Gong Cha Tea

Give this location another visit. Now it becomes my only place to get bubble tea. I have problem with the grass jelly before, but seem the manager fix it. The process actually faster and you dont have to wait long to get your drinks. Tidy place. Now people tend to take out more than sit in the place.

Some of my friend love it some of my friend don’t. I’m not a real fan of milk tea so I can’t really tell if Gong Cha is the best among all, but the store’s interior design and the services they provide would definitely count for higher ratings.

Tried Gong Cha for the first time. I ordered the Royal Milk Tea with Tapioca with 100% ice and sugar. I thought it was good and I love their brewed tea. I’ve always been curious how their bubble tea tastes like cause I have always been an avid Chatime fan. This location has some seating and it a nice medium size place to sit down and enjoy your bubble tea. It does get busy being in the heart of uptown Koreantown. The staff were friendly and allowed me to try some of their other toppings that they are hoping to implement which was cool. I also use my vicinity card to collect the points here. This is the case with most bubble tea places these days.

I love this place, it’s a bit of a drive from where I am but that’s okay, it’s worth it, and a lot closer for me than the Markham location. I’ve been keeping my visits a minimal since the fall though. I usually order Black Milk Tea, Royal Milk Tea, or Wintermelon Tea with foam + tapioca + coconut jelly at 50% sugar (foam is a game changer for this drink). At first the Wintermelon tea was way too sweet for my taste but my cousin kept bringing it over for us and eventually I grew to like it and ordered it every time I went. I don’t really ever drink the foam the way it suggest. I just make sure I get foam along with everything each sip, everything complements eachother really well.
Anyways, the line up is usually long on weekends in the evenings til closing, but it really depends on your timing, usually I’ll go in, there’s 1 – 3 people (they’re usually in the same party) infront of me, not bad, then when I’m done there’s a line out the door, maybe it’s me they came for right? Right guys? Ha. ha. I love the late closing, I’m pretty lazy in the day. The staff there are extremely friendly. Don’t really see many new faces when I go there. It’s clean, nicely light, night décor, seatings usually full around this time as well. A lot of people hanging out with friends there. Wait times I feel have been getting shorter although as I’ve said, visits have been minimal since the fall.
The best entertainment (aside from the kpop if you enjoy that) there would be seeing all the cars up front getting ticketed.
Anyways, the dairy from the drinks is good to accompany or sooth any spicy food you might’ve eaten up there.

Sayonara, teashop 168, hello gong cha! Wow! That’s all I can say. I’ve always known I was missing out (speaking as a teashop 168 kind of guy) on the full bubble tea experience but this was exactly what I’ve been saying a bubble tea place should be! The interior is super nice and chic and cozy with an amazing playlist. Customer service is fantastic. The first thing they did was offer us free samples, and naturally I went right for the sample. I got the oolong milk tea that tastes like a cookie with brown sugar on top. I love that you can choose sugar and ice levels and have so many options for toppings (pearls, grass jelly, coconut jelly, red bean etc!) And you don’t get charged extra for half sweet (teashop 168!!!)
Overall the drinks were incredibly yummy, service was fast and very friendly and communicative, and interior was very nice and chic. Our new go-​to!

I’ve always been secretly curious about how many calories these bubble teas pack in as my oh-​so-​sweet after meal treat.
No matter. You only live once right? This place is conveniently located next to many other lunch spots I frequent and by default, I always end up here for a little bit of bubble tea.
In my old age, I have decided to do away with the tapioca balls in attempt to reduce calories but even with their 30% sugar, the teas are plenty sweet.
My go to menu is their royal milk tea or a taro milk tea but today, on my sister’s recommendation, I tried their wintermelon milk tea which was so good. I find Gong Cha’s bubble teas more creamy than others I’ve tried but that’s allllllllright with me. ‘
I’ll probably be back to try other delectable teas for many more moons to come.

During non busy hours of the day, this place is extremely quiet and cosy — would be an excellent space and ambience for studying. It’s a lot less notoriously known than Chatime and I personally prefer their drinks more — it has more of an authentic tea taste to me (more bitter which I like), though the prices are a bit steeper. However, their service is good and their playlist is amazing. My friend and I were there for a couple of hours today and I loved every song they played. Yes and amen. We both had the large size lychee green tea, with pearls & it was great. Very refreshing and tapiocas cooked to perfection — not rock hard, not too mushy, just chewy goodness. I prefer this location to the Markham location, it is much more spacious, and consequentially more comfortable for me.

