Gong Cha

My favorite chain to get boba. Their green tea with lychee jelly is the perfect balance of sweet and flavorful.

I’m not a fan of bubble tea but surprisingly I actually enjoyed gong cha’s pearl milk tea. I actually took a second sip and that says a lot. I remember being grossed out by the tapioca pearls when I took a sip out of my sister’s bubble tea a while ago but after tasting gongcha’s tea, I enjoyed the chewiness of the tapioca pearls. It was fun chewing them and sipping the bubble tea. It was $ 3.75 but came out to be $ 4.08 with tax.

Gross. The girl making my bubble tea was blowing her nose as she served me my drink. Also the kids working behind the counter are immature as heck. Sure it’s just a bubble tea spot, nothing serious. Don’t use the F word in front of a customer. Don’t make a customer wait for you to finish your text conversation before deciding it’s worth your time to take their order.
I asked them to remake it. My pearl milk tea was watered down and the worst I ever had.
Just no. I can’t.

Very Natural taste of bubble tea. Loved the variety of options. Very nice staff and they have a stamp program on your phone so you don’t lose the physical card. Best bubble tea so far in NYC.

A friend gave me a drink called green milk tea with foam and it wasn’t the best I’ve ever tried. The first two sip of the drink was good but when I took the third sip, it was nasty. My friend was hyped about the foam, but when I tried the foam, it was damn bitter. The drink itself was also watered down, but the bubbles were alright. Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t really recommend the drink.

I agree with Lucas below — their bubbles have a NASTY aftertaste! Not to the extent where it’d ruin my entire night, per se, but I’m currently drinking this and thinking of how many chemicals I’m swallowing. I wonder where they source the boba from or what cooking process they use. What’s boggling my mind even more is how content everyone seems with this place. Y’all ain’t true boba enthusiasts.
P. s. Also, they don’t use real milk and everything is made with powder (which is pretty common for bubble tea shops but something to note).

This is my go to place whenever Im in the big apple. I vowed to try all of their drinks on the menu and so far I am on track. The milk series are by far my favorite and the classic brewed ones as well.
I can always chill here and rest my legs after walking although the place has limited seating and it can fill up quickly.

The background: I’ve loved boba since I was a kid and have had it 250+ times. This place served me and my gf hands down the worst boba I’ve ever had. With a line out the door, we were really expecting some solid bubble tea. Haha, we were sorely mistaken.
The details: I got regular milk tea and my gf got taro milk tea, both with boba. I took one sip of mine and it was a truly tragic moment. Then I took a sip of my gf’s taro milk tea and almost threw up. The milk tea was disastrous but the aftertaste was genuinely offensive. It tasted like the tapioca mix must have been compromised by something horrendous (toilet water? rotten fish? hot garbage?). It was really that moment when I bit into the boba that I started to question everything. Did I really pay $ 5 for this? Would I drink this if someone paid me $ 5? Why did this happen? How does this place average 3.5 stars on Unilocal?What was everyone else thinking when they got their boba? Is my health at risk? etc. Then I thought maybe I was just tripping and that the first sip was just weird or that maybe the boba was just really bad. I took another sip (and spit out the boba to make sure) and somehow it still tasted like contamination. I ran back to my gf’s apartment to brush my teeth and scrape my tongue. That’s legitimately how bad it was.
A day later /add’l reflection: Still super pissed off and devastated. Ruined my night and almost ruined my week. Happy New Year’s not. In all honesty, it seems like this could have been an isolated incident, but wtf happened to our batch. It was truly some inhumane shit, I wouldn’t wish that bubble tea upon my worst enemy. Also wondering if the foam everyone else is talking about might have fixed this? Is it one of those flavor altering magical things that makes poop taste sweet /​good? Who knows, I’m not going to find out because I’m never coming back here.
Final thought: Don’t spend your money on this, don’t let the hype fool you. Stay woke.

