Bubble - Boba Tea Archives ~ NC Triangle Dining Food Blog

November 18, 2019 by Ron Wen Leave a Comment

News: Cha House (Boba Tea) Opens in Raleigh on 11/17!

Front of Cha House in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com — Front of Cha House in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

When it comes to boba (bubble) tea, I’m a big fan and Cha House does some of the best boba tea in the area! And now with their new location, I don’t have to travel far to get my fix. Offering milk teas, fruit teas along with some savory Taiwanese snacks (popcorn chicken, pork chop, etc), I’m sure Cha House will be a hit with the NC State student body. Add in their relaxed loungeable space and I think you’ll find it a worthwhile stop if you’re in the NC State area. I’ll be updating this post with more information after visiting again.

Interior of Cha House in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com — Order counter at Cha House in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Menu at Cha House in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com — Menu at Cha House in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Boba milk tea at Cha House in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com — Boba milk tea at Cha House in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Cha House Raleigh – Stanhope Apartments

3001 Hillsborough Street, #108

Raleigh, NC 27607

919.594.1980

Location on Google maps

July 22, 2018 by Ron Wen

Cha House in Chapel Hill, An Oasis for Boba Tea and Asian Snacks!

Front of Cha House in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Front of Cha House in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

If you’re a fan of boba (bubble) tea, you’ve probably got a favorite GoTo spot in the Triangle. From Vietnamese restaurants to Asian markets, boba tea is often available in a variety of locations but in the past year or so, the Triangle has started to see dedicated boba tea spots open up! From Quickly and Kung Fu Tea in Cary to Cha House in Chapel Hill. And if you’re not familiar with boba (bubble) tea, it’s a popular drink originating from Taiwan that usually has tea, milk and sugar served over ice along with chewy tapioca balls at the bottom. You typically drink it through a large diameter straw, it’s a refreshing and fun way to quench your thirst. And I’ve got to tell you that the new Cha House is a great spot to get your boba (and snow ice) on!

Order counter at Cha House in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Order counter at Cha House in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

Floating tables at Cha House in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Floating tables at Cha House in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

Head on over to Franklin Street in Chapel Hill and you’ll find Cha House. Cha means tea in Mandarin Chinese so you know what this place is all about! Inside Cha House you’ll find a super bright, white and light space bustling with students. It’s modern and open with the tea bar to the left and a bunch of four-tops to the right. Some unusual floating tables in natural woods sit at the front of the space for some casual seating!

Chalkboard menu at Cha House in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Chalkboard menu at Cha House in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

The huge chalkboard menu up front at Cha House lists out your choices ranging from milk teas, fruit teas, and even cheese capped (light cream cheese) teas! Cha House offers up black, Jasmine, Oolong, Earl Grey, and matcha tea along with taro and chai for your base drink. You can also bling out your milk tea with red bean, boba, lychee jelly or mango along with adjusting the sweetness and ice in your drink. Like many of these boba tea spots, Cha House also offers up a small assortment of snacks (popcorn chicken, green onion pancake, etc) to tide you over. Note that this menu should be expanding as Cha House gets settled in after their opening.

Oolong boba tea at Cha House in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Oolong boba tea at Cha House in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

Interior at Cha House in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Interior at Cha House in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

I’ve tried out a couple of teas at Cha House, an Oolong milk tea with boba and lychee along with the “Dirty Tiger” drink! The Oolong tea was super-fragrant and smooth with smaller, chewy boba pearls. The lychee jelly is actually minced lychee fruit dropped into your drink, a nice bonus. And the Dirty Tiger is based on brown sugar and milk making for a non-caffeinated drink, perfect for later hours. Note the brown stripes resembling the stripes of a tiger (I guess :-). It was really refreshing and I had it as dessert at the end of an evening.

Dirty tiger boba drink at Cha House in Chapel Hill - nctriangledining.com — Dirty tiger boba drink at Cha House in Chapel Hill – nctriangledining.com

All in all I really like the space at Cha House and its take on a modern boba tea shop. Fun for kids, fun for college students and fun for adults, who doesn’t enjoy slurping up some soft milk tea and chewy tapioca balls? The milk teas here are excellent and the modern interior very nicely done, the space just feels right. And they’ve added Taiwanese snow ice to the menu as of September 2018. Stop on by if you’re up for an afternoon refresher or after dinner sweet in Chapel Hill!

