QTea Cafe

Defintely prefer Jumbo Jumbo’s taiwanese chicken over theirs, because Qtea’s is less basil-​y and the pieces are bigger which make them less crispy and more juicy, if that makes sense.
This place is a good option for anyone in the Fairfax area and doesn’t want to go all the way to Rockville for fried crispy goodness. Their pork buns on the other hand are sooooo yummmyyyy. I haven’t had anything like it. Bubble tea is decent. Will come back because I live nearby!

I was looking for some high quality hydration from the summer heat when QTea Café popped onto my radar.
Things looked promising when I walked in to the bright and sunny shop with a sign promising that all of their products are made with organic teas imported from Taiwan. How can you go wrong?!
I ordered a small almond milk tea with 25% sugar, bubbles and pudding. I took one sip and found it to be too sweet — apparently they had heard my order wrong. No worries at all! The cashier was nice enough to make a new one for me.
That being said, this was one of the first times in my life that I had to throw away not one, but two bubble teas. My heart is still crying. The taste was too artificial and way too sweet for me. It was like they dumped three bottles of McCormick’s Imitation Almond Extract in some milk, placed 3 ice cubes in it and shook it up. I tried to drink as much since as I could since I paid for it and I was thirsty but my body just couldn’t handle the taste. The pudding was stuck to the bottom but looked unappetizing since it had tons of spongy holes in them, unlike the smooth creamy consistency I’ve gotten used to at other stores.
I’d definitely check the place out again for some Taiwanese fried chicken but I would definitely pass on the boba next time!

Upgrading my review because I frequently stop here for their chicken and fish appetizers. It’s delicious everytime. Also a good place to get my bubble tea fix every chance I get.

Meh… didn’t really care much for this place. Came in and got boba tea. I ordered the taro milk tea with grass jelly. The jelly was pretty decent, the texture was soft and easy to eat but I hate how it’s really big and not diced up. Not much of a problem because it’s easy to suck up through your straw but you would need to reposition your straw every time.
The taro drink was ok. It was pre made and kept in their slider fridge. Boo… I thought it was going to be freshly made per order but it’s not. Grass jelly, pour the drink in the cup, seal it, and done. Overall it’s alright, kung fu tea in Springfield still reign number 1 on my list.

If you want Taiwanese street food i.e. Taiwanese fried popcorn chicken then this is the place. I know most people from VA go to jumbo jumbo in MD to get their fix but now we got one in our own backyard. Of course they have more than Taiwanese chicken.
I tried pretty much everything on the menu and the ones stand out are the pork chop on rice, Taiwanese fried chicken or popcorn chicken, and the pork belly on rice is good change from all the fried stuff.
Now the bad… It’s a small place so carry out is recommended for busier times. The crispy tofu wasn’t crispy more gooey because of the sauce. Their fish cake and squid is eh. Their bubble tea is eh too. It would’ve been awesome if they had stinky tofu on their menu since their theme is Taiwanese street food.
Gave 4 stars because of friendly staff and cleanliness. And of course this is the only place in VA you can get Taiwanese fried chicken. Btw they charge you a 5% fee if you use credit cards for less than 10 dollars but I think they do give a student discount. Just heads up.

very patient and accommodating service. the cashier patiently allowed my boyfriend to sample both the pudding and grass jelly, him being korean and all.
i ordered the green apple green tea with less ice and less sugar and it was perfect. my boyfriend seemed to thoroughly enjoy his black milk tea w pudding.
overall a good experience from this Taiwanese café, which also serves food.

