Josefina de la Torre
Freshly fried popcorn chicken and egg rolls sit along side an iced honey boba matcha latte on an outdoor table near the SenTea resturant in Paseo de San Antonio.
We need better boba shops nearby campus, but SenTea is adequate for now.
Settling where Gong Cha was previously located, SenTea brings a similar menu for students, offering boba and milk tea drinks, but also ceremonial matcha and Vietnamese iced coffee.
As someone who is addicted to drinking matcha, I had to try the new place located near Philz Coffee and Campus Burgers.
The business has two self-service kiosks that everyone orders from.
While they did have a register, the employee making the drinks was really busy so it is understandable why they have kiosks to order.
For my first time here, I chose to order a matcha honey boba, popcorn chicken and egg rolls because they were the most appetizing to me.
My small matcha boba drink is $6.65 and with honey boba, it was an additional 70 cents.
I ordered the matcha at half sweetness, but the sweetness overpowered the flavoring with the honey boba.
It was OK for what it was. I could’ve made better matcha than what I had at SenTea.
The prices for the boba drinks are reasonable for students as it is similar pricing to BreakTime Tea which is nearby to campus as well.
Speaking of prices, the popcorn chicken order costs $8.69, which I was a bit surprised.
However it ended up being my favorite thing I ordered, and I realized halfway through eating I couldn’t finish it in one sitting.
I opted for a mild spice, in comparison to the medium or spicy level.
The chicken had that satisfying crunch I want when I’m chewing my food with a slight pepper spice.
I really liked the pepper because it was a mild flavoring for me and it gave the chicken some tanginess to it.
Among the items I ordered, the five-piece spring rolls was my least favorite things, and cost $4.75.
Despite the ingredients being chicken and vegetables, I didn’t taste any of the chicken as there was an overpowering taste of mushrooms.
In my family, you want to eat egg rolls when they are fresh out of the oil because if not the wrapper becomes soggy.
Even though these weren’t my favorite, I could tell the egg rolls were freshly cooked because of the crispiness.
I waited around 15 to 20 minutes for my items which wasn’t too bad considering only two employees were working and I was doing homework.
Even though it was getting busy, the ambience of SenTea was relaxing.
Some students sat scrolling on their phones while other students were doing work on their laptops.
I would come back just to relax there and enjoy eating popcorn chicken to take a break from classes.
Overall, I think SenTea is an adequate boba shop, serving the needs of students who want boba and snacks within close proximity to campus.
However, I do not think it’s the best boba shop, but it is the type of place to satisfy the craving for boba.