Tea Magic

Pretty solid place. They really fill their stuff up to the very very brim. I can’t wait to try their foods though — I am really looking forward to coming back hear to try their snacks: Fish balls and squid. I hate to say neither of them were very good. The curry fish balls were tasteless and it one of the worst calamari I had ever had. Spaghetti thin rings of squid coated heavily with batter. Do not recommend.
They also have this coconut smoother special called that has «summer» in its name. I stand ashamed for not remember, but there is coconut and strawberry in it. They are also one of the few places in Chinatown that accepts credit cards and is cheap at the same time. it’s pretty spacious and clean, including the bathrooms, which tend to be very run down in many Chinatown joints. You can tell is a new place, but it is a new place that is kept n shape.

The Taiwanese snow ice here is to die for. I tried the mango snow ice which is a thin shaved ice dessert, topped with chunks of mango.
Can’t speak to the bubble tea here since i have never tried it but definitely recommend Tea Magic for those craving Taiwanese shaved ice.

The tea was not magic. There are much better bubble tea places down the street but we decided to try this place because there was no line. There was a reason that this place is very empty. They use a lot of powder– to the point where my throat itched after I drank my tea.

Whelp, I came here for the first time over the weekend, and was pleasantly surprised. The recent string of bad reviews have me worried that what I experienced was the exception not the norm! I hope I haven’t spoken too soon…
I can’t remember why I decided I needed to come here instead of Tea Do. Of the Asian tea/​smoothie/​snack hybrid places in Philly, I’ve only been to TD. It was competent, and it just became my go-​to. I didn’t see a reason to try other places, and in fact have never even ordered food from TD. Anyway, I think I might have seen Tea Magic’s pictures in their windows and was tempted at some point. Sunday afternoon just seemed like the right time to give them a shot.
I knew I was craving two very different drinks, so I just got both an forced one onto the boy. I wanted a passion fruit smoothie with lychee jelly, and they didn’t have passion fruit because they use fresh fruit and I’m going to guess passion fruit isn’t the easiest/​cheapest to procure. No matter, mango was a fine compromise, refreshing and not too sweet (VERY IMPORTANT). I also got a taro milk tea with egg pudding. I didn’t give any specific instruction dictating sweetness, so I was happy to find that it wasn’t too sweet (SERIOUSLY CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH).
I also ordered Taiwanese popcorn chicken and Shanghai pan fried buns. The chicken was a little on the dry side– the meat pieces are abnormally small, so there was a lot more breading in every bite. Not the worst thing to happen to popcorn chicken, and it was far from inedible. Frankly I haven’t had any good Taiwanese popcorn chicken since leaving California. The pan fried buns were a greasy delight. It was definitely average, but ‘average’ is above the level of execution I expect from a tea house.
I ended up boxing my savory snacks because I wanted a shaved snow ice. I misread the ambiguous font and thought it was supposed to be $ 7.50, and I think I confused the cashier a little too. Anyway, it’s a steal at $ 3.50 and 50 cents per topping. I ordered green tea snow ice, with egg pudding again (i’m kind of an obsessive eater), and red bean. Green tea and red bean is probably my favorite flavor combination in an Asian dessert. I also wanted those little taro sticky rounds, but they didn’t have any.
We had the snow ice to go because we didn’t want to stay any longer. frankly we only opted to eat in in the first place because the boy is still using a cane and needed the break. i think only actual children linger inside. i am a bit too old for ‘hanging out’.
i thought the staff was pretty attentive. i had no idea how these places work, and they brought me my drinks and my snacks. then i think, observing that i was slow and seemingly unable to provide for myself, someone brought me utensils. 15 seconds later someone brought me napkins, all without prompting. later on i discovered that these were all available for self service at the counter, so i was probably a charity case in their estimation.

I’ve got to say, this probably ranks as one of the worst bubble teas that I’ve ever tasted. With watery drinks and poor customer service, the only thing that I like about this place is that it is very quiet and empty due to no one coming here! I’ve tried ordering from this place three times, and each drink has been a disappointment.
If you’re looking for amazing boba, try Kung Fu Tea. Excellent fruity drinks, try TeaDo. Pure tea-​tasting drinks, go to Tea Talk. There are many other options other than this place.

Been here a couple of times. Bubble tea drinks are pretty tasty as are the appetizers. The boba has good chewiness to it, just the right consistency. I will say this — some places cannot get the boba right to save their lives and it’s one of the hallmarks of good bubble tea.
The salted pepper chicken and curry fish balls are a good bet if you understand that it’s a place to snack on appetizers, not feast on gourmet food.
Chill place to make a pitstop. A limited number of tables to chitchat, play card games/​Jenga. You may have to wait a bit for the dweebs to leave.
P. S. The «medium» cups would be a small anywhere else, so upgrade to the large.

