i-Tea

i-Tea opened where Mandalay Noodle was a decade ago. Small dining area inside. 2 tables outside. Minamal decor...

Offerings (upgraded from origins): Jelly series, fruit tea, milk tea, summer frosty, sea salt kreama, iced milk, hot drinks, ramen, appetizers/snacks...

Eats: basil popcorn chicken (9.50)
-ordered at counter, kiosk also available. Ready 5 minutes+. Order # shouted out..
-big chunks of moist, not juicy chicken. Crunchy panko crust. Ambiguous flava leaning basil with tinge of garlic.
*many shriveled basil leaves and whole garlic cloves at bottom of box. Flavas not infused into/onto chicken.
3.5 stars may not order pop chik. again.

I've been to to iTea over the years, back when it used to be $2.75 - $3 per cup. This is my go to for convenience, but not a high end boba shop that sticks out for me.
I always get 0% sweetness since all the drinks already come pre sweetened.
Usually plentiful portions of toppings are given. Most fruit tea drinks are made w syrups and im not sure if anything is made fresh.

Went in today on a Sunday and it was SO PACKED!! Business must be doing great!! I wanted the #13 Ovaltine Hot drink but they didn't do it... so we just got the popcorn chicken. The popcorn chicken didn't disappoint. The prices used to be $7.95. Now it's $10.39.

I wouldn't sit and dine in since it was so packed. order numbers were not going in ordwe.

I took about 3 sips and couldn't finish my drink. My go-to is 0% sugar, add boba - which usually makes it the perfect sweetness for me. But this was sooo sickly sweet I could not drink it. But not only that, the flavor of the jasmine green was so weak.
My husband got the brown sugar boba latte and it just didn't taste that great as most places do that have brown sugar boba. He got 30% sugar where he usually gets 25% at other places and it just lacked flavor.
I think it would be better if they replaced their almond milk with oat milk as it's a better pairing with teas.
Super disappointed and was sad to waste so much.

I can only review one item from here as I was passing by and decided to try it out.

My go-to drink is roasted oolong boba tea.
I'd rate this drink about 3/5 stars if generous. The tea itself is diluted (compared to others I've tried). There is a slight underlying oolong taste but the watery-ness ruins it for me.

I always forget to take photos, but they have the best snacks here! Popcorn chicken & calamari are so good and they give you a decent amount! Grab your favorite drink to go with it!

I ordered a signature boba milk tea and an original spam and egg onigiri. They allow very fine-grained control of sugar and ice, but I just got 50% on each; I might get 30% on each next time. The milk tea had a good, balanced flavor and the pearls were firm and chewy. The spam and egg onigiri is a lot like a spam musubi, but packaged a bit differently; instead of a strip of seaweed holding the piece together, the seaweed wraps around the rice with the spam and egg in the middle, like a folded open-faced sandwich.

Wait time is moderate. This place sees a lot of traffic, but they also have a lot of staff to make the orders. My boba came out faster than my onigiri.

Go-to place for chicken and boba. No other place makes chicken like here. It's so good. I usually get a jasmine milk tea with boba 30/30. It's not too sweet or not sweet enough. I'm not a huge fan of pure sugar drinks but I do like it sweet enough.

When it comes to popcorn chicken, Itea is my favorite place to go! The chicken pieces are generously sized, juicy, and bursting with flavor. The combination of garlic and basil makes eat bite a perfect balance.

Another food item I like to get is their takoyaki. It's a must-try dish!.

I tried their grilled unagi avocado Okinawa Onigiri for their first time and I really liked it! The portion size is big and the combination of grilled eel and creamy avocado creates a delightful harmony of flavors.

The service is usually pretty fast and they do a good job at keeping their tables clean, which makes for a good indoor seating ambiance.

Updating my review to 5 stars. I have to hand it to iTea for always being consistent with their offerings even through Covid and after! Can't say the same for other places. You never have to worry about your tea tasting different because someone else made it or that it came from a different batch.