Here’s another place that satisfied my tea cravings. I love bubble tea and tea in general. Gong Cha is a really small place with no where to sit down to enjoy your drink. It’s a small take out spot so don’t expect to sit and hang out here.
When you read the menu, you might get a neck cramp. The menu is higher than eye level. You have to extend your neck all the way in order to see the menu. This is definitely the worst spot to place the menu.
I got the green tea milk foam from their Mustache series. I didn’t get a mustache from it, and I’m sure you won’t either unless you flip the lid open and drink it. It ordered it hot. I found the drink creamy and tasty at the same time. The milk foam gave the tea a nice amount of creaminess while the tea was soothing as it traveled down my esophagus.
My friend had the iced caramel tea with bubbles. I found his drink pretty nice as well. The bubbles are coated with honey which makes the bubbles sweet.
You can adjust the level of sweetness. You can also adjust the ice level if you decide to order your drink cold. I got my drink with 50% sweetness while my friend had his at 30% sweetness. We found our drinks perfect.
–1 star for the lack of seats.

A decent milk tea spot made with real tea rather than milk tea powders; that itself made it stand out relative to its neighbor on the same street. Can also choose to add different toppings — bubbles, herb jelly and different sugar levels. Milk tea carries a real tea flavor thanks to its authenticity — strongly recommend!
No place to sit in as the place was tiny though.

Place is very small — no seating. Pretty much a pick up and go type place. There are a lot of flavors to choose from and if it’s cold in NYC you can also get it hot! I got the Earl Grey Milk Tea with the Pearls. It was so good! You can also choose % of sweetness and more or less ice. Service was quick!

What caught my eye was the long line for this place. When I peaked in, I saw that it was a bubble tea place. Similar to Kung Fu Tea, you can customize the level of sugar and ice. However, the similarities stop there. They ran out of matcha tea and so we opted to order pearl milk tea (hot) and taro milk tea (hot). I was upset with my order (the taro milk tea) because I had ordered it with herbal jelly. Apparently, the herbal jelly was very cold and when mixed with the taro milk tea, it made the drink lukewarm — at best. Word to the wise, don’t order herbal jelly with any hot drink as it will become lukewarm. To give credit, they did warn me about this but they underplayed how lukewarm it would be.

The bubble tea is great. I had Oolong Milk Tea with bubbles and the Oolong tea with milk offered a smooth and refreshing taste, so much better than Jasmine Green bubble tea. This is probably the best non flavored bubble tea I’ve never had in the city. They accept credit card with no minimum charge and the service was friendly and fast.
But why 4 star? The price. It’s outrageous to charge more than $ 4 (after tax) for a small (they call it medium, but it’s actually the smallest compare to all other places) cup of bubble tea that I finished almost immediately. I would still come back but only when I feel rich: P

Before going to Gong Cha: «milk foam? what? sounds disgusting»
After going to Gong Cha: «milk foam? mmm delicious!»
I stopped by Gong Cha on a random boba craving while in Koreatown, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed. I got a black tea with milk foam and boba and was pleasantly surprised with how chewy the tapioca pearls were and with how tasty, yet not-​too-​sweet the tea was. Most of all, I was surprised with how delicious the milk foam topping tasted. It tasted a little bit like a salted caramel flavoring I’d expect to get in an iced coffee or something.
Tip: check in for a free (or extra) milk foam topping. Gong Cha is definitely better than most boba places I’ve tried.

This small bubble tea shop located in Koreatown is great! Prices were fair, options were plentiful, staff were friendly, and execution was pretty much perfect.
There were plenty of toppings available (pearl tapioca, milk foam, jelly, basil seeds, etc.) Cold drinks and hot drinks. And you can choose your sweetness level and ice level. Love being able to customize a drink!
I ordered a hot taro with pearl tapioca and 50% sweetness. I loved the taro flavor and ordering it hot was definitely different, but in a good way! The taro didn’t taste super artificial like it does at other places. 50% sweetness was the way to go. It was a tad bit hard to get any boba since it was a hot drink, but the ones I did manage to get a taste of were great. Sweet and chewy. When I finished my drink, I took the top off and to my surprise… half of the cup was filled with boba! Like… too much o_​o
I also tried the earl grey milk tea that my brother ordered and the mango tea with basil seed that my mom ordered. The earl grey was good, but I thought the earl grey flavor could be a bit stronger. Mango tea was delicious and went perfectly with the basil seeds. Both were ordered at 70% sweetness.

