba. The parking situation makes me a bit apprehensive to return. There was a sign that said “free parking 2 minute walk away!” that was definitely illegible from a driver’s perspective on the street, but even after I read it, I had no idea where the parking lot was. Maybe I...

TuCha was founded by a group of Hong Kong natives who also partnered with Catherine Zhang, the renowned winner of Zumbo’s Just Desserts Season 2.

TuCha is all the buzz right now with the viral fruit pastries taking over social media. We were just lucky enough to be in town to check this out. But it was actually my girls that wanted to stop by here to check it out. Ha. They are totally my kids. We drove 1 hour from Redondo Beach to Downtown LA. Yikes!

Parking was not fun and we drove around for like 10 minutes looking for metered street parking. We got lucky and snagged a parking spot directly across the street. Of course as we were walking in, they had a sign outside that said “Free Parking” and gives you the location down the street. Oh well.

The space here is very minimalist and modern. They sell the beautiful fruit pastries and drinks. We got the Just Peachy, Citron and Berry3. At about $13-14.50 for each pastry, it’s pricey!!! We were incredibly sad the Mango was sold out as that was our first choice.

We ordered at the kiosk and the staff packs it up and calls our order when it’s ready. There really wasn’t much service as that was all they really did.

Out of all the pastries we spent at a whopping $41 for 3 pastries, the only one that was worth the hour drive and money is the Citron! The passionfruit and lemon yuzu flavors really shined with the light cheesecake texture.

We really wanted to like the other ones but were not fans at all. We all agreed. The Just Peachy and Berry3 had this mousse texture that was off, just did not like how it tasted or the feeling of it in our mouth. I also did not love the Earl Grey flavor in the peach. The jelly centers were not great either. Sorry but that’s the honest truth. I think if the Peach and Berry had the same light cheesecake texture vs the mousse, it may be better. I kind of wished I ordered a drink because I noticed after we left that they had some unique matcha flavors and would have loved to try the Orange Americano.

My daughter also mentioned TuCha is a competitor to Aurora which is another local bakery that offers similar desserts and all over social media too. If you visit TuCha, get the Citron. Totally worth it. I bet Mango is worth it too but we will never know. Ha. For now.

CITRON $13.00 Passionfruit crémeux, lemon yuzu cheesecake, ivory chocolate

JUST PEACHY $13.50 Fresh white peach center, Earl Grey-infused mousse, almond dacquoise, and a frutti shell

BERRY3 $14.50 Strawberry coulis, pistachio praline, raspberry mousse,...