I tried the honey green tea iced $ 3, green tea sweetened iced $ 2, and egg pudding $ 2.5. All are delicious and relatively cheap! The tea taste is strong, which I approve, and the honey gives the green tea a medium sweetness that’s quite rich. It’s great! The egg pudding has some sweetened condensed milk added to it and makes every bite wonderful.
Seating is comfortable, too! There are some squishy high chairs and sofas: D
My only complaint is that it can get very noisy because of the crowds. So, this isn’t for you if you’re thinking of a quiet ambiance like a coffee shop. Expect occasional screams and bickering from customers playing games. That’s a con to me but could be a pro to you! To he his own!
(Haven’t tried the bubble tea yet though. I see they use powder, so that makes me feel a little eh. Maybe I’ll still give that a shot next time!)

I actually prefer the boba tea here out of all the nearby boba places. The drinks have a stronger tea flavor and the boba is the perfect consistency — soft, but springy. As with other boba places, this place can get pretty packed and loud, but it’s great place to grab a quick drink to go before sprinting to the train station. I recommend the iced green tea with boba and less sugar.
My only knock on the place is the inefficient way they set up the counter to order. It’s impossible to see the menu if there is a line so unless you’re a regular, you don’t know what you want to order until you get to the register. As a result, this makes the ordering process rather slow. Please fix this!

My best friends brother came here with me. Bought me shaved green tea ice and a green tea shake. He got the mango shaved ice. I got to try his too. The greedy fat girl that I am wanted his too.
The green tea shaved ice came with recommended topping of black beans and coconut jelly. My mind thought what a weird combo but ok, if its highly recommended, I’m gonna try it. So, the first bite was oh… Wow! This is cool, sweet and delicious. The flavors melted together in my mouth was a delightful burst of Asian flavors. Just lovely… Cause now I want one everyday.
The green tea shake is stronger then Starbucks flavor and took me by surprise. It was good but I’m so use to my Starbucks green tea frap. Lol.
The mango shaved ice was recommended with pineapples and pineapple jelly. This was yummy. Fresh, sweet and cold. Loved it. I can’t wait to go back and try more desserts.
This place does serve food. Finger foods that I will come back to try. So for now, the shaved ice is highly recommended. You will not be disappointed.

Well, I had a great experience.
Ordered the Pieces smoothie (orange + green apple + yogurt) with boba. Tasty, refreshing, creamy. Sweet without being cloying. I love how the boba here seems to be soaked in a brown sugar syrup. Yummy, chewy perfection.
Plus, the smoothies have REAL FRUIT.
Friend got the thai tea and it was perfect.
We also enjoyed the atmosphere a lot – especially compared to Tea Do across the street. The workers here are much nicer and the crowd is more relaxed as well.
Saw people getting hot snack foods, which looked good.
And at a fair prices, I will be back.
Want to try the patbingsu (shaved ice) as well.

My friend and I came to Tea Magic for iced tea and coffee yesterday afternoon, and it was A-​OK.
I ordered an iced café latte, and it tasted like it was made from powdered coffee mix– which it probably was. My friend ordered black milk tea with red beans, and while she liked the red beans, she said that the tea itself wasn’t that good.
The space was cool though, and is a nice place to hang out with a group of friends or study.

First time coming here and the lady there was very nice. I ask her what do most people get and she recommended the Snow Ice. The best flavors are green tea and mango! I got the mango and omgg it’s the BOMB. It’s not all shaved ice, it’s like shaved ice combine with the ice cream. Idk how to describe it but it was different. Add a topping for .50 cent.
I like how they make their fruit smoothies out of real fruits but I don’t like the way it taste. We got the pineapple smoothie and if you get a large, you can add one free toppings. But the pineapple smoothie was blahhhh and not tasty. Idk about the other flavors but now I know not to get the pineapple one lol. It wasn’t sweet at all and it was watery a bit.
But overall I would come back jus for their snow ice. I haven’t tried their food yet. Maybe next time when I come back!

This is clearly a hangout for teens, which, if you are a teen, then this might be your ideal. However, there are definite problems with this place, even if you are a teen with a need to hang out somewhere. The food is terrible. I ordered a bunch of different things, and the only thing I liked were the macaroons. The beef was chewy/​stringy, the xiaolongbao tasted like they came from a cheap frozen package, as did the scallion pancake. The milk tea was OK, but much too sugary. Maybe I would request less sugar and see if it is any better, but I definitely wouldn’t order their hot foods again.

1. Watery
2. Lacking in flavor
3. Pricey
Consumed: Hot Japanese green tea milk tea with tapioca
This was my first time here and I have to say I’m somewhat disappointed. The quality of the drink just did not make me feel satisfied with the $ 4 I paid. The drink was more watery than expected and it would have benefited from a stronger green tea flavor. However, the texture of the tapioca was really nice though. Perfectly soft and chewy. The tapioca and the nice ambiance are the only reasons I gave Tea magic a 3 star.
I’m not sure I would come back…

This is the newbie on the street.
Not bad, and I actually would go back because they have loyalty cards. However, it’s just so hard to bring myself there when tea do is right across the street, and I like their milk tea just that slight bit better!

I like the American café décor in this place but that’s about it.
The only time I’ve been in here, I ordered a hot drink because it was a cold day. It was some sort of taro flavored milk tea. BIG mistake. It tasted like taro bubble powder added to water with WAY too much powder to the point where I can taste the partially hydrogenated oils and the starchy thickener in the powder – of course it’s not real cream in these «creamy» drinks – and it was way too sweet. There was no tea what so ever in the drink because it looked taro-​food-​coloring-​purple where as if black tea were added, it would be brown purple. If you don’t know what taro bubble tea powder taste like, imagine adding an excess of powdered coffee mate creamer to hot water, stirring it up a bit, and drinking that. That’s what my drink tasted like. My sister got a black milk tea, also hot. I think that one actually had black tea and milk in it and tasted normal.
Between Tea Magic, Tea Do, and Tea Talk, this place has the worst drinks. They do have the «shaved ice» desserts that the other two places don’t have but it doesn’t look right. Taiwanese shaved ice should look like snow. Instead what they offer looks like the consistency of a gelato ‘cept it’s not a gelato. Doesn’t look appetizing to me.

I normally go to Tea Do, their drinks have never failed me. I was with a group of friends and Tea Do was completely packed, so we decided to try Tea Magic across the street. It was almost completely empty, which should have been a red flag. We were a party of 7 so at least there were tables for us here.
I ordered a mango milk tea and I could literally bite on the powder they use to make it… The two girls making bubble tea here also don’t have the proper shakers as they were doing everything by hand, which took forever to crank out drinks for 7.
The atmosphere was different though, we could actually hear ourselves speak. But after all, this is a bubble tea place, and it was terrible.

We came to Tea Magic and enjoyed a pair of fruit smoothies. I had a strawberry-​coconut smoothie with strawberry bubbles (i think they called it a Summer Love, but I can’t quite remember). JJ ordered a Kiwi smoothie.
After a bit more than a 5 minute wait, both were neatly presented. With plenty of seats, including a sweet looking couch, we stayed to relax and enjoy our smoothies. Both were awesome! The Kiwi was thick and full of fruit while the Summer special was smooth and exactly what I was expecting.
Unfortunately, despite the very comfortable seats, it was a bit difficult to relax as it can get very loud in the seating area. Honestly, it didn’t seem that crowded, so I think it is just how the sound carries. Otherwise, I have no complains.
Tea Magic also happily accepts credit, which is a plus considering the number of businesses in Chinatown that don’t.

I came here on July 4^th as my friends and I were walking back from the parade, and we were surprised to find a new tea shop since we love bubble tea! The place itself is pretty modern and I really like that it seems like a good hang out place… they have free Jenga and comfy seating.
I ordered the coffee milk tea with bubbles. The coffee milk tea had a strong coffee flavor, which I really enjoyed. The bubbles, however, were small, hard and too chewy. Not a good thing. My friends ordered the taro milk tea w/​bubbles, original milk tea (they ran out of bubbles, so with lychee), and the honeydew milk tea. We all agreed that while the milk teas ($ 3) were really good (not too sweet, unlike Tea-​Do which literally makes me feel like I am diagnosed with diabetes), while the toppings, which cost an extra 50 cents, were not.
IMO, better than Tea-​Do but worse than Tea Talk. Would definitely come here again for their milk teas, and might try their shaved ice too! I’m cutting Tea Magic some slack for running out of toppings and shaved ice since this place is new.

I was here after they opened on the second day and was super excited as always when new places open in Chinatown. Tea Magic sold me on the space, décor and snow ice. It was lacking initially because it didn’t offer any food items like Tea Do and my first milk tea drink wasn’t great.
However, after many visits here, I’ve become a regular simply because Tea Magic has the better seating and is more spacious compared to other tea places around. Also they have really good durian and avocado smoothies. When they first opened, there wasn’t much but I give Tea Magic an extra star for trying and constantly improving.
They went from CASH ONLY to taking credit. Then they added in cheesecakes and other dessert items. There is also fresh sugarcane drink, which is great. I also like the large drink size option. Tea Magic has reward cards, free wifi, and games for use while you’re there. They recently installed a TV, which is good.