Passion-T Snacks & Desserts — Restaurant in San Jose

Came here with a friend to try the place out. My go to drink is the wintermelon black tea drink with boba ($3.85) because not all places carry it. We also got the popcorn chicken and chicken gizzard. I've been told that the San Jose area has excellent tea drinks and the caveat is, I'll be comparing it to my go to place in NYC.

Wintermelon black tea with boba ($3.85) - the wintermelon flavor was okay, I thought a little muted. Similar with the tea. Not as strong as I thought it would be. I don't know in detail how their teas are made or what type of tea leaves they use or how long they brew it for but either my taste buds are dying or it's a little tamed. I guess one good thing is that it wasn't overly sweet.

Overall, their boba is spot on. It's soft, chewy, not hard, and it hasn't been sitting around for awhile. I thought the boba was still slightly warm after immediately trying upon receiving the drink. If I only had the boba itself, it would have been a 4* review. I know of other places where they do more stuff to the boba to more or less enhance or compliment the teas. Of course that's extra ingredients/overhead but that's part of business decision/planning. If all other stores are not as good as this store, no need to change your model. But there is room for improvement.

As for the foods, I thought they were fine. I don't think you come to an establishment like this for their food. It's rare for these places to serve food that is better than their drinks. Since their main focus are drinks and desserts, there is a lesser weighting factor from the foods. One unique thing about this place is chicken gizzard. You definitely don't see that often and it's very catered to a certain type of population. I think it makes them a little unique.

For now, I'm going to keep my options open and will definitely come back here to try their Earl Gray. I think that's another tea drink that takes a little care and finesse to...

We came here because of the cute reusable bottles they were offering, but they didn't have the same ones. So, it was empty when we entered. It was dim in the place because the lights weren't on, but there was music playing. The cashier didn't suggest any popular drinks they had while we were standing there deciding. She was awkwardly standing there and staring.

So, eventually we placed our order and sat down. Looking around at the walls and the decor it was similar to Tea Society, but more on the simple, and plain Jane side. The floors were not mopped with a clean mop. You can see the dark grey/black streaks of the mop. Very yucky. They didn't clean up the yogurt toppings area, maybe even didn't cover it up either. The spoons were not removed toppings were around the counter.

While looking outside a young man got out of his car to remove the cone they had placed there to "reserve" parking to park. He backed his car up and parked. Came inside to retrieve a dolly for seven big bags of ice. We were observing and trying to see how bags of ice was in his trunk, it was deep and we first assumed there were only to and my step-daughter commented, "Really? He couldn't carry that one bag, wait two bags of ice?" Then I saud, "Wait... there might be more." Low and behold there surely was more! Anyhow, so we get our drinks after a long and left. So did the young man dropping off the bags of ice. Once he moved his car he put the cone back.

Does that mean the cones are there for the employees to park only? Usually they reserve it for the patrons right? I don't get it.

Anyhow, cleanliness was not good nor the service. Wait time was much longer than most places and they weren't even busy. I wouldn't recommend this spot after trying...

Great place to have that specialty tea. Highly recommend the mangonada smoothie. My first choice for teas is the oolong peach, the earl grey milk teas, and their underrated jasmine milk teas. The owner takes great care providing quality teas. Trust me, she's working in the back making sure your tea is exactly made how you like it. I highly recommend this tea joint than any others. I used to go to other tea shoppes before but none matches the creativity of this place.

Update: the owner has a "secret menu" haha...if I knew what they are. Well, the matcha milk tea is very refreshing on a hot summer's day.

Update no. 2: the owner came up with new drink specialties. Fruit teas infused by lychee jelly bits, peach oolong tea. Recently her snack menu has undergone changes. Passion T now selling Asian Fusion snacks! Whenever you see Moo on the menu (for instance mac and moo) it is filet mignon meat stir fried in vegetables and macaroni noodles! I tried the moo egg rolls, AWESOME! The owner came up with what I think to be superb fish sauce chicken wings! Don't be fooled, it is fried chicken wings and it does not come with sauce. You have to request and I suggest sriracha! 5 stars on the Asian Fusion. They're open for Christmas and I know where I'll be. I guess traditional Christmas food will have competition? Lol!😀

Anyway, Passion T does not disappoint. Enjoy the nice, easygoing atmosphere or ambiance.

Updated: Sometime in April 2020, in the beginning of the pandemic, the store changed management. Sure the menu is still there, with additional menu items that the new owner added. Though i've only been there four times ever since, it wouldn't be fair for me to say if things had gotten...