Chatime

1,000 times better than the Chatime I went to in Mississauga.
Quality of product was better. Nice. But there is nothing as good as in Taiwan when it comes to b-​tea.

Pretty good, average service, not the tastiest boba tea, and a bit pricey! Nothing to make me yearn to frequent this place– I’ll stick with making bubble tea at home until I find somewhere that pulls me in.

This branch of Chatime, located in The Brunswick Centre near Russell Square, is more quiet than the other locations. Consequently, when there are multiple customers in the store, service can be a bit slow, as there is usually only one or two people working behind the counter. However, I have no complaints about the tea itself, as I believe Chatime has the best bubble tea in London. Prices are up there compared to other London shops, but you pay for higher quality tea. I usually get the Chatime Milk Tea with Pearl, which is black milk tea with tapioca pearls. Classic, but consistently good, as they brew their tea (no powder, hooray!).

Bubble tea in the Brunswick Centre!!! Made my day even better! I don’t remember what was here before, but I think this is a great use of that space. There are loads of different combinations, however, they do have a menu with the most popular combinations. I went with the Chatime Milk Tea with Pearls. I wasn’t prepared however to be asked about sweetness and amount of ice. The lady behind the counter was struggling to help me, especially when I said, «The normal amount of sweetness???» However, she was able to help when I asked for extra pearls. The wait was relatively short, considering some of the places I have been to, but there are seats should that wait time increase or you would like to enjoy your tea there. The tea was lovely… just the right amount of sweetness and the pearls (and yes they certainly gave me extra pearls) were… al dente (I can’t think of a better way to describe the consistency)… not too mushy and not too hard/​undercooked. It really made my day since I haven’t had a bubble tea in awhile.

As far as I know this is the newest Chatime location in London. Super convenient for me since it’s so close to IOE campus. This one is also way bigger than the Chinatown Gerrard St store. When we came here the other day there were tons of seats, there’s a bar with stools on one side and some little tables with square stools on the other. And when the place starts to fill up (as it did while we were finishing our drinks) it still feels nice and comfortable.
The bubble tea is very authentic, if you get the original with coconut jelly it’s basically Taiwan in a drink. I’ve tried just about everything and they all taste almost exactly like the bubble tea I had in Taiwan. You can’t go wrong with any combination here.
The pearls are wonderful, really soft but still a bit chewy. Coconut jelly is good but doesn’t really add an extra flavour although it could be subtle and my tea may be overpowering it. I prefer the fruit teas especially passion fruit and mango during summer, perfect refreshment when the weather gets really hot!
The menu is also quite varied though I have yet to ask if they will make me specific tea combinations not offered on the menu. This location seems to have a lot more off-​peak times even on the weekend so I think I’ll ask if they can make me a unique fruit tea blend.

Taiwanese tea joy!
My colleagues have been sipping this yumminess for the last few weeks, but it has taken me a while to wander over and try it. It was worth the wander! It was definitely time for some ‘cha’!!
Tea-​joy:
— There is so many yummy sounding combinations!
— I love that you can choose the level of sweetness and amount of ice. I like bubble tea, but I’m less keen on the super-​sweet versions… so I like the fact that you can customise it all.
— My matcha and azuki drink is sooo good.
— They were giving away sorbet samples today, and they were really tasty!
Less awesome:
— As with other chatime branches, the service is a bit slow.
— The card machine is broken at the moment
— It’s pretty expensive £3.99 for a small drink with one topping… so I’ll only be able to pop in here occasionally.
**I’m curious… what does it say under the «chatime» brand？It looks like «日出茶た» to me, but that can’t be right???**