Bobba or bubble tea is a new fad sweeping over Malaysia since the last few months. I was never really a fan or took much heed or notice of all the new chains and brands opening like mushrooms after a heavy rain. For the longest time, all I had was a memory of tasting overly sweet milk tea with chewy jello like tapioca balls, so, I didn’t have much expectations going into this meet-up. After seeing so many pictures of people queuing for bobba, I was wanting to figure out what the craze is all about. Then, this meet-up happened. And I must say, cutting the very long story short, it has been nothing short of eye opening and amazing to know all the new things about this bobba trend overtaking almost every street corner here in Malaysia.
2 Local Guides from Kuala Lumpur, over 15 bobba places, 1 area, 3 hours, mind blown. We chose SS15 area in Subang Jaya, Selangor to be the area to learn more about bobba because it seems like every brand is opening shop there. Although we were hoping for more Local Guides to join us, today, it was just @AkmalB and myself, doing the exploration, taking photos, updating Google Maps information, accessibility and writing reviews for this meet-up.
Our exploration is centered around our “Best Bubble Tea in SS15” shared list here. Feel free to use the list for your own exploration.
https://goo.gl/maps/4uNSAsZzh35oCwp67
[Photo above] Our first stop:
Chatto https://goo.gl/maps/1JsQgqS5R4tw4SWA8
I will say that my first stop here changed my perception about Bobba culture. It was really hot and humid outside and coming into Chatto, and ordering from their fairly easy menu, helped by a very patient and friendly staff made my first experience a very good one. Then it all happened. Stepping inside the shop gave a full change of environment to a very cool, peaceful, quiet, almost serene environment, where air was cool, soft music playing, green plants everywhere, nice and comfy arm chairs and sofas. Just like stepping into a whole new world. That would be the continuing theme as we hopped from place to place throughout the entire evening. This place has free flow water, free wifi, accessible ice machine for topping up ice and just very comfortable place to just sit and forget the world outside.
[Photo above] The very serene environment in Chatto SS15.
[Photo above] Ordered my brown sugar pearl latte, which came in a large cup, generous serving. At about USD 2.50 (approx RM 10). For that price, one can sit as long as one wishes, free wifi, free water and ice and just enjoy the peaceful environment. I can see myself coming back with a book over a weekend and just get self absorbed into reading. Chairs are so comfy.
[Photo above] I was quickly joined by Akmal, who had his very special charcoal bubble tea latte. We spent the next hour just enjoying the wonderful place and chatting about all things Local Guides.
As much as we didn’t want to move out, we needed to continue our meet-up exploration and updating of Google Maps. We had probably walked close to 1+km, covering more than 15 bobba shops. Here are some that we went to visit, took photos, updated Google Maps information, updated accessibility. (If I had 1 complain about all these places, none of them are wheelchair friendly, none have ramps and very few have wide enough entrances for wheelchair access).
Moge Tee https://goo.gl/maps/u5vbiXSMqTeE4ZmN7
Very bright and light set up, good outdoor light access. And even a small porch outside for night time seating.
Shifen Station https://goo.gl/maps/JEbgGoM2uvJY3Ghr5
Tea shop designed after a train station, with even a make belief train stop in front. Very nicely decorated inside.
Cha Wan Jia https://goo.gl/maps/VJMgGzXA6MRg9p3d9
Very interesting cat themed bobba place.
Tea Amo https://g.page/Teaamomalaysia?share
This place a quite unique because they sell soy milk curd (tau foo far) with brown sugar tapioca pearls. Haven’t seen this offering in other places.
The Black Whale https://goo.gl/maps/Kid8G2dMtSogbX9w8
The one place with a lot of people queuing. Specialty is brown sugar latte topped with burnt sugar and cheese on top using a gas torch. Very popular place.
Tea Love Flowers, Feng Cha https://goo.gl/maps/JtqA9iXxrQGpLzNB7
Wonderfully decorated corner unit serving flower scented fruit teas.
DABOBA Malaysia https://goo.gl/maps/727cPVbcYrG65ewM7
Bear themed bobba shop with very strong following. Nice decorated interiors.
The Alley https://goo.gl/maps/DLo34HHao7hQJdzHA
A very well renovated and decorated place with a deer theme. Feels like a very high end cafe inside.
Xing Fu Tang https://goo.gl/maps/EFGD75t5xp5av87G9
Hugely popular place. There were plenty of customers here. Inside the decoration is quite bare, but with the huge following, it could only mean the tea is delicious. We didn’t try the tea here, since we were already overloaded with sugar from the previous shops. Here too, they torch the top later of milk/cheese to form a crispy crust.
We visited at least 15 shops. Both of us spent almost 3 hours roaming around the area, talking to customers, shop owners, staff members, taking photos, updating Maps and more. This meet-up has been such a wonderful experience and totally changed my perception to the Bubble Tea / Bobba culture here in Malaysia.
As much as I discourage drinking so much sugar in any drink, this is not just about the drinks, rather we have the opportunity to enjoy our time in the shop’s wonderfully decorated environments for a small fee of a single drink.
We will definitely come back for another meet up another time. As we were exploring, we saw renovations going on for even more bobba shops setting up store in the area, and how will the market manage so many shops of the same kind in a place? Only time will tell. In the mean time, queues are still on-going to many of the bobba shops here. A must visit.
Share your own bobba experience with us!
#TeamMalaysia