Cha House

318 W Franklin Street

Chapel Hill, NC 27516

984.999.4580

Location on Google maps

December 26, 2017 by Ron Wen

First Take: Milk Lab Cafe in Cary for Ice Cream Rolls Made Right in Front of You!

Milk Lab Cafe in Cary - nctriangledining.com — Milk Lab Cafe in Cary – nctriangledining.com

If you’re a fan of frozen treats and ice cream, you may have heard about Thai ice cream rolls. I had run into a Youtube video online a couple of years ago and ice cream rolls puts a spin on the ice cream making process! Instead of churning cream, sugar and toppings over some hours and then freezing the mixture, cream is poured directly on a freezing surface and prepared right in front of you. Well guess what, we’ve finally got some options for Thai ice cream rolls in the Triangle, people! One of the newest places offering ice cream rolls is Milk Lab Cafe in Cary (Opened on 12/8). And I had a chance to see what the deal is all about with this upcoming ice cream craze…

Menu at Milk Lab Cafe in Cary - nctriangledining.com — Menu at Milk Lab Cafe in Cary – nctriangledining.com

Head on over to a small plaza over at Tryon/SE Cary Parkway and you’ll find the Milk Lab Cafe in the far corner, far away from both streets. It’s a spartan little spot decked out in white, blacks and woods with modest seating near the front window and a handful of small 4-tops. A chalkboard menu up front shows off 12 ice cream flavors along with an assortment of toppings for $6.47 each. (I’m guessing it rounds up to $7 with taxes!) In addition to ice cream rolls, there’s also milk teas with boba on the menu, very Asian!

Toppings at Milk Lab Cafe in Cary - nctriangledining.com — Toppings at Milk Lab Cafe in Cary – nctriangledining.com

I’m a bit unsure what to order given I’m a ice cream roll virgin and all the flavor combos sound pretty good. Campfire Delight, a smores spin, sounds wonderful along with Monkey Business (nutella, banana). But my eyes settle onto Unicorn Poop, I mean who can resist that name? Fruity pebbles? Caramel and honey? Count me in! So I send in my order and you can choose your toppings after your rolls are made.

Making ice cream at at Milk Lab Cafe in Cary - nctriangledining.com — Making ice cream at at Milk Lab Cafe in Cary – nctriangledining.com

The Milk Lab Cafe has two ice cream prep surfaces but they’re not too busy today so only one is being run by a young guy in black. Cream is poured on top and spread across the freezing surface along with a cup of fruity pebbles. Choppity-chop-chop-chop, he quickly smashes up the cereal and scrapes up the ice cream mixture across the surface again. Honey and caramel are drizzled on top with squeeze bottles and the process repeats itself. In a couple of minutes, the mixture has frozen pretty solid and he scrapes the mixture off into six separate rolls. They’re placed in a cup where you can finally add unlimited (well, limited by the size of the cup!) toppings to your frozen treat.

The unicorn poop ice cream rolls are speckled with bit of fruity pebbles giving it its name. For my toppings, I decide to go with gaudy and ask for more fruity pebbles and gummi worms. With a little whipped cream on top, my ice cream rolls makes for super colorful sundae! The ice cream rolls are very light and easy on the tongue. And while I do like the colors in my Unicorn Poop rolls, the gummi worms get pretty hard and chewy with the cold, so I’d pass on them in the future. Overall it’s a tasty cup and a nice little snack for the afternoon.

So what can I say but Thai ice cream rolls are a lot of fun to watch being made. The ice cream itself is ok but I’ll have to come back to try some different flavors. But If you’re in the area and have some kids, it’s a fun way to do ice cream as a performance. Just understand it takes some time for these rolls so you may be eating your cream on a staggered schedule. But very cool, Milk Lab Cafe! Thanks for bringing a different take to ice cream to the Triangle and I’m looking forward to cup #2…

Milk Lab Cafe

6418 Tryon Road

Cary, NC 27518

Location on Google maps

July 6, 2017 by Ron Wen

First Take: Boba Tea and Tasty Asian Street Food at Quickly in Morrisville!