QTea Café is a small little Taiwanese bubble tea/​snacks shop, located in the Hmart plaza off of Fairfax Blvd. They offer some Taiwanese appetizers, such as Taiwanese popcorn chicken, pork belly buns, fried squid with spiced salt and basil, dry bean curd, etc., as well as an extensive list of a variety of milk teas, flavored ice teas, and smoothies with toppings (tapioca, grass jelly, pudding, red bean, lychee jello, green bean, green mango jelly, and original jelly). The hubs and I stopped by to get some drinks after having dinner in the area — I had the Jasmine Green Milk Tea (this had a fragrant taste, not too watered down, and could have been slightly sweeter), and the hubs had the Sour Apple smoothie with tapioca balls (the bubbles were forgettable and a bit overcooked; the smoothie itself had a weird off taste to it — kind of chemical-​like as an aftertaste; after the first sip, it was thrown out). There were some who were enjoying their drinks, and a couple who were enjoying some of the Taiwanese appetizer plates. Staff were pretty friendly, and there is also a loyalty card with 10 punches getting you a free drink.
+okay milk tea drinks (Jasmine Green Milk Tea)
+avoid the smoothies (Sour Apple)
+friendly staff
+loyalty card available
+located in the Hmart plaza

The house black milk tea was A-​OK. I wanted to sip on something while browsing Hmart and I had my eye on this place for a while. I ordered the milk tea 25% sweetened with bubbles. The 25% tasted more like 0% but the bubbles were perfectly sweet and chewy so that balanced it out. The tea did have a distinct flavor which I also liked. I would probably not order this again because I’m much more of a kung fu tea fan. I would like to come back and try the buns and popcorn chicken though!

Nice little asian tea spot in the heart of Fairfax. This place is Taiwanese style similar like Kung Fu Tea, however they are no where near as good as Kung Fu Tea. If you don’t feel like driving to Annandale then I guess this place is serviceable. Just don’t expect anything extraordinary.
They do have a very good Taiwanese popcorn chicken meal. Very delicious and crispy, but a little bit on the greasy side. But if you don’t mind that, then give them a try. I really enjoyed this dish.
They provide an assortment of tea selections from slushy type to strictly liquid type of tea. Nothing terrible or extraordinary, but very serviceable and convenient in the heart of Fairfax.

I’m just going to point out the poor reviews kept me from coming here for a long time and boy do I regret that.
Many people come seeking the authentic experience and taste of milk tea shops you’d find out in L.A. or even Taiwan. And while it might not meet those high expectations 100%, it does come quite close considering the area is still early in adopting the milk tea/​boba trend.
First off, it is very similar to the shops I’ve been to in L.A. The business is a small café where you can order milk tea, iced tea, and smoothies. They also have a selection of Taiwanese dishes to snack on while you slurp those drinks. I’ve been here on three separate occasions and have had no issues.
Toppings are extra, but that’s pretty normal so I don’t see why that’s an issue for some customers. It costs extra at few other milk tea shops around here too. Soooo…¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Well moving on…~Ordering the drink~
It’s a basic ordering process you see in all milk tea shops, but it can be overwhelming for first timers due to all the variety of choices and options.
Pick a milk tea, iced tea, or smoothie flavor of your choice — I highly recommend for first timers Jasmine Green milk tea and highly advise against coffee.
Choose toppings — My go to is grass jelly or boba, can never go wrong with those.
Ice/​No Ice/​Hot — I love getting my milk teas hot, if you haven’t tried it before, I highly recommend it!
Sweetness Level — I tend to leave this alone at the normal 100% sweetness, but if you don’t want a super sweet drink, go for 75%.
Size M or L — Go big or go home!
My favorite drinks:
1) House Black Milk Tea/​ANY toppings/​Hot/​100% Sweetness
2) Jasmine Green Milk Tea/​Grass Jelly and/​or Lychee Jelly/​Hot/​100% Sweetness
3) Taro Milk Tea/​Boba/​No Ice/​75% Sweetness
4) Winter Melon Iced Tea/​Boba/​No Ice (no ice in iced tea. whaaaat?)/75% Sweetness
I DON’T recommend the coffee milk tea. It just doesn’t taste right. If you want a good coffee milk tea, go to Kung Fu Tea in Annandale. They do it right.
In terms of the food dishes, the spiced popcorn chicken is great. Goes really well with whatever you’re drinking¤¤
Overall Verdict:
Not all flavors are good. Not all are bad. But are they worth trying? Sure, find your flavor! It won’t blow you away but they’re good enough to keep you coming back. The food sits very well with the tea. I implore you to try the place yourself at least once if the reviews are what hold you back. This place sits in one of my favorite milk tea places of NoVa with an honest ⁴⁄₅ stars.