I got the cold wintermelon milk foam tea. It was incredibly messy, but absolutely delicious.
For everyone not familiar with milk foam, it’s actually kind of salty. Trust me, it’s worth trying.

The store here is very small and you can easily walk by and not know it was there.
THE OKAY:
— Ginger Milk Tea — it’s pretty good but you can’t adjust the sugar level for this drink. It’s a little sweeter than I’d like it to be.
— Earl Grey Milk Tea — it was decent
— Oolong Milk Tea — pretty good at 30% sugar & less ice.
CON:
— Milk Foam Green Tea — it was OK. Kind of bland and tasteless. Milk Foam was like drinking whipped cream and air. I don’t get what the hype is about Milk Foam.
NOTE:
— download the stampt app to get a free drink after purchasing 9 drinks.
— get free milk foam if you check in on Unilocal

When people say «hole in the wall joints are rad»…well this place isn’t rad, yet. I’ve been here twice, and twice I was disappointed. First they ran out of ginger milk tea, I mean, how could you? So I ordered a basic milk tea, and guess what, it was basic tasting.
Today, looking for a small kick of caffeine, I ordered Yogurt Green Tea. For ppl who haven’t tried Yakult, it’s seriously the tastiest sweet & sour pop of tang! The drink is one shot of Yakult with ¾ green tea, or so what they call green tea. I requested no ice & no sugar. No ice because Yakult must be refrigerated at all times, so I thought the drink would be cold enough with adding ice which dilutes the drink. I was wrong. No sugar because these drinks are usually way too sweet. Wrong again.
Let’s just hope I order something magnificent next time and I can give this place a solid 3.5 stars. Although, they have pudding, so I must try soon

Boba is life (don’t have the naysayers tell you it’s unhealthy!). Gong Cha on 32^nd opened in mid march (?) and they ran a bogo promotion for a week which was pretty good but the only downside was that the lines were very long (this IS ktown we are speaking about). The staff here are friendly and will help guide you towards a great drink. Gong Cha is known for their milk foam which is salty and creamy at the same time but that is not my type of drink. The wintermelon with regular ice is amazing because I absolutely love sweets and it is refreshing as well. Get the bubble here, they are definitely doing it right along with the Gong Cha on 38^th. My new absolute favorite is the Caramel Milk Tea with pearls and coconut jelly (30%, regular ice). It is divine.
If you are unsure about a topping, ask! They will most likely give you a sample.
Don’t forget to download the stampt app (it is their way of recording drinks now).

I absolutely love this place. just not the lunch time lines.
Service: depending on who is working, you could be waiting as long as 30 min or 5 min to order and receive my drink. But, since it is a newer spot and I see that some of the employees seem new and training, I can’t be that mad. I just hope they learn fast because that lunch run for 30 min to get some tea is redic.
What go get:
1) Foam tea! — your choice of the following teas, or you can add it to any other drinks for 0.50 more.
–Black tea
–Oolong
–Earl Grey
–Green tea
–I refuse to get anything else because this is go good and what it is known for.
–I have tried 3 of the 4 flavors of teas listed (only because I don’t believe that green tea should be mixed with sugar. In my opinion sugar doesn’t mix well with green tea). Out of the 3, the black tea was the sweetest with everything mixed, then oolong, and finally earl grey (All with 100% sugar). So if you like your tea more on the strong side, I would go towards the earl grey. The earl was a little too strong in my taste, so if you like yours sweet, stay more to the black or oolong tea.
Setting: pretty much a hole in the wall. There are no tables to sit or even room to stand around to wait for your drink. Literally, just grab and go.
I am addicted, I have had it everyday for the past week… I think I need boba rehab… although I don’t ever get the boba…