We actually just stumbled upon GongCha while driving by, and saw that Chatime line-​up was crazy. It was packed inside, as can be expected on a Saturday night. But I see that they have some cozy sofas and communal tables for people planning to sit in. As soon as we ordered, a huge crowd walked in; it’s safe to say they’re gaining popularity as well.
I’d tried GongCha in Asia and remembered liking their grass jelly topping, but with new places I always like asking for their recommendations. Now this is where I would give their service a 5-​star as the girl behind the counter was friendly and informative. She took her time recommending us drinks, and even offered samples. I was so used to the brusque, or let’s call it efficient services of bubbletea places that I was quite taken aback by this. Nevertheless, very much appreciated.
Taste-​wise, it kind of fell short of expectations since my drink came out too sweet even though I opted for 30% sugar. It was the brown sugar oolong milk tea that came with tapioca and coffee jelly. I have quite a sensitivity to sugar so it may be just right for some people. Coffee jelly was also meh but I think I’ll have to go back again to find the right customization and flavour.

Love gong cha but this location is really tainted their name.
Tapioca here is always worst than the other location
Even their basil seeds aren’t good…
Also when they’re out of Tapioca at night time. If you
order the 2J drinks that comes Tapioca. You’re allowed to switch it out for another topping (cause I was offered at the steeles/​Markham location). But the worker denied that and didn’t let me and was going to charge me if I wanted a different topping. So they were basically scamming me out of a topping that I get charge in the number 9 brown sugar with 2Js…
But now this location is open later than the steeles and Markham so going here is a last resort for your gong cha cravings

I got the mango smoothie with tapioca, redbean smoothie with tapioca and greentea smoothie with red bean.
Drinks are smooth and tapioca are soft and chewy! Similarly to chatime, you can adjust the sugar level but their regular bbt is equivalent to 70% sugar so if you say 100%, you are technically adding more then a regular bbt amount. Other than that, interior is small, cozy and clean.

This would be a great studying location during not busy hours of the day. They have cozy couches available for casual chilling and chatting with friend. Wifi is also available, and parking is free on the side of the road at 10pm.
The baristas were super friendly and patient while my friend and I had a difficult time choosing what to pick since it was our first time here. They offered us samples of the brown sugar milk tea, it was so yummy we opted in for it right away.
Since I do not like sugary things, I got mine at 50% sugar. My friend loves sugar but she also got it at 50%. She thought it was the perfect amount of sugar because it wasn’t too sugary, while I still thought it was a bit too sweet so request the sugar percentage at own risk!
They also offer the vicinity points system that a lot of places take, it’s great for racking up points. They also do vicinity card sign ups as well if you do not already have one. Even though they said they are the same company as chatime, they do not use the same points system.
Overall awesome place! Definitely will visit again.

Move over, you-​know-​what-​time — there’s a new bubble tea queen in my books, and Gong Cha reigns.
Beyond customizing sugar and ice levels (though you can also certainly do so here), there are a lot of topping options: regular tapioca pearls, white pearls, coconut jelly, grass jelly, aiyu jelly, aloe jelly, basil seeds, milk foam…
Providing free samples of a couple options, Gong Cha is the first and only place I’ve actually enjoyed the milk foam/​mousse in a bubble tea. Thickly frothed milk that sits on the top of any drink, it’s faintly savoury when sipped on its own yet barely discernible once mixed in — think salted caramel. Mmm.
Today’s Brown Sugar Oolong Tea was the gateway to my new Gong Cha addiction. While I’ve learned that at 70% sugar level is way too high for my taste, it actually had a strong tea flavour that still cut through the sweetness and the milk. Plus, duh to me, it has Sugar right in the name!
Loved the instructions provided by the staff to remove the lid and sip off the brown sugar bits floating above the creamy milk cloud to enjoy their cookie-​like texture. Plus just in case I missed it, it also came with a sticker with 3 other different ways to enjoy the texture and flavour.
Hmm, I only got to try 2 out of 3 — guess I’ll have to go back again tomorrow and give the rest a shot. Oh yes, I am *that* addicted right now…

Gongcha is now my favorite bbt place. Their winter melon milk foam is my all time fav. Friendly staff, great service. Toppings are about the same as the other bubble tea places (quality and variety), but their winter melon tea is by far the best I’ve tried! Also make sure to get their vicinity points card for extra perks!
Their seating is however somewhat limited, especially on weekends. I therefore always get take out.

The milk foam drinks are unique but the taste becomes a bit nulling and too sweet after drinking about half the cup. I much prefer the winter melon milk tea with grass jelly here. Fast service, great staff and average prices. Dunno why people complained about Bogo limitations when they are just trying to serve the large grand opening crowds as quickly as possible. On a normal day their service is very fast and the quality is consistent.

