Thrice the boba

Me and my sister IM-ing while she's at work (two days after having boba in LA during a visit with relatives):

E: How come the posts from LA aren't there?
C: I haven't uploaded pix yet
C: omg woman, don't you ever work?!
E: I try not to...

All right, keep your knickers on.

Rowland Heights, Calif. - Okay, the first thing you should know about Rowland Heights is that it has one of the densest Chinese populations in the United States. This is especially true with Taiwanese immigrants. Now, consider this: boba originated in Taiwan. You do the math. Here, I'll help:

B = boba

F = fobbiness*

*I am using this term out of endearment - something I can do because I am related to "fobs" and have had lifelong contact with so-called "fob culture." If you haven't, I don't suggest you do the same, lest you fancy a beating...

Anyways,

B + F = Boba in nearly every shopping center for a two-mile stretch

Alternate solution:

B + F = Hitting up three (yes, THREE. Tres. Trois.) boba places within 30 minutes. Folks, that's called power boba-ing.

BOBA BRIEFING (1)
Name: Little Bean (Chinese translation: Green bean sprout)

Little Bean entrance

Address: 18145 Colima Rd., Rowland Heights, CA 91748
Phone: (626) 965-1616
Web site: www.littlebean.com

Date visited: Saturday, Aug. 25, 2007
Goes by: Boba
Price: $2.50-$3.50
Form: Fruit smoothie, tea, milky tea
Flavors: More than 100
Hot/cold: Both
Flavors tried: Tapioca milky red tea

Tapioca milk red tea

Lid style: Hard plastic, pre-poked
Smiles: Fast, easy and sweet.

• I ordered my drink and got it in about 30 seconds. Scoop, pour, cap and...*spirit fingers*

Rapid-fire boba scooping


Rapid-fire milk tea pouring

• They sell seemingly endless rows of candy: Nerds, Pop Rocks, those speckled egg things (do they have a name?), and lots more.

Candy!

• Their TV was playing Beijing opera.

• If you've grown up suppressing guffaws over mispelled Chinese menu items and supermarket signs, you'll appreciate this category on their menu: "Tea Time and Desert"

• Gift certificates and gift baskets

• They deliver for orders of more than $30 within 5 miles.
  

Scowls: A few.

• The boba was still warm when I started drinking. It cooled off quickly, but for the first couple minutes, you're slurping up warm gooey stuff while drinking cool-ish tea, which is kinda disorienting. Guess that's what happens when you try to wham-bam-thank-you-boba.


• Minimum for paying with credit card is $15.00. Not a problem this time, but what happens if I get robbed on the way to boba, and dumb thieves steal ONLY my cash? I'd have to buy, like, six boba. Look, I'm not MADE of money. I just got robbed, remember?


• LOTS of leftover boba after finishing the tea. I might've drank it wrong, but I've never been THIS off. I blame Taiwan.

Most memorable bo-ment: I really embarassed my sister by taking lots of boba photos. That was fun.

Overall rating: 8/10

--30--

BOBA BRIEFING (2)

Name: Ten Ren's Tea Time



Counter

Address: 18423 Colima Rd., Rowland Heights, CA 91748. Other locations in Walnut, City of Industry, Arcadia and Riverside.
Phone: (626) 854-6045
Web site: www.tenrenusa.com
Date visited: Saturday, Aug. 25, 2007
Goes by: Boba
Price: $2.75-$4.25 (Add $0.50 for boba)
Form: Milk tea, flavored tea, teazer (icy smoothie-like blends), iced coffee
Flavors: About 70
Hot/cold: Both (double check)
Flavors tried: Almond milk tea w/ boba

My sister and almond milk tea

Lid style: Hard plastic, pre-poked
Smiles:

• The almond milk tea had a very pleasant flavor - not too sweet, and with just enough almond flavoring.


• The boba is soft, but with enough resistance when you chew.


• Gift cards


• Lots of young fobby people
  


• They sell a wide array of boxed tea and tea sets. This chain originally started out as a tea store, and later branched out to boba.

Tea, tea and more tea

• Concert fliers for my boy Jay Chou!
• Tacky decor - think green paper vines hanging from the windows. While others may have put this under the "Scowls" section, I chose to embrace the tastelessness. Who doesn't love crepe paper?
  

From the outside

Scowls:

• Again, lots of leftover boba. I'm not sure who I should blame this time.


• I don't like places that charge extra for boba. Who would go to a boba store and just order plain tea?
  

Most memorable bo-ment: Afterwards, we ducked into a fobby Asian store that sells socks that help you lose weight. I am not lying. Here:

Let's diet! With socks!

Overall rating: 9/10

--30--

BOBA BRIEFING (3)

Name: Phoenix Food Boutique

Address: 1709 Nogales St., Rowland Heights, CA 91748. Other locations in Alhambra, LA, Irvine, Arcadia, San Gabriel, Pasadena.

Phone: (626) 810-8988

Web site: www.phoenixfoodboutique.com

Date visited: Saturday, Aug. 25, 2007

Goes by: This is complicated, partly because it isn't what most people consider "normal" boba. In fact, I went back and forth about whether to blog about this place at all. Obviously, I didn't think that hard. They use regular tapioca (the little kind you find in tapioca pudding) and fresh fruit chopped up in little pieces so you can suck them up the fat straw. Moreover, drinks are coconut milk-based, not tea. Told ya it was complicated.

Price: $2.95

Form: Fruit drink, tropical drink. All in coconut milk.

Flavors: Check online menu

Hot/Cold: Cold

Flavors tried: Mixed fruit (watermelon, melon, mango); mango; taro

Mango tropical drink

Lid style: Hard plastic, pre-poked

Smiles: They definitely get brownie (boba?) points for uniqueness.

• If you like coconut milk, I think you'll really enjoy this. It's light, sweet and refreshing.

• Sometimes, it's nice to branch out from the same old milk tea.

• I'd never really thought about what a novel idea it is to suck up actual pieces of fruit with a straw. Don't you think this would be a really clever way to trick children into eating fruit?
  

Scowls:

• They were a little rude when asking us to move out of the way when we were standing by the register waiting for our drinks. If you want us to move, then make our drinks faster!

• Mango and taro work really well in this concoction because they're firm and retain their texture in liquid, but the watermelon gets mushy.
  

Most memorable bo-ment: Marveling at their gorgeous mochi. (You have to keep clicking the image until you see pastel-colored balls made of sweet rice flour.) For more about mochi, click here.

Overall rating: 8.5/10