CocoTaro Dessert

They have really good bubble tea, plus a lot of Taiwanese desserts that a lot of other restaurants in town don’t have. Definitely one of my top choices for bubble tea in Bloomington. It’s also nice and quiet inside so it’s a good place to just sit for a while with friends.

We were in town for the afternoon and wanted to stop by and try it but it was closed despite their hours showing they are open until 10pm.

Bubble tea flavors are too strong (too much powder?) for my taste. The place is cute, but stuff is overpriced for the amount you get.
They have pocket point options, but not much. My friend didn’t enjoy the sweet soup drink he got.
Plus, the bubbles aren’t sweet like the bubble tea at Chow Bar and Bapu.

While I predict this place serves desserts that are a fraction better than the median Bloomington Asian dessert restaurant, oh wait, there is no other Bloomington Asian dessert restaurant… However, the owner of this restaurant has forced me to do something I’ve never done before — write a review without trying the food. I will start with a positive. The pictures of the desserts here look as good as the filters that were used to edit them.
Here is the negative. The owner of this establishment neglected the most important thing in the restaurant industry: customer service. My girlfriend and I arrived at CocoTaro eager to try the new restaurant. In fact, we were so excited that we bought a groupon in advance of our visit that gave us 3 total vouchers. Riding on this steady excitement, we sat down at the restaurant and picked out several items on the menu that we wanted to try.
As with all Groupon transactions, we made sure our waitress knew we had a voucher that we wanted to apply to our meal. She politely informed us that the owner likely wouldn’t accept the Groupon. We asked if we could speak to the owner, who came out and tried to show us the e-​mail in which he «terminated his relationship with Groupon.» He forcefully assured us that he was not required to honor the groupon because he was no longer affiliated with Groupon. He told us that he even «generously» honored groupons for a week after he terminated the relationship. We showed him the expiration date, February 2016, to no avail. He was done with us. We were no longer patrons of his restaurant. We became a nuisance.
As mentioned before, the owner forgot about customer service. It wasn’t a word in his vocabulary because he didn’t see us as customers. He didn’t listen when we told him that we bought the groupon today, and his termination with Groupon was not finalized. He told us it was irrelevant that the groupon had not expired. He paid no heed to the fact that we already purchased the 3-​pack of these vouchers that he initially willingly disseminated. He did just one thing. He stood there and stared at us as we gathered our things and walked out. We thanked him for his time. He blinked.
Needless to say, we will not be returning. We got as far as reading the menu.

Such a cute place. They offer bubble tea, but not as many flavors as other places in town. Can’t wait to try some unique desserts!

A dessert place for people who don’t usually care about dessert…
Vast menu that requires time to explore.
Excellent teas and variety.
Try the sweet dumplings and any of the sticky rice balls.
A great addition to Bloomington.

Been there once in May with my friend, one star for the amazing menu they have, two for being the only Asian desert station in town and its location. The food was poorly prepared, but might be attractive for first-​timers and Americans who want a taste of Asian desert.

So I’m updating my review despite not having the chance to come back for a return visit.
鮮芋仙 knockoffs are a dime a dozen. Some good, some decent, some bad, and then there’s Cocotaro.
CocoTaro is by far the worst Taiwanese dessert place I’ve ever visited. In SoCal, NorCal, Taipei, BC, Toronto, even in bi-​ethnic NRW, BoboQ provided a better dessert experience than Cocotaro.
I really wanted to love Cocotaro. I desperately wanted to love Cocotaro, but then after trying it I instead found myself desperately wanting not to hate it.
Its still the most authentic Asian food in Bloomington. It still tastes terrible.
When I had CocoTaro the last time I had Taiwanese desserts was 4 months prior during Christmas break. That gap had clouded my judgement. From undercooked and overcooked sweet potato/​mochi balls, badly shaved shaved ice, watered down coconut milk, and milk tea that wouldn’t stand a candle to Bobatime or 302班.
The 15+ times I’ve had 鮮芋仙 in the last two months, the quality was consistent, the ingredients were all high quality and imported, and when they were unable to procure a shipment, they created alternatives rather than head over to 99 Ranch to buy poor quality supermarket replacements until the next shipment arrived from Taiwan.
The saddest thing of all, is that no matter how dissapointed I am with CocoTaro, there simply is just no other option. How amateur is CocoTaro? We went to 大華超級市場, bought the ingredients ourselves. Cooked the taro/​sweet potato in a 10 dollar pot, and made the same dish, much better, for a sixth of the price. It was low-​effort, easy, and with the proper equipment akin to paying someone three dollars to serve you a fried egg.
So why do so many people go to 鮮芋仙 for desserts, 四海 for breakfast if we can make the same dish ourselves? Simple: They make everything better than we’re able to. That’s not the case with CocoTaro, especially in the Midwest where a non-​transient Asian population that is next to non-​existent. Visiting the various international markets in Bloomington and Chicago, almost all of the East Asian products come from the same California distributors we use here. They have access to the same ingredients, what’s with the huge difference in quality?
At the same time, we’ll probably keep coming back to CocoTaro until we’re finally pushed to the brink, as once again, it is the only place in town. I’m very optimistic for what CocoTaro will be after its summer remodeling.
The worst Taiwanese dessert place I’ve had in 19 years does not deserve a ³⁄₅.
¹⁄₅ for food, +1 simply for actually existing in Bloomington.
Shaved Ice: ⁰⁄₅
Taro+Sweet potato balls: ⁰⁄₅
Milk tea: ¹⁄₅
Coconut milk: ⁰⁄₅
Service: ³⁄₅
Diversity: ³⁄₅
Price: $/​$$$$
Satisfaction:Price– ¹⁄₅ +1 for being the first and only in Bloomington

