Chatime is a well known beverage franchise in Taiwan with more than 300 outlets around the world with 20 outlets in Malaysia.

Finally, i’ve had my first cup of Chatime bubble milk tea.

I realize that i’m rather outdated but i’ll never join in the hype craze of queuing hours for some launching of brand injected food or anything for that matter. I’ve learned my lesson during the Big Apple Donuts Craze. Seriously it is just too much hassle and too much expectation buildup.
 

The outlet in The Gardens is a typical kiosk with employees hectically taking orders and brewing the frothy drinks behind the counter. To my surprise, the Chatime outlet here is still flocked by many despite it being just a take-away kind of kiosk without sitting area.

We were actually happy when we saw the short queue and gladly join the line until we realized that there is a crowd waiting on the other side of the kiosk. The ordering system is totally inefficient. To speed things up a staff goes along the queue and takes your order but you still have to stay in the queue to proceed to the cashier where your order had been keyed into the system. After you pay you get a receipt with a number. So you walk to the other side of the kiosk to join the already big crowd standing in the middle of the busy corridor to wait for your number to come up on the small screen on top.

We ordered the Pearl Milk Tea to share because we just couldn’t decide what to order. The menu is very extensive with all types of juices, smoothies and milk teas. But that is not all, you also get to customize your drinks and decide on the many types of add ons available.

Well, while we find the milk tea here delicious; it’s definitely authentically brewed milk tea and not the powdered variety; i don’t think it is worth the time spent on the queue. Perhaps a visit when the Chatime fever had subdued else it just takes too long.
 
 

——————————
Chatime
Lower Ground, The Gardens,
Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.