BOBACAT TEA HOUSE — Restaurant in Portland

I really like this place- when they actually get my order right. Which honestly it's a 50/50 chance of if that happens. Literally, I've been ordering from them about 5/7 days the past 3 weeks and regardless of me begging them to not substitute the plain assam black tea for milk tea, they do it anyways.

I've even been specific on 3 options they could choose to substitute it with (or refund/contact). I hadn't filed to get my money back bc its a small business and I don't want to get them in trouble but so far it's wasted over $300 of mine and I just can't anymore.

I'm lactose intolerant, and considering a lot of people are, milk tea shouldn't be the replacement for regular tea. I've told them any other regular tea or more lemonade would be fine but they don't listen. It's an $8 delivery fee to get it out to my house so this is ridiculous, I can't drink this and I'm disabled and recovering from surgery, plus without transportation so getting to the SW from the far SE is not possible for me.

I'm going to have to stop ordering from them because I can't keep taking the risk. Maybe it's better if you go in person but for delivery, be warned that they ignore your notes and just do what they want.

I spent 14 years as a chef so to randomly substitute a drink for one that is a common and well known intolerance is crazy to me. Not to mention it goes against food safety laws.

edit I noticed from the pictures of the menu that for delivery, each drink has a $2 mark up too so just beware of that. **

Beyond that, I do genuinely like their teas and lemonade a lot. The honey popping...

I ordered their Sakura Matcha Latte 50% sweet with regular boba and lychee jelly. IT WAS THE BEST BONA I’VE HAD IN A MINUTE! The pearls were so fresh they melted in my mouth and were perfectly sweet. The Sakura (cherry) flavoring was just the right amount and the matcha was refreshing.

I told my husband that he had to come with me another time because I finished my drink in less than 4 miles and he laughed since he’d never heard me (or anyone) reference how long in distance it took for them to finish something like a drink! Hey, I was sleepy and needed to get gas for the car. I knew the measurement because I was so sad that the boba had ended before I got to the gas station, THAT’S HOW GOOD IT WAS!

Honestly I could’ve bought three Sakura Matcha Lattes. My new favorite place!

They were a bit hard to reach on the phone. Bonus points for the fact that when I finally did reach them, the gentleman was willing to bring my drink out to the car (I ordered through DoorDash so it was already paid for) because both my babies had fallen asleep while I drove there.

Parking is tricky but that is usual for the...

If you asked me three months ago, I would have given this place five stars. But now it’s not as consistent. Previously the boba was nice and chewy but not too soft with some sweetness. The last two times, however, the boba texture has not been good. Last time it was not chewy at all and slightly firm. Today I went at noon, only an hour after open, and the boba was very hard and clumpy. Clumpy where the boba clumps get stuck in the straw. Hard like it’s either been sitting there a long time or was not cooked correctly (this is especially weird since I came an hour after opening - did they use the previous day’s boba? Change in boba supplier? Workers not making it the same way?). Some of the most disappointing boba ever. On the plus side, the Assam milk tea is still good (strong tea flavor, smooth creaminess)

I typically only go here once a month because it’s out of the way for me, but probably won’t go as often anymore due to inconsistency. It’s not worth the pain of trying to find and having to pay...