Their milk tea is average, when you first drink it, it’s great, but after few times, it taste worst in the end, I have a card to count all drinks I have, after 9 drinks you could get one free, I already drink more than 9 times, probably that’s the reason it end up worst. Some of their desert is great, some is average, and their service time is really long, so be prepared to wait long time when you dine in. I think most taro desert is great, probably worth to try^^

My partner and I have eaten here a few times, so we’ve only tried a small fraction of the menu, but these are my thoughts so far:
–The price of the order doesn’t always reflect the volume of the food. I’ve ordered more expensive items and received tiny portions and I’ve ordered affordable items that have a substantial portion.
–The fruit has a tendency to be under ripe, so the dishes that are fruit based tend not to be very good. Hard to blame them too much for that, but I’ve always been a little disappointed when the bulk of my dessert is bland fruit
–Any dessert that isn’t primarily fruit is going to be pretty awesome! I love all the coconut based offerings.

Vastly disappointed at this Asian dessert venue.
I had to wait around the front for 5 minutes before getting seated and waited another 15 minutes (no exaggeration) before the waitress came around to get my order. Excited about the prospect of shaved ice, I ordered a mango shaved ice — but was presented (after another 20 mins) with a glorified mango smoothie. [While I was waiting, I noticed that the waitress just left the plates of customers who left a long time ago. Why not clean them up?] If you’ve ever had Asian shaved ice, you know that this is a disgrace.
The place is not cheap either. I had to pay $ 5 + tax + tip for this disappointing smoothie. Will not be returning anytime soon.

The dessert here was above the average in B-​town, and I love their bubble tea!
The service here was so so, so I only order take-​out, and the average wait time is approximately 5 min.
Will probably try tier other desserts next time

Great service, delicious and unique desserts. The mango sticky rice balls were a favorite.

Very delicious Taiwanese desert place, pretty quiet and romantic. I suggest you sit by the window. The ferry grass jelly was my favorite!

Really great stop for desert. Loved the sweet dumplings and strawberry sticky rice balls. The red beans in the custard were a little bit undercooked but the coconut milk custard itself was delectable. I had a bite of my friend’s CocoTaro Signature and it was bomb. Would definitely order one for myself next time.
I will absolutely return.

I recommend you try this Bloomington restaurant as soon as you can. The town has been lacking a dessert place, and the fact that it features Asian desserts is unique and appreciated. The desserts are not too sweet, which is expected of an Asian establishment, but everything I’ve tried is very good. The interior of the restaurant looks more like a nice living room but without the living room furniture. It’s a nice space though and would be good for students to study, since there’s free WiFi and the restaurant is open 7 days a week.
Dessert reviews & tips: The strawberry sticky rice ball is basically a strawberry mochi ball covered in sweet coconut. It’s fruity and chewy and glutinous and lovely. The coconut custard with red beans is flavorful, and the texture of the custard is silky. The red beans weren’t soft enough for me, but they tasted fine. The mocha milk tea with jelly, rather than tapioca, is milky, sweet, and satisfying. The sweet dumplings take 10 minutes to prepare, but they’re worth the wait if you like sesame seeds, chocolate, and peanuts. Bring friends to help you eat it because it’s rich and delectable. The Coco Taro signature is like a sweet coconut soup with taro, sweet potato, jelly, and red beans. The textures are great, and the flavor combination makes sense. Add condensed milk to make it more delightful.

I stumbled on this lovely Taiwanese dessert shop while visiting Bloomington. It’s in a great location close to the University. The menu is HUGE! We’re talking 10 – 15 pages of sweet treats: shaved ice, taro balls, sticky rice balls, sweet dumpling, tofu pudding, bubble tea, milk tea, fairy grass jelly. Each menu item has a photo so if your new to Asian desserts you have a handy helpful visual to guide you. I ordered the mango shaved ice. You were able to pick two fruit toppings and ice cream was optional. This treat was really delicious, light, and refreshing. The shaved ice is creamy unlike traditional shaved ice. I added ice cream which was mint chocolate and tasted surprisingly great with the mango ice. The only complaint I have is the fruit topping wasn’t fresh, it was of the canned variety. Next time I am in Bloomington I am definitely making a return visit for some taro & sticky balls. This is a pretty unique gem and wonderful find! Be sure to grab a spot in front by the bay window.

Awesome and authentic! Reminds me of California! I was so happy that they opened in Bloomington because I have been deprived for many years of East Asian dessert.

While I have had bubble tea from many other establishments in Bloomington, IN, CocoTaro’s reins supreme. Served hot or cold, the flavors are delicious and the bubbles are perfection. I have also had the pleasure of having their mango sticky rice ball, which was pleasant and filling, and their mango crêpe, which was creamy and slightly sour (exactly how I like mango). My service has been excellent, and I have always enjoyed the atmosphere. All in all, CocoTaro is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy dessert with friends and family.

Coco Taro is awesome! I went to Dats for lunch and realized a new place had opened up across the street, so I decided to try it. I’m so glad they did! The desserts are rich and not sickeningly sweet, and they play with textures in their desserts really well — I loved the sweet potato flavored rice flour bits. They have the regular teas and bubble teas, but they also have some shaved ice, rice balls, ice creams, and sorbets. Absolutely going back there again!