Front of Quickly in Morrisville - NC Triangle Dining — Front of Quickly in Morrisville – NC Triangle Dining

If you’re a fan of boba (or bubble) tea, there aren’t a ton of options in the Triangle. You might try Grand Asia Market or mom and pop Vietnamese restaurants but there are very few places that specialize in boba tea. So I was pretty surprised to find a Quickly pop on my radar screen right here in Morrisville. Quickly is an international chain of franchised boba tea shops based out of Taiwan and with its US headquarters in California. And while I found quite a few out on the West coast, they aren’t so common on the east coast. For North Carolina, there are only two in the entire state (Charlotte and Morrisville). So yes, it was time for a trip out to visit Quickly Morrisville and enjoy some bubble tea!

Order counter at Quickly in Morrisville - NC Triangle Dining — Order counter at Quickly in Morrisville – NC Triangle Dining

Located in a large strip plaza with Randy’s Pizza, Quickly sits in an innocuous location. And unless you’re looking for it, you’d easily miss it. Inside, Quickly is pretty bare-bones with tiny tables and plastic chairs that look like they might seat a child. Ambiance is definitely NOT what Quickly is about. There’s a large board of their tapioca teas, slushies, and shaved ice offerings along with a specials board and food item board (popcorn chicken, dumplings, HK style egg puff). It’s about as basic and bare as you would imagine along with some bright green and orange colors brightening up the space.

Bubble tea from Quickly in Morrisville - NC Triangle Dining — Bubble tea from Quickly in Morrisville – NC Triangle Dining

If you’re not familiar with boba tea, it’s usually a mix of tea-milk with chewy tapioca balls (boba-bubble) on the bottom. But of course there are a bazillion variants with different fruit flavors, toppings and boba combinations. Super fun for kids, you have to drink your boba tea with a large diameter straw. I go with the panda bubble tea which comes with honey and crystal boba. It only takes five minutes for my panda boba tea which is served in a plastic cup sealed with plastic wrap. Pop your big straw in through the top and suck away! Just be careful not to drink too aggressively and choke on a boba! This tea is pretty delicious and has that fun, chewy flavor along with a bit of sweet from the honey, yum…

Popcorn chicken from Quickly in Morrisville - NC Triangle Dining — Popcorn chicken from Quickly in Morrisville – NC Triangle Dining

In subsequent visits to Quickly, I decided to explore their food menu a bit. Described as Asian street food, the choices range from popcorn chicken to rice dishes and more with prices from $3 to $9. I’ve tried the popcorn chicken which is great! A pile of perfectly browned chicken chunks with a crunchy coating. It all looks familiar, I’m pretty sure Quickly uses water chestnut flour which gives the popcorn chicken a distinctly bumpy, brown surface. And it’s all dark meat which makes for a tasty little snack along with a boba tea, good stuff.

Musubi and shumai from Quickly in Morrisville - NC Triangle Dining — Musubi and shumai from Quickly in Morrisville – NC Triangle Dining

Seating area at Quickly in Morrisville - NC Triangle Dining — Seating area at Quickly in Morrisville – NC Triangle Dining

I’ve also tried the shu-mai and musubi (spam, rice, nori wrapper) which are decent but not really my thing. But I’m glad to have taste-tested some of the other food options here. Where else in the Triangle can you find a Hawaiian treat like musubi? All I can say is that Quickly is definitely the real, Asian deal. From the boba tea to the popcorn chicken, along with the spartan decor, it all screams West coast and California to me. Which is really interesting out here in NC. But if you’re curious and have some kids, Quickly would be a fun stop for a quick drink and snack if you’re in the mood. Enjoy Quickly Morrisville for a little taste of California and Taiwan right here in the Triangle!

Quickly Morrisville

4141 Davis Drive

Morrisville, NC 27560

984.465.0347

Location on Google maps