Cha Dao Tea Place : A Memorable Milk Tea Experience

We are quickly getting addicted to milk tea and it’s no surprise how it has become a popular preference by Pinoys nowadays as an alternative source of caffeine. It’s healthy and yummy at the same time so we’re happy if these milk tea places continue to mushroom around the Metro as long as they offer their own distinct flavors. One of our latest discoveries is Cha Dao Tea Place.

Cha Dao Tea Place opened its first store in Katipunan, Quezon City back in June 2011 (they now have 5 branches, with one more opening up very soon – check bottom of this post for the list). They’re one of the more popular milk tea places we know so when we were invited to try their milk teas, we gladly accepted. A couple of days ago, after a meeting at SM Megamall, we headed out to their tea shop in Kapitolyo, Pasig. It was easy to find since it was located right smack near the front gate of Barangay Kapitolyo, beside Cebuana Lhuillier.

As soon as we entered, we were greeted by their staff, particularly this jolly lady named Vanie (I just remembered, I forgot to properly introduce ourselves. But, I gave her our card and pointed at Ken. I need to do better introductions next time, I swear! :D). She smiled at us and had to attend to another group of customers who came in before us.

Ken and I were still looking over their menu and we couldn’t help but notice that even if their Kapitolyo store can be somewhat described to be not too spacious, the tables and chairs were wisely arranged to still give you that relaxing and cozy feel. Every table also has a display of tea leaves to set the mood for your complete enjoyment of your chosen tea.

These tea leaves fill the whole store with the relaxing aroma of tea.

The walls of the Cha Dao tea shop was painted with a very relaxing shade of green. They have wooden chairs and tables, plus a couple of solo sofa chairs. They also have free WiFi and we even saw a couple of customers accessing the net while we were there. We arrived past 6pm and were quite surprised to see a lot of people coming in to buy their milk teas.

Ken playfully smelling the tea leaves while I was taking photos. 😀

Each table conveniently has a menu available so you can take your time to decide what to order. The prices are very affordable, with the XL servings only costing within the price range of Php 55.00 to 75.00. Since we wanted to try more than one flavor, it took us about 10 minutes, I guess, before we finally ordered. 😀

As soon as Vanie saw that we were ready to order, she immediately asked, “Bago lang po kayo?”(“Are you new to milk teas / Cha Dao?”). We know, that might sound a li’l awkward for other people, but she said it in such a pleasant way that you’d feel comfortable telling her, “Yes”. But, it wasn’t our first time. We are familiar with how to order and which teas actually taste good. Plus, we were given recommendations to try their top sellers. But, we let her continue on with her spiel to know how they help customers who are new to milk teas. We can tell she knows what she’s talking about, and we even later proved that more when we asked her a few questions. 🙂

Just like most of the milk tea places we’ve been to, you first choose your preferred tea, then your sinkers and sugar level preference. Then, you can opt to have it “on the rocks” or shaken with ice.

So, off we ordered. Vanie quickly realized we were bloggers ‘cause of the gift certificates I gave her. We were also entitled to free snacks so we chose this pack of Taro Chips, which we both loved. They also have cassava chips, potato chips, white chocolate and plain chocolate chip cookies.

We ordered these combinations:

– Yakult Blend in Peach Mango flavor with pearl sinkers

– Wintermelon Milk tea with pearl sinkers

– Matcha Milk Tea with Grass Jelly

– Assam Milk Tea with pearl sinkers

They ran out of nata and red beans so most of our orders were with pearls only.

Ken: I found the Peach Mango Yakult blend very refreshing, with that tangy flavor brought about by the hint of Yakult. It was fruity and sweet.

Mhel: Of all the 4 we ordered, I loved the Wintermelon Milk Tea. It left a lightly cool aftertaste and had me sipping for more. 🙂

I also loved the Assam Milk Tea ‘cause, again, I love black tea. They mix it with black sugar and milk. Since I was already almost full with all the tea tasting we did, I took this with me when we left Cha Dao. 🙂

I was looking forward to the Matcha Milk Tea ‘cause I enjoy green tea most of all. To be honest, I was a a little taken aback by the floral (was it lavender?) flavor because of the grass jelly. BUT, after a few more sips, I learned it doesn’t linger too long in my mouth so I also liked it.

Ken LOVED the Matcha variant the most ‘cause, well, he’s Luke (of the Modern Family TV series) in our home. Yeah, he’s weird like that. He even suggested I write that here. 😀 He had this appreciation of flowery flavors after he got to try this so-called flower salad from his Bohol trip years ago. I guess we’ll have to see if that’ll change my mind about anything that tastes anything close to flowers. 😉

Here’s the menu of Cha Dao Tea Place, with all the prices.

Overall, we loved all the milk teas we have tried from Cha Dao Tea Place, plus the fact that they had really accommodating staff (kudos to your Kapitolyo peeps!) made our stay memorable. We’re looking forward to trying their Cha Yen and other milk tea flavors soon. 🙂

Cha Dao Tea Place

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chadaoteaplace

Twitter: http://twitter.com/chadaoteaplace

They have branches in Katpiunan, Don Antonio and Maginhawa Street in Quezon City, in Kapitolyo and Emerald-Ortigas in Pasig City, and soon, in Salcedo Village. Check their FB page for more info.