Care For A-Gantea Party?

My bummed out feet took me to Robinsons Place Manila today.  I have not visited this mall for quite some time now so I wanted to know what's new.  Naturally, I went to look for a tea place.  Serenitea was my obvious choice but since I had to walk around, it surprised me that they have lots of tea shops already.  In fact they have all the major ones: Serenitea, GongCha, ChaTime and even Happy Lemon plus more.  I was pulling my hair (what's left of it) because there were so many choices and I can't make up my mind.  Then I realised my feet are tired so I had to choose one that appears to be cozy.

A familiar name caught my eye and guess what?  They have sofas!  So Qoola it is.  Wait a minute, I thought I wanted tea, why go to a froyo place.  Well, Qoola happen to have another label inside its store, A-Gan Tea.  Think Jollibee and Red Ribbon in G4, I'm not sure how to describe the relationship.



 

So I fell in line, browsed their menu and since I can't find the usual, Okinawa, Nagoya, Oolong or Earl Grey, I chose Vanilla Milk Tea with Black Pearls.  They have a massive menu which they organised into Milk, Herbal, Fruit, Original Brew.  They also have a Milk-Lid selection which I think is somewhat similar to GongCha's house specialty where the tea is topped with milk.  They also serve, coffee, yogurt and smoothie.  And yes, there's more.  They have chicken, pork chop and rice boxes!  Talk about having it all (well almost).  That's something you don't see in other labels.  And I think it's so Filipino to have a "pambara" with your "panulak."



We all fell in love with those black round stuff that lights up and vibrates when its time for you to pick up your order.  Sorry to disappoint but they dont have any of that.  But, check out what they have to offer.



 

Definitely not shabby!  A refreshing site indeed.

When my huge cup of joy came, another thing surprised me.  I've never seen black pearls that are small.  It's like the street sago that you store inside your mouth and turn them into darts with the plastic straw only they were black.  It made me sceptical and nervous at the same time.

The tea was okay.  Reminds me of the tea stand in my old work place that I would frequent.  So that's a good thing.  Then there goes my first sip of their pearl.  To my delight the pearl is actually tasty.  I'm not sure what the equivalent of al dente for pearls is but it is exactly like that!  Tender and chewy but a hint of resistance when you bite into it.  And it's not bland.  They also serve it with the right amount of ice so you dont have to worry about drinking all the tea and you're still left with the ice on top of your hard to get pearls.   That made me a happy camper.

It was a great first time for me.  Will definitely visit them again and try out their drinks, and their rice box!  Right now, they only have 3 branches: Greenbelt 2, Robinsons Place Manila and the new one in Ayala Triangle.  I hope they get to open more.  For more info about their menu, you can visit their official website, or like Facebook page.