I really enjoyed the food here! I’ve gotten the Taiwanese chicken and fish cakes a couple of times, and I think it’s delicious. Prices are good also, $ 6 – 7 for the chicken, as you can choose the appetizer version or entrée version that comes with rice and veggies. One thing I would love to see, though, is if they used the authentic chinese pickled cabbage on the side instead of steamed veggies. I usually drive to Rockville for this, and I think this is just as good! The jasmine green milk tea also reminds me of Jumbo tea. Love it!

*bubble tea review only*
I really, really, really wanted to like you, QTea.
There aren’t many bubble tea places around the area and so I was hoping that it would at least be able to satisfy my cravings. Unfortunately, the bubble tea was too diluted, too sweet, and not very flavorful.
My first drink was the lychee iced tea with lychee jelly. The lychee tea itself was decent — syrupy but it wasn’t bad. The lychee jelly is the best topping
I’ve tried so far.
I’ve also tried the house black tea, a standard milk tea drink found any at bubble tea establishment, which I got with normal jelly as well as grass jelly. The original jelly had a strange texture to it (I’d recommend just getting the lychee jelly) and the grass jelly was very dense and the texture was also weird (I’m used to softer, jello-​like consistencies). Some reviews say that they don’t use powder, but there was still powder or something floating around in my cup.
Sad to say that I was pretty disappointed in my bubble tea experience. I might come back to try the food, but I think I’ll pass on the drinks.
*$ 10 minimum for credit cards otherwise it’s an additional 50 cents*

Boba drinks. You can taste that they use powder ingredients and I really frown upon the extra charge for the bubbles/​pearls. Save your bubble tea needs for Eden or Kung Fu tea.
Steamed Pork Belly Buns. Cold, tasteless, and sad. Has a somewhat gelatinous texture combined with the coldness makes you regret all the bad decisions you’ve made in your life.
Taiwanese Fried Chicken. The star of the show. The reason this place gets a solid 3 for me. They are boneless and served in a small bag. You use a skewer to eat them which really won me over. Gives it a «street food» feel and is nice for sharing. It tastes exactly like the chicken from A&J’s in Annandale. Portable and tasty!

3.5 stars!!!
Good for a quick fix without having to drive all the way to Maryland; however, some improvement needed. In comparison with Jumbo Jumbo though, some popcorn chicken pieces were not crispy enough and needed more flavoring. Bubble tea-​wise the green milk tea is good (a tad watery) while the regular milk tea is a little too sweet for my liking. The grass jelly is also a tad watery in consistency.

***Just for drinks***
We were running errands in the area and decided to stop in for a cool tasty beverage at QTea café. Craving a cold drink in December– not too odd given it was 60 degrees out. The space is clean, bright, and plenty of light. The menu consists of mostly drink items and a few food items. I decided on thai milk tea with boba and my husband ordered a coffee smoothie with boba.
I figured it wouldn’t take too long for our order to come out. There were only two people ahead of us and there were two people working. Unfortunately, the service here was not fast. If you are in a rush, I don’t recommend coming here. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, thinking their drinks would be over the top delicious, but they were just ok. Nothing special in my opinion. Also– they forgot my husband’s boba. He got the correct smoothie, just without boba. Small detail but when you pay extra, it adds up.
Maybe they are still working out the kinks since they are relatively new. However, I may not come back.

Bubble tea could be improved. Not very flavorful, and kind of watery. OK for the price, because it is lower than most in the area. However, didn’t satisfy my craving for boba.
The food was reasonable. The fish cakes are AWESOME! Tons of flavor and spice in that dish, and good to share. The combo with the pork on rice, and popcorn chicken was great to share with my girl friends as well. I thought the chicken was very juicy, however the taste wasn’t as good as I imagined. Pork on rice was filling, since I just came from work.
Overall, OK spot for hanging out and quick bites, but if the quality was improved on bubble tea drinks, I’d be more inclined to return.

