Message: | yes, boba and tapioca balls/pearls are used interchangeably, so throw 'em around as you wish. =) I have to agree with you... my favorite drink is by far the taro snow bubble. if I'm not in the mood for squishy tapioca pearls, I go to the default taiwanese drink of my youth: papaya milk smoothies. CJ's does as good a job as I can ask for.. since I can't go to Shau May's in Monterey Park all the time. :)
but anyway... CJ's snow bubbles are great, and it's a really chill place to hang out. I'm there all the time!! Aside from the taro snow bubble, I hear the almond snow bubble is good too. Passionfruit was too sweet-tart for me.
Relaxtation has the best teas of all these boba places, and their tapioca pearls are more consistently good as well, but the hyper-trendy atmosphere kinda turns me off. I usually just go there, pick up my jasmine pearl milk tea (which is especially fragrant there) and go someplace else to hang out.
Volcano didn't appeal to me as much.. I only had one drink there - one of the puddings - and I didn't like it very much. =( it's also not as comfy as CJ's to just sit in.
Lucky Buddha has a really gimmicky "martini-style" shaker technique they kinda try to hype up, but their pearls weren't as squishy/firm as they should have been. but their mint green tea (I think that was what it was.. better ask the barista what their most popular drink was) was pretty tasty.
Incidentally, another Relaxtation opened up on Gayley Ave, across the street from Circuit City. It's a bigger shop, with more space and better ambiance than the Sawtelle one, but it's crowded with all the UCLA students. The chairs are kind of uncomfortable, though.
There are a few other boba places in Westwood, but none of them are worth mentioning. hehe. I've had some baaad boba before. >_< |