ID Cha House

Great outdoor seating area but mostly for smokers. You do not want to sit there if you hate breathing second hand.
The boba is out of this world however they sell out fast. The last few times we went they ran out which is a bummer.
If you order to-​go drink you can get upgraded to bigger size cup however no stamp for your card unless you drink/​eat in.

A late night cravings one stop shop.
ID Cha house didn’t sound too appetizing from the name itself, but once we gave this place a try, wow wee it was pretty darn good.
We ordered two drinks, a bowl of beef stew noodles, and a side of fried tofu. The two drinks we got were the horoscope drinks so Taurus and Leo for my hubby and I. The drinks were sort of like mystery drinks, we could figure out what the Taurus is but we couldn’t find out the flavor of the Leo, and as mystery drinks I think I should leave them as mysteries and not spill the flavors.
But anyway, the service and the vine of this boba shop was very chill, the dining area was very big and spacious, not crowded at all. The servers were all very helpful and nice also.
The beef stew noodle was absolutely delicious, the broth was 100% tasty. Not too salty or too brothy or even too beefy. Out of most places that I’ve had beef stew noodles, ID Cha house had one of the best beef stew noodles around the 626 area. The fried tofu was perfect also, not too squishy or fried or salty.
The only negative side to this place was that they were trying to push us out, since they were about to close soon. Which I guess isn’t their fault, but hubby told me that even if that was the case, they shouldn’t have urged us out like that.
But as a midnight snack shop ID Cha house is a perfect place to go for your foodies who like to go out late at night. With authentic, good Taiwanese food and flavorful mystery drinks, ID Cha house will not let you down. :^)

How can you not serve snow ice during winter? What kind of preposterous is this? Was craving for some snow ice and found that they were open late night. Turns out, they don’t serve it during winter which is why they are only getting 2 stars.
I was going to order their taro drink but ended up not to since it has green tea and knowing me, I’ll be up until 4am. My friend did order their lychee smoothie with boba and I asked him how their drink was out of 1 – 10 he said 6.5−7. So it was meh.
The girl that was taking our order seemed annoyed when I asked her about ordering the taro drink and she just said, «what tea? There’s many, which one you want» in an annoyed attitude. Like damn I’m sorry that you are going to close in 20min but at least suggest the different types of taro than give me that answer sheesh.

I didn’t know ID Cha House opens this late till 2am. Usually for a late night sweet drink crave I go to AU79 or so. Checked out this place and surprisingly there were a lot of people.
I got the Scorpio, one of the horoscope surprise drinks. It was good. Sweet ice slush drink and my brain froze.

Holy crap go for the drinks. «skip the food». I can’t even believe they can serve this food «sudo» Chinese food in San Gabriel and stay in business. Drinks are fine. Dog friendly patio.
Hot Oil Wontons are wontons with Sambal chili paste and Korean Chili powder.
Ground Pork and Rice was old dried out pork. Service was pleasant.

My favorite is the Oolong Green Milk Tea!
This place usually gets packed on weekend nights, but if you want to grab a quick drink, this is the place! Good quality teas and staffs are friendly and attentive. The only issue I have with this location is their limited street parking, but other than that food and drinks are great!

Good service and the food was really good. Popcorn chicken is not dry and it was so tender. Especially happy because this place opens till midnight.

This is one of my favorite tea spots in the SGV. I always find myself coming here when I just want to sit down and chill with friends. They have magazines for you to look at by the side and also sets of playing cards in the front where you can just grab. I’ve had nights here where we just stayed here for hours talking and playing card games. Usually, the smokers are outside and nobody is inside (every time I went, at least)!
Now onto the good stuff, the tea. I usually order the Longan Tea in the hot pot. This is my absolutely favorite and it’s mildly sweet. I have also tried the ginger tea (with real ginger slices!), kumquat lemon tea (this tastes like lemon tea, which is good for your throat if you’re sick), and Guanyin tea (tastes like dimsum tea). I have tried so many teas that I’m having trouble recalling them, but I’m sure all their hot teas in the hot pot is delicious!
You can also ask them to refill the water in the pots so that’s really nice too, but it tends to lose its flavor. Halloween is an interesting time to come here because their décor is a little bit spooky, haha.

Teas good and inexpensive, stamp card available. Popcorn chicken and snacks are good. Parking limited, use the side streets. Seating can be indoor or outdoor.
I come here to hide. When I want to plan some trip or catch up with a friend and talk without having to whisper in front of people studying. Mellow ambience.

Horrible horrible service. First, I ordered a large coffee for $ 4 and took a seat. They don’t tell us in advance that they don’t allow outside drinks even though I have it in front of them the whole time. They wait until after they deliver the drink to say something. Then we realize that they didn’t give me the large coffee I ordered and paid for. They gave me a small one.
By this time, I was already outside in my car. I walk back in and ask them about itm. The lady tells me that the large is only a takeout special and since we sat down for a whole 5 mins, she served the small. Remember that I paid for the large size already.
She then says that she will do ME a favor just this once and give me the large size, which I ordered and paid for.
Seriously avoid this place like the plague. Horrible service, mediocre drinks, expensive prices, and very few outlets and shitty seating.

I just wanna say I like this place. There are many delicious drinks! Thank you, I enjoy your drinks every weekend!

I think their drinks are delicious!
Prices are comparable with AU and Ten Rens. If I had $ 5 to spend on a drink, I’d spend it here on a tasty Osmanthus Oolong Tea with Aloe, ¼ sugar. (Actually sipping on one right now as I write this review). I’ve ordered this drink at Ten Rens several times before, but the taste of the tea just doesn’t compare and for some reason I was often unhappy with my drink at Ten Rens, but the bf likes to go there for their love potion #6, so *shrug*
I don’t ever recall not liking my drink here to be honest, but due to the limited amount of parking spaces (even street parking), I find myself feeling hesitant to come here as often as I would like.

No wifi… BRICK TOAST SO FANCY… frying machine broke. came here for popcorn chicken.

A friend wanted to meet at this tea house. As I was turning into the street that the café was located, I noticed how small the parking lot was and opted to just park down the street. Parking isn’t readily available here. I saw a lot of people parking on the street. However, it was a weekend so there was no limit to how long you can park there.
It was pretty empty on a Saturday afternoon, oddly. The patio was full though, of smokers. To enter the café, you will definitely walk through a cloud of nicotine smoke.
I came in with a laptop. There weren’t much outlets but since it was mostly empty, I scored myself a table next to an outlet.
Music was a bit loud, but most tea houses play loud music. I ordered an oolong milk tea with boba, small. Their cup covers were loose and when I drank it, a decent amount spilled out. If you even tip the cup less than 90 degrees, it’s very prone to spilling.
I think, like most of the other reviewers for this café is that customer service isn’t very good. And it wasn’t even busy! When we asked for the check, the one guy working there said okay. He walked away and never came back. I had to go ask him about the check and he said he gave it to me already. Once again, there literally wasn’t anybody in the café. And I asked in English and Mandarin. The change came back semi quickly but honestly, it was a bit ridiculous the amount of time I had to wait for the check.
Drinks are alright. I didn’t try any of the food, so no comment on that. And service can be a hit or miss. Hopefully, it’ll be a hit for you. If not, I’ll totally understand how you feel.

After eating extra spicy food in Chengdu Taste at dinner, I despite need some serious cool down. So a boba milk tea shop sound idea.
I never knew a tea place exist here, must be recently open not too long ago. The interior clean and bright. They do had tea stamp !!! They drink is has something different, I try one of their zodiac drink was basically yogurt mix with some other flavor, was pretty good !
Tea place isn’t much to write about it, the thing get people neves is the oversweet, this this one isn’t the case.

Been going here for years, just because I think their teas have a good balance. As for their service and food, that’s another topic.
Their tea is actually pretty good. I like that it’s not too heavy like most of the tea houses around. They don’t have a crazy heavy hand on the milk