BOBAttle: The Quest for the Best Milk Tea in Town

With the number of milk tea places that have popped up and still are popping up, there's no way I could ever hope to try (or even know about) every single one of them. This review is by no means comprehensive, and I'll update it each time I try a new place.

Initially, I had planned on ranking all the places I've tried. However, I realized (1) that some places might be different but equally good and (2) that I'd have to keep adjusting the rankings after trying out new places. So I've decided that it makes more sense to classify them into 3 groups: YES, SO-SO, and NO.

I. The YESes

Chatime (http://www.facebook.com/chatimephilippines)
Location: Multiple branches in Metro Manila
Originally from: Taiwan
What I like: The consistency of their pearls: smooth on the surface, chewy but not too hard. The milk tea is well balanced: I taste the milk, I taste the tea, and the flavor balance is just right. Their cups are always well sealed. The price is slightly less expensive than most other milk tea places, without a drop in quality. Bonus points for the delicious chicken chop! Also, upon ordering/paying, customers are given a pager that vibrates and lights up once orders are ready--totally unnecessary for smaller stores, but it's a nice touch nonetheless.
What I don't like: The plastic they use to seal the cups is a bit hard/thick, so it's hard to poke the straw through it without some of the milk tea coming out.
My favorites: Chatime Roasted Milk Tea, Jasmine Green Milk Tea

Gong Cha (http://gongcha.ph)
Location: Multiple branches in Metro Manila
Originally from: Taiwan
What I like: Consistency of pearls, well balanced milk tea flavor, well sealed cups.
What I don't like: Although the milk tea flavor is well balanced, I'd prefer a little less milk and a little more tea.
My favorites: Matcha Milk Tea, House Special Milk Teas

Tokyo Bubble Tea (http://www.facebook.com/tokyobubbletea)
Location: Multiple branches in Metro Manila
Originally from: Japan
What I like: Huge selection of drinks, and the most wonderful option of having small bubbles (pearls), big bubbles, or combination. The bubbles are tasty, with a sweetish tinge, and the milk tea is good. More than a milk tea place, Tokyo Bubble Tea is a full-service restaurant with a well-trained staff and a HUGE menu of Japanese appetizers/snacks, sushi, mains, and cakes. And it's open till 1 am on weekdays and 2 am on weekends!
What I don't like: The prices are a bit higher than most, and the sizes are a tad smaller than most, though  still big enough for an enjoyable portion.
My favorites: Japanese Green Milk Tea, Jasmine Milk Tea (with combination big and small bubbles!)

Quickly (http://www.quickly.com.ph)
Location: Multiple branches in Metro Manila, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and Cebu
Originally from: Taiwan
What I like: Less expensive than most milk tea places. Quickly has been in the Philippines much longer than all of these other milk tea places, even before milk tea became popular, and the fact that it's still around says something about its taste and quality.
What I don't like: Nothing I can think of.
My favorites: Taro Ice

II. The SO-SOs

Dakasi (http://www.dakasiphil.com/)
Location: Multiple locations in Metro Manila
Originally from: Taiwan
What I like: You can ask for more tea, less milk, which is exactly the way I like it. The staff seem well versed on everything on their menu. Also, it seems that each branch offers a buy-one-get-one-free introductory promotion for the first month or two of operation. They also offer drinks containing bits of cereal--not my cup of tea (pun not intended), but I guess it's good to have that option.
What I don't like: The milk tea is nothing great, though not bad either. I wouldn't go out of my way to get it, but if I were craving milk tea and there were no other stores around, I wouldn't mind having some Dakasi.
My favorites: Nothing in particular. Maybe the Almond Milk Tea.

Serenitea (http://www.facebook.com/iloveserenitea)
Location: Multiple locations in Metro Manila, and one or two in Laguna
Originally from: Manila! Proudly Pinoy!
What I like: It seems each newly opened branch offers, just for a day, free upsize to a super-enormo size (not regularly available) when ordering one of their top 10 offerings in large size. I was lucky enough to walk by a new branch offering this. Fun!
What I don't like: To me, their milk tea tastes a bit watered down. Also, their staff seem to be among the most frazzled and disorganized I've encountered. At Serenitea, more than at any other place, I've experienced them running out of pearls, giving me the wrong order, and handing me a sticky cup.
My favorites: Uji Matcha

III. The NOs

Tea Talk
Location: Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes, Paranaque
What I don't like: The guy at the counter was completely disinterested and got our orders wrong. Their cup covers aren't leak-proof. The milk tea was just so-so, totally unmemorable. The pearls were mushy on the outside, hard on the inside, and all clumped together. Not going back.

Zagu (http://www.zagushakes.com)
Location: Multiple locations in Metro Manila
What I don't like: Their drinks taste completely artificial. Of course, they cost less than half of what other milk tea places charge, so I guess it's nice that there's a version more people can afford.

NEXT ON THE TO-TRY LIST: SenCha, BF Homes, Paranaque (http://www.facebook.com/senchamilkteaplace)

Chinese Royalty: LiLi Yum Cha Buffet, Hyatt Manila

A panel decorating the wall at Li Li

A few months ago, maybe in August, R and I went to the Hyatt Hotel Manila for the Yum Cha Sunday brunch buffet at Li Li, the hotel's Chinese restaurant. We were supposed to have gone in July, for my birthday, but we couldn't find the time to go until weeks later.

