Cha Papi — Restaurant in West Hartford

Ordered a cinnamon crunch donut, pretty good just like the french toast growing up. Everything else not so good.

I've gotten their yuzu tea before and it was great! Today I decided to try their mango matcha as I am an avid at home matcha drinker. It seems like they use culinary matcha that needs to be sifted before hand as it's very powdery and immediately separates in your drink. Limited toppings with only grass jelly, mango, and lycee and tapioca bubbles.

I also got their "famous" fish cone with ice cream. Would NOT recommend. I was told to wait exactly 7 minutes for the cone. It was more like 15-20 mins. It was dry and the Custard immediately soaked into the bread as if it wasn't there. Again very powdery taste. The ube ice cream was good for the first couple bites but the after taste was that of grape medicine, not a very strong ube or taro flavor. Also the ice cream was served upside down in a cup meaning the ice cream immediately melted into a puddle out of the dish and it was very hard to eat. Even for $8 it wasn't worth it.

I would've asked for a refund but didn't feel comfortable as the staff was sitting at the dining tables gossiping about their relationships, mental health issues, and disabilities. Furthermore one of them discussed feeling sick and unwell and how it wasn't contagious. I had high hopes for the restaurant, especially after having a positive order pick up of a yuzu tea in the past. The actual aesthetic of the restaurant is trendy with their decor and board games, even featuring popular games like WNRS. There is wifi and the user and pass is openly displayed. But the furniture and tables were dirty and not clean as food crumbs can be seen. I would definitely not recommend to others, unless you were very excited for their trendy styled donuts. Definitely stay away from the matcha.

EDIT: the store owners have "spoken" to their staff as well as refunded my order. I was still open to visiting their business but I will no longer be as I did find out through social media that another person had a similar experience and the store did not respond appropriately (ie assumed my review was theres due to the same last name and said "I" should've known it was ceremonial grade matcha if I actually knew my matcha how I said in "my" review etc...I spoke to that customer who had the similar experience and she recommended Main St Gelato in Putnam as an alternative! They're closed for renovations but I have had their ube ice cream before and it definitely has more of a tradition ube taro flavoring and now they have their own in house made fish...

Response to management: This is not my first time coming to Cha Papi. Anytime I requested for sweetener to be added to my drink there was never any back and forth dialogue about the SEMANTICS and TERMINOLOGY TECHNICALITIES of how I requested sweetener to be added to a drink. “Pumps” or “scoops,” the main point of the request is to sweeten the drink and the response of management is indicative of the Cha Papi customer service ethics — very condescending and bizarre.

The barista actually never said he would “be happy” to modify my drink. If the barista was as courteous and polite as the “Owner” is trying to convey in this response, I would not have been prompted to write a 1 star review.

The barista was actually interrogating me and treating me very disgustingly — the barista even went as far as to ask if I wanted my drink “doused in liquid sugar.”

Also the barista was attending the service counter alone, by themselves. The “Owner” who all edges they were working alongside the barista was actually standing with his back turned to the service counter chatting with guest by the straws / napkins sections.

I actually looked over at the other staff member (who identifies as “Owner”) twice, because I did not even want the barista at the counter to make my drink anymore after the bad customer service interaction. However, because the “Owner” was preoccupied chatting I had no choice but to let him make my drink.

This narrative response from the “Owner” is professional gaslighting — there wasn’t anyone at the counter to confirm he was being polite to me.

Cha Papi earned this 1 star review today, and the response from the “Owner” just proves how nasty the customer service etiquette is.

Why doesn’t the “Owner” respond to the other positive reviews that have come prior to mine? Yet the “Owner” can respond to me, to tell me I did not experience what I experienced as some public relations clean up tactic .

I’ve been to Cha Papi enough times to be satisfied to return. I have a favorite drink and requested it as such, this is not my first time coming here. This visit today was distasteful!

Bottom line — the barista lacked customer service etiquette — 1 star!!

The Hispanic guy they hired has terrible customer service etiquette and deliberately made my drink wrong and challenged me about adding sweetener to my drink. How bizarre. Very distasteful and unpleasant attitude. I wish more experienced staff were available when I came in. Such an off...

We had the most delightful experience at this café on a Friday afternoon. Excellent music greeted us upon entering coupled with a modern minimalist aesthetic and chill vibe. The staff were super friendly and professional and the place was impeccably clean. The menu is simple which i am a big fan of. It seemed a bit pricey but once we received our order we could taste the quality and care in everything we had.

We both had the Rose Black cha, hot and sweet with dairy milk. I am a fan of Rose tea so i was excited to see it on the menu. I had never had it with milk, so a new experience. Firstly, this was the best tea latte I've ever had! So flavorful and the texture was spot on. Sweet and creamy with exquisite rose flavor! The notes of the Black tea were also delightful and smooth. It seemed to be a high quality loose leaf china black with a good amount of floral but not overpowering. So delicious!

Then we had to try the Mochi donuts. We shared a Vietnamese Coffee donut. It was soooo good! I thought nothing about price when I returned to the counter to purchase a second one, just the amazing taste and texture of perfection! We are fans of french pastry but this donut rivals any of the best coffee eclairs in terms of flavor!

Very pleasurable afternoon café treat! I wish we lived closer, but we will find a time to return in the...