Milpitas is the perfect place for boba lovers. At least one boba shop can be found in every shopping complex. As an avid boba drinker, I decided to expand my palate and try out some new shops.
I went to three new shops to test out their drinks: Fantasia, Orange Square, and Xing Fu Tang. When I went to all of these stores, they were pretty empty with no lines. To accurately compare the stores, I ordered the same drink across all three shops: a classic milk tea with brown sugar boba, no ice, and less sugar.
Fantasia: When I walked in, I noticed there wasn’t a kiosk in the store, and there was someone at the front taking orders. There were two drink sizes: medium and
large,which are the standard sizes at other stores. I paid a little extra to have a larger drink, and it came out to $7.50 — a pretty standard price for milk tea. After I ordered my drink, it was swiftly made and placed on the counter.
As far as taste, I was pleasantly surprised by their milk tea. I originally ordered it at 50% sugar, but changed it to 70% last minute, which I’m glad I did. At 70%, the milk tea wasn’t really sweet, unlike most places in my experience. The boba itself was really flavorful, with the brown sugar pulling through without being too sweet. Texture-wise the boba was a little firm and really chewy. Overall, I really enjoyed this well-balanced drink.
Orange Square: Orange Square is more of a bento and snack place that happens to serve boba. The drinks here are standardized in terms of sizing. Out of all three places, the drinks here were the least expensive, and I paid $5.35. However, I waited about two minutes to get my drink— the longest time out of all
three stores— despite being the only customer.
In terms of the milk tea itself, I had to order it with 50% sugar; there wasn’t an option of 70%. Still, the milk tea was pretty sweet, and I couldn’t really tell the difference. The boba itself was on the firmer side and chewy. The brown sugar flavor of the boba was pretty good as well: standard but not exactly special. Overall, I enjoyed it.
Xing Fu Tang: Finally, I stopped by Xing Fu Tang, located right next to Sunright. Their menu had many drinks with limited customization options, as you couldn’t add any toppings (like boba) to many of their drinks
Like Fantasia, you could choose the size of your drink. Again, I chose the larger size (the standard in other places). This store was the most expensive out of all three, as the drink came to $7.95. However, you can easily spend over $8 on a drink here. The drink came out pretty quickly. What was cool about this place was that you could see them making boba in real time, and the lady actually measured out how much boba she put in my drink.
I ordered the drink at “less sweet,” but the drink itself was bitter. The boba, however, was really sweet with a strong brown sugar flavor. It was still warm, probably because it was freshly made, and melted in my mouth. Mixing the topping and drink made the milk tea taste a little sweeter, but overall it remained fairly bitter. This could have been because the milk tea didn’t contain any dairy, while the other drinks used regular milk. It wasn’t my favorite drink, partly because I couldn’t get over how bitter the milk tea was, but I enjoyed the boba.
Overall, I enjoyed trying the drinks from these different shops. In terms of sweetness, I think Orange Square’s drink was the sweetest. However, Xing Fu Tang had the best boba out of the three shops. In terms of the drink being well-rounded, I ended up liking Fantasia’s drink the most.
Hopefully, next time, you decide to try out a different store when going on your boba adventures. Happy drinking!