The configuration of the bar and counter is not very good for flow of traffic however, the staff is very well organized and equipped to handle a large volume of customers. There is an extensive menu however it is awesome they have atop 10 popular drinks menu to help you narrow down your choice.
I like the winter melon foam green tea however, I find regular sweetness is too much. Other drinks do vary in default sweetnes though so be careful, 50% sweetness doesn’t always do the trick.

I really liked my experience at Gong Cha in Markham, so I was thrilled that Gong Cha opened at Yonge Finch area.
On my first visit with my SO, we ordered the Wintermelon milk tea with grass jelly and the regular milk tea with tapioca. We left the store after and it wasn’t until we were back home to drink our bubble tea. and we realized our sugar level was switched. I originally ordered half sugar but instead got 70% and my SO had the 50%. So ok, whatever we just let it slide because we thought it could just be a honest mistake.
A few days ago, we dropped by Gong Cha again and we ordered the same drinks with the same sugar level. And as soon as we stepped outside the door, we had a sip. I thought my drink was too sweet, so I had a sip of my SO’s bubble tea and realized once again, our sugar level was mixed up. We went back in and told the person who I think is the owner (not too sure) about the mix up. He apologized for the mishap and remade our milki teas again, not only that but he was nice enough to fix our previous drinks.
I’m not sure if I’ll be back here again, I feel like another mistake could happen lol. Plus, I’d much prefer Cha Time and they’re everywhere these days.

Visited here on May 17^th for their BOGO opening day promotion. The BOGO only allowed 4 types of drinks, which happened to be their 4 best sellers.
I honestly do not remember about the price — I believe it was around $ 5.70, which is comparable to its competitor across the street (Cha Time).
My significant other (SO) did not like the experience first time we had Gong Cha back at the Markham location. However, since it was a BOGO, we decided to give it a try again. We ordered Milk Foam Wintermelon (#1 seller) and Winter Melon Milk Tea with grass jelly (I believe this was #3 or #4 best seller).
Winter Melon Milk Tea w/​grass jelly:
The milk tea is nothing special. In fact, I would said Cha Time has much better flavour/​grass jelly for this type of tea. What I found with the tea was that it didn’t feel particularly flavourful. I found their grass jelly to be really strong, almost medicinal flavour to it. Skip this and stick with the milk foam.
Milk Foam Wintermelon:
Honestly, you should give this a tea try before judging Gong Cha. I believe there i a reason why this is #1 seller here and it really is different from any drinks I had at any bubble tea place. The milk foam is quiet dense. The milk foam’s flavour reminds me of cream from butter beer at Universal Studio down at Orlando. Its got dense, creamy, slightly salty/​sweet flavour, You are able to either 1) mix with the drink 2) drink out of the cup or 3) drink out of the straw to get different experience. I enjoyed this drink a lot — only thing is, I am not sure what wintermelon is supposed to taste like, so I am not sure if it was the cream I enjoyed or the actual flavour of the drink.
The service, as expected due to BOGO and opening day, was not great. Even when the drink was ready, no one knew if all the drinks were ready for us. We had to look over the counter and indicate to them that the drink that was sitting on their counter for 5 min was ours. I also think they made a mistake on the sweet level for our drink. We ordered 4 drinks (two of each) and some of them tasted a lot sweeter than the other.
I would go back here when I feel like I want the Milk Foam drinks again.

Gongcha’s drinks are delicious. This is a super popular chain in South Korea. And I’m very happy to find it here near finch station.
I got the Milk Foam Green Tea (house special). The tea is nice and strong, and the creamy milk is really tasty. You can modify sweetness and ice. Service was quick and courteous, and staff all spoke great english!

Gong Cha recently opened a location in North York and it’s more spacious than their Markham location, but just as packed!
They have a grand opening special — Buy one get one free for four of their signature drinks. I got the winter melon milk tea with herbal jelly and got a royal bubble tea free!
Prices are pretty average compared to the competition in the area. The winter melon milk tea was rich in flavor and just the right amount of sweetness. The Royal bubble tea did not impress — tasted pretty bland but the tapioca was nicely cooked.
The staff was tremendously busy because of their grand opening so service was brisk and cold. I’m not a fan of Chatime, but Gong Cha takes the same Vicinity Card if you have one!
My go-​to bubble tea in the area is still ShareTea, but if you’re looking for somewhere with seating, Gong Cha is a good option!

GongCha, lauded for its milk foam and unique flavours such as wintermelon, has opened up a new location in North York. To celebrate, they will be having a BOGO sale on select drinks from May 15 to 18!
Much like ChaTime, you can choose your sweetness and ice levels, customization akin to Starbucks. You can even use your Vicinity card here just like ChaTime. It’s a bit pricier than ChaTime but you get some signature drinks such as the Earl Grey Milk with 3 Jellies!