I finally had the chance to scope this place out and I must say that I am a fan!
Their house black milk tea has a distinct creamy/​sweet flavor to it, even with half the sugar! It did not overpower the taste of the tea itself. The egg pudding is silken and flavorful and they are generous with the herbal grass jelly. Their Taiwanese fried chicken with basil was quite tasty and juicy, but could have been more crispy in my opinion. Their squid balls were good too, though, I wish it had a dipping sauce because some had seasoning and some lacked it. Their peach green tea is also refreshing.
Overall I was very happy with my orders. The service is friendly though there is a slight language barrier and our order was almost mistaken.
Definitely a convenient spot to go to in Fairfax!

From reading the other reviews it seems like they may still be working through the new-​restaurant pains a bit, but we had a perfectly fine meal here over the weekend. We tried the pork belly buns, a seasoned hard-​boiled egg, and the Taiwanese chicken, plus a mango smoothie (w/​o bubbles this time).
The pork belly buns were perfectly good, if not the best I’ve ever had (the pork could have been a bit more tender, but the flavor was good), and the seasoned (soy sauce it seemed like) hard-​boiled egg was an acceptable additional bit of protein.
We really like the Taiwanese chicken though; it looked like it was going to be dry from the outside, but it was actually quite juicy inside, and the dusting of five-​spice on the boneless bite-​sized chunks made them perfect for gobbling down.
The side of rice was fine, if a little less sticky than you’d get at a Korean place (and thus a little harder to each with chopsticks), but the sprinkling of ground pork on the rise really only seemed to add a bit of salt, and not much else in terms of flavor.
The mango smoothie was fantastic though, we both ended up chugging it down and risking ice-​cream headaches because we were enjoying it so much. Next time we’ll have to try it with bubbles though and see how their tapioca is.

Qtea Café, I welcome you with open… handfuls of Taiwanese popcorn chicken because I want to eat all of it all the time. I’m so glad that there is a worthy alternative that is much closer to me than Jumbo Jumbo. This café is located on Fairfax Blvd. next to Super H Mart so you can pop over before (or after) picking up other goodies.
You can probably guess what my favorite menu item is. The little fried pieces of juicy dark meat chicken are delicious and addicting. They’ve got a good bit of a kick to them but not too spicy. They cook them to order and are served piping hot so use those skewers for easier transport into yo mouth.
I recommend the House Black Milk Tea which wasn’t too sweet and had real tea flavor. You can ask them to adjust the sweetness and amount of ice levels to your liking.
I’ve been here a few times and tried items that I didn’t like. Most forgettable things:
— the Pork Belly buns which tasted too sugary and was not balanced with the pickled flavor. It looked like there was finely ground peanuts in it but I couldn’t taste it so I’m not sure if that’s a thing.
— Coffee Milk Tea was a bit bland for my taste
Overall this place is A-​OK but fried chicken is the way to my heart so I’ll be back!

The menu is simple and the prices are on the cheap side. The drink menu had more options than their food menu. I also noticed that for their flavorings for tea they used syrups which was kind of disappointing.
I ordered the honeydew milk tea with pudding and my friend ordered a coffee smoothie with bubbles. We didn’t receive our drinks till maybe 10 minutes later which I thought was a pretty long wait. And I noticed that people that got there after us received their drinks before we did… The tea had an artificial taste to it, probably from the syrup and the pudding wasn’t so great either. I’m not a pudding expert but from ordering pudding at other tea places, the pudding was always at the bottom from the density however here, it was floating. It also tasted very bland and the consistency was jello-​like. I also ordered their C1 combo which consisted of Taiwanese fried chicken and pork over rice which was very tasty but again, it came out late. I was already half way through my large tea when it came out.
The décor is cute and bright however seating is limited. They have a large table in the middle but I think what they really need are more smaller tables instead.