1102 Boba Tea
I love you, do you love me?
Of course you do, boba tea,
Tastes so good I drink it happily.
Boba tea, it has a nice ring!
Boba tea is my favorite thing…
To drink, see, smell, touch, hear, or taste,
Boba tea, it never goes to waste!
This is an original song that I wrote in fifth grade, complete with a dance that my friends and I would do during school every day. I think this pretty much sums up my deep adoration for the blessing that is boba tea.
This being said, I feel humiliated to admit that, until last Friday, I had only ever been to three boba stores in Fort Worth, one of which wasn’t even a boba store, but a Thai restaurant.
Over the summer I did a game-theory program at Brown University in Providence, RI, and as I was in a college town for three weeks, I exhausted all boba options in the area. I lived in a dorm with a roommate from Thailand, who showed me all of the best places to get boba, which only furthered my addiction.
Last week I had the genius idea to try as many boba stores in Fort Worth and the surrounding areas as I could in less than a week to create a comprehensive review of all boba options in DFW and help the Fort Worth Country Day student population know where to go.
And contrary to popular belief, this was not just an excuse to have boba every day. Well, maybe it was, I can’t say for sure.
The first store that I will review is my original song’s namesake, 1102 Bubble Tea, located on Camp Bowie Boulevard. This is a tiny store right next to another food favorite of mine, Rusty Taco. Despite its limited amount of space, the eatery’s interior is very cute and aesthetically pleasing. I ordered from a tablet, which was a strange new addition, especially considering that an employee was standing about two feet away, watching me as I nervously added lychee popping boba to my order. I got the Tiger Sugar Milk Boba with the aforementioned lychee popping boba. I had never tried this before; I used to get buckwheat milk tea (strange name, but surprisingly delicious), but they took this off the menu. I got a regular, the smaller of the two size options, and it cost $7.84. For such a steep price, I wished that there was more boba and less ice, but alas, I was disappointed. This didn’t bother me much, though, as the drink was delicious. It wasn’t very flavorful, but this is understandable, as my order was basically just milk with brown sugar syrup. It tasted a bit like honey, which I liked, and the boba was a perfect size and texture. Overall, I rate it 7.5/10.
The next restaurant is Presotea on Hulen. I had never tried this restaurant before, and I’m not sure why, as I had a wonderful experience. The restaurant was very cute, with a wall covered in faux-roses and trees with light-up flowers. I ordered a very similar drink to that of 1102: Brown Sugar Fresh Milk with pearls and lychee popping boba. I got the smaller size, less ice, and 70% sugar instead of the normal 100%. This last substitution lessened the drink’s flavor but also made it somehow more refreshing. The drink was a perfect size, about 16 ounces, with a perfect amount of ice, taking up nearly ⅓ of the cup, which I loved. The boba pearls were delicious, but the lychee boba had a strange aftertaste that I did not particularly enjoy. It cost $8.34. My mom got a bubble waffle with whipped cream and sliced strawberries, which she enjoyed. We rate both of our sweet treats 8/10.
I also tried P’tit Tea Maison in Montgomery Plaza. This was a very cute store, and to my pleasant surprise, there was a giant plastic replica of a cup of boba with pearls spilling over the edge. I also feel inclined to mention that the Barbie movie soundtrack playing in the store was wonderful, and it added to the overall experience. I ordered a Taro Milk Tea Boba, and it cost $7.85. It came in a large cup with a lid that had cat ears on it, which made me grin. It was very good but didn’t have very much flavor. I rate it 7.5/10.
My friend recommended that I venture over to Carrollton to try a place called Tiger Sugar, which I remembered from my time in Providence. I already knew that I liked this store but wanted a refresher. I went to the Tiger Sugar location in Arlington and ordered a Black Sugar Boba with pearl milk and cream mousse. I added “jumbo boba,” which is supposedly the world’s largest boba. It was not very good. The drink itself was delicious, but not very flavorful. (This lack of flavor is a pattern that I noticed in all of my recent boba adventures, so I deduct that it is not personal to each restaurant.) The boba itself was the best out of all of those that I tried, as it was very sweet and soft. As I mentioned before, the jumbo boba was not great, but I loved the idea. Unlike the other stores, Tiger Sugar has holiday specials and limited-edition treats, which I find very clever and exciting. They even had heart-shaped boba in a strawberry cream milk tea for Valentine’s Day. Tiger Sugar has been promoted in Le Guide Michelin, Thrillist, CNN, Cosmopolitan, and more, but I believe my review is the most important. My drink cost $6.34, and I rate it 8/10.
I will also mention Sikhay Thai Lao restaurant, which has great orange chicken and pad ki mao, but even better boba. I have tried their taro milk tea slush, oreo slush, and chocolate slush, all with boba pearls. This boba is fantastic, and I rate it an 8-9/10, depending on the day.