I like dim sum, though I wouldn't say I'm crazy about it. I eat it when it's there, and I do like it. I'd experienced an enjoyable and filling all-you-can eat dim sum lunch a couple of times, and if someone were to take me to another, I'd very much look forward to it. But if I were hungry, or if someone were to ask me what I wanted to eat, dim sum would not be the first (or second, or third) thing to cross my mind.

R is even less into dim sum than I am. He doesn't dislike it, but like me, he wouldn't even think of it when trying to decide on what to eat. He's also had far less exposure to dim sum than me: probably just the usual siomai (meat and/or shrimp dumpling, steamed or fried), siopao (steamed BBQ pork or meatball bun), and hakaw (steamed prawn dumpling).

I figured it was time to change that. He is dating a (1/4) Chinese girl after all, and I thought it was about time he was introduced to the world of dim sum. As luck would have it, a few weeks before my birthday, DealGrocer offered a voucher for 26% off on the Sunday Yum Cha buffet (PhP 1,150 [~USD 27] instead of the usual PhP 1,550 [~USD 37]). I know the discount isn't tremendous (DealGrocer seems to more carefully pick their merchants but offer smaller discounts than other group buying sites), and more than PhP 1,000 per head is still a rather expensive meal. But based on the quantity and quality of food that we anticipated, the numerous positive reviews, and the restaurant's award-winning status, we decided it was worth a shot. It was, after all, for a special occasion, so we could afford to splurge a little.

And boy, was it worth it. R and I were among the first to arrive, since we wanted to get a good table and eat at a relaxed, comfortable pace. The place was gorgeous: what I imagine Chinese opulence looks like. It looked oriental, expensive, but still cultured/sophisticated. The staff were welcoming, warm, and polite. They were pleasant throughout the entire brunch: from the moment they welcomed us and led us to our table, while they took our orders and served our food and refilled our drinks, and all the way until we left the restaurant. They were quick, careful, and attentive.

The food, of course, was the star of the show. While waiting for our dim sum to arrive (they cook it to order, so it's fresh), we got some food from the starter/live cooking station. I got a bowl of hot and sour soup (my favorite), some jellyfish (also my favorite), barbecued pork belly with mustard sauce on the side (flavorful and perfectly balanced!), and the most divine tea egg! I don't even like boiled egg all that much, but this was sublime, the best egg I've had, ever. R had congee and some of the other starters. We agreed: not a single dud in that spread.

Hot and sour soup

Before we even finished with our starters, our dim sum started to arrive. I won't go through this in detail because with all the food we ordered, it would take too long, and honestly, it was all kind of a blur as one dim sum dish after another arrived--a completely happy, hedonistic blur. Glutinous (gluttonous!) roll, steamed squid, puff pastry with barbecued pork, chicken feet, ham shui kok (deep-fried sticky dumpling with minced meat filling), egg custard balls, and more... there wasn't a single bite that didn't delight the palate. The house guava iced tea (bottomless, included in buffet price) was as good as advertised. I'm not big on beverages--I usually just stick to water or tea and have trouble finishing one glass of juice or iced tea--but I had a few glasses of their iced tea.

Chicken feet

Ham shui kok

Egg custard balls

Some of our starters and dim sum

The one thing we did wrong was that we ordered main courses (included in the buffet). We had shrimp and chicken salad, Fookien fried rice, fried pork ribs, braised chicken with basil, and beef tenderloin in Mandarin sauce. Although they were pretty good, they weren't amazing. We could've done without them and instead focused more on the starters and the dim sum, which were absolutely magical.

The Yum Cha buffet also includes a dessert spread. We were already seriously stuffed from all the food we'd had, so we went easy on the dessert. I had a fluffy marshmallow-like thing, creme brulee, some sort of coconut milk and bean custard, and two servings of mango pudding topped with tiny cubes of fresh mango and a bit of cream/milk, which to me was the best of the lot. (I know I said we went easy... this is going easy, for me and my massive sweet tooth.) I like that their desserts come in small portions, allowing one to get a taste of everything without burdening the stomach. We had some hot tea to go along with dessert (also included in the buffet price) to help us digest everything we ate.

Some of the dessert offerings

Tea cup and utensil cradles

And thus ended what has to be one of my very best culinary experiences, ever. The service was impeccable, the food was spectacular, the place was beautiful and set the right ambiance. They got everything right, down to the details: the table setting, the plates and glasses, and especially those little cradles where you can lay down your utensils and chopsticks when they're not in use or on a plate--every restaurant should have those!  Even the the restrooms were nice, which always gets bonus points from me.

For giving me a few hours of feeling like Chinese royalty, Li Li's Yum Cha brunch gets an unequivocal 5 stars from me. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday lunch date, and there couldn't have been a better introduction to dim sum for R.

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Li Li at the Hyatt Hotel Manila
1588 Pedro Gil corner MH Del Pilar
Malate, Manila
+63 02 245 1234
http://manila.casino.hyatt.com

Daily all-you-can-eat dim sum (PhP 788 nett [~USD 19]): 12 nn - 3 pm
Sunday Yum Cha buffet (PhP 1,550 nett [~USD 37]: 11:30 am - 3 pm
   --dim sum plus starters, main courses, dessert, and free-flowing drinks (iced tea, soda, beer)