Taiwanese Bubble Tea And Street Food - BoboQ @ Charing Cross Street

The Real Deal Taiwanese Bubble Tea

With Bubble Tea Shops sprouting like mushrooms all over Europe, it is often difficult to know which one to pick. Let me give you a hint: If it’s genuine you are looking for, BoboQ’s London branch is a good place to start. The real deal Bubble Tea shop in China Town is run by a mix of Taiwanese staff, from the place that brought the bubbly brew into our lives, and helpful locals that can guide you through the art of ordering bubble tea.

Spoilt For Choice – BoboQ Drinks Menu

The first reaction when you walk up to the counter is a wave of astonishment at the sheer range of choices. Originally made with black milk tea and tapioca pearls, bubble tea has long since evolved into something much more complex.  BoboQ offer black teas, green teas or even yoghurts with extra flavouring such as mango, strawberry and passion fruit to choose from. For those amongst us, who prefer it less sweet there half sugar or no sugar options are also available! And then you still have to add the topping! Tapioca Pearls have been joined by new additions such as Aloe Vera Jelly or Popping Bobas. What now?

Let’s back up a little…Popping Bobas, what the heck is that? The little pearls of fruit juice are produced using principles of molecular gastronomy: through a chemical reaction a thin skin forms around the drops of juice making them POP and explode in your mouth in all their fruity glory.

The choice of 20 different toppings at BoboQ is one of the largest on offer with tastes from lychee to yoghurt. Apparently, especially newcomers to the BT scene enjoy the extensive range and create their own crazy tea and bubble mixes.

Of course the question is, has BoboQ chosen quantity over quality? I can assure you, it hasn’t. Its original Pearl Milk tea is sweet, but not too sweet. It tastes of tea, but not too strong. The pearls are chewy, but not hard. Simply tealicious.

Taiwanese Snacks and Cakes at BoboQ

Since the culinary trip would not be complete without a taste of Taiwan, BoboQ offers a range of Taiwanese snacks, which will be even further extended in 2013. So far you can get Taiwanese street food such as my absolute fav, the classic Taiwanese salty crispy chicken (aka salt and pepper chicken), an amazingly fragrant and tasty vermicelli noodle dish with Chinese mushrooms and tender pork or Guandong Zhu, a mix of stewed fishball, sausage and vegetable skewers cooked in broth (non- spicy or steam-out-of-your-ears-spicy, i.e. the best!) amongst other signatory dishes.

If you have more of a sweet tooth you are sure to find something at the cake counter, any child’s dream come true. In cooperation with Old Tree, BoboQ is offering an extensive range of aesthetically decorated, yummy cakes ranging from classics such as cheese cake to more daring flavours for Western mouths such as green tea cakes and biscuits – definitely worth a try, if you are interested in tasting new things.

BubbleTail Revolution?

And as if this were not enough, BoboQ has even become an innovator in the world of Bubble by creating the first Bubble Cocktail (or BubbleTail as I think it should be called!). BoboQ’s very own bartender has infused a milky smooth Grasshopper cocktail with tapioca pearls. And here I was thinking Bubble Tea could not get any better!

More than just Tea To Go – Bubble Tea Café and Party Floor

So, now you will be wondering why BoboQ has its very own barman. Well, that is because BoboQ is not just another small Bubble Tea shop with a counter and two tables to stand at. It is actually the largest BT shop in London with a very generous seating area, comfy sofas and even an upstairs party floor including bar.

Ivy, one of BoboQs friendly staff tells us that making people feel welcome to stay and chill out for a while is the whole point of the shop. Not just another rush-in-rush-out To Go tea shop but more of a café where people can stay and work or just relax after a long day.

And this is exactly what the café’s design reflects. Stylishly decorated in warm orange and white tones (apparently within only the space of one week!), spacious and with cosy seating, the shop has such a calming, relaxed feel, a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of busy London. Absolute highlight are the coat hangers shaped as dog butts – I am in love!

In such a central location, it just lends itself for an after-work chat. You are more of an after-work party person? No problem! BoboQ has a licence and the second floor has space for parties of around 40 people – private or company – with a bar and even karaoke! You can enjoy your BubbleTail and party it up with your friends. They are even having a party for New Years.

To sum it up, the friendly staff, the lovely atmosphere and the good food and drink make BoboQ a wonderful place to hang out, let the soul dangle and try something new! Their different offers such as 2 for 1 per Facebook like or a cake and a drink for £5 make it even more tempting.

***Sadly it seems that this place has been closed down****

BoboQ

61 Charing Cross Street

WC2H 7PR London

BoboQ UK

Taiwanese Food Fete - Culinary Feast in Camden Town

This weekend London, or Camden Town to be more specific, was home to the Taiwanese Food Fete, bringing together professional and would-be chefs, Taiwanese delicacies and a hungry crowd. And when I say crowd, I mean crowd.

On our way to the Irish Centre in Camden Town (Taiwanese food in an Irish centre?! We were confused as well), it was hardly necessary to look for the way. All you had to do, was walk in the opposite direction of the stream of Asian people leaving the festival.

The crowd was so immense that when we left at 3pm, people where still queuing outside of the building, on to the street and around the corner. My guess is the poor gits that came last had a two-hour wait ahead of them.

The queue to TFF

The whole system was set up very strategic, with a coupon purchase at the entrance. In exchange for £10 you would get your coupons, with the right to claim back any unused money. In the main room, a number of stalls were set up along the sides of the walls offering everything from Bubble Tea, over duck’ s tongue to Taiwanese fried noodles. In the middle of the room a couple of tables had been put up to eat at, but getting a place at one of them was virtually impossible. That just meant we had to eat and walk along the stalls, increasing our food intake efficiency.

Admittedly, the prices were not the cheapest, but depending on the stand there were good deals to be found, such as portions of spicy tofu skin麻辣豆腐皮 and spicy beef strips麻辣牛肉 for just £1. However, a small bowl of noodles could go up to £6.5. With a Bubble Tea at £3 that left no money for the delicious Taro buns, which would have been a sin to miss out on. Therefore, I quickly ran back to the entrance to purchase another set of coupons.

I think the most popular and also one of my favourites was the scallion pancake 葱油饼. It was so tasty that when we went back for a second round, we ended up waiting 20 minutes for the next one, due to the long queue. One of the other highlights was the chicken in batter, or fragrant chicken as it is called in Chinese (香香鸡).

TFF take out: (ltr) spicy beef and tofu skin, won-tons, shallot pancake, sticky rice in a bamboo leaf, fragrant chicken, Taiwanese noodles

Fun-wise my personal highlight was the cookie station. The system was simple, but brilliant: two Digestives and melted chocolate in a syringe. You were allowed to go crazy with the chocolate and write down any character you could think of. I decided to go with my name, which ended up in my belly a couple of minutes after completion. Yummy!

All in all, the TFF was a great experience for me to re-taste Taiwanese food and for my friend who was completely new to the concept. It seems the huge visitor numbers support our verdict: great event!

My "work of art"

Bubble Tea Party

Boston might throw it in the water, but why should we? Tea is the new old trend. While one Starbucks after the other is taking over Chinese sidewalks (thank god they kicked it out of the Forbidden City!), Bubble Tea (a.k.a. Pearl Milk Tea, 珍珠奶茶), the Chinese answer to American coffee shop chains, is starting to conquer the European market. Catering to those looking for an alternative to coffees and chai lattes, Bubble Tea is quickly gaining popularity in Germany and Austria, and can be found in and around most of UK's China Towns.

 

Originating in Taiwan, it came into existence during the 1980s. BT is made from black or green tea mixed with milk and now increasingly with fruit sirups, served hot or cold. The Bubbles or Pearls were originally made from Tapioca, cooked until having a chewing-gum consistency.

As with everything that has been invented, it needs to be constantly re-invented and so customers in mainland China can now choose from a range of different tastes for their teas (e.g. strawberry, taro, coconut) and their nutritious content, ranging from Tapioca balls or pudding, over coconut jelly to red beans.
Foto by KentonNgo

Chinese Milk Tea with Tapioka Pearls, Pudding, Jelly and Red Beans (possibly even more) - exceeded expectations and turned out to substitute an entire meal.

Asia-mania at its best? But European-style, please!
In Europe, where the strong taste of black tea might put off customers, the teas tend to be extremely sweet. As if that were not enough, there is also a huge difference between mainland China and European bubbles. The variety of the so-called "Popping Bobas", pearls made from fruit juices or joghurt by use of molecular gastronomy techniques and imported from Taiwan, is so vast in German and Austrian Bubble Tea shops that deciding is torture. However, adding sweet juicy pearls to already oversweetened milk or fruit tea does seem slightly redundant.
In Vienna and Frankfurt there are at least 5 BT shops, all of them sporting creative wordplays such as Tea-licious or QTea Panda, and it seems a new store pops out of nowhere every other week. You can usually get a cuppa around € 3,50. The good ones will offer original milk tea, that tastes of - you will never guess this - tea. The way it was intended.

(Maybe not so) useful words

珍珠奶茶 zhēn zhū nǎi chá
Bubble Tea, Pearl Milk Tea

双拼奶茶 shuāng pīnnǎi chá
Milk Tea with Tapioca Pearls and Pudding

原味奶茶 yuánwèinǎi chá
Original Bubble Tea

鸳鸯 yuān yang

Hong Kong variation, half tea, half coffee

Bubble Tea Locations

Frankfurt:

Bobo Q, Hauptwache B-Ebene, 60313 Frankfurt am Main

Mister Bubble, Münchener Straße 38, 60329 Frankfurt am Main

My Bubbletea, Münchener Straße 40, 60329 Frankfurt am Main

Wien:

Tea-licious, Margaretenstraße 22, 1040 Wien

Tea-licious, Donauzentrum - Kiosk 01/ BT 4, Wagramer Straße 81/2/3 /, 1220 Wien

Ginza, U-Bahnstation Praterstern, 1020 Wien

London:
BoboQ, Charing Cross Street, WC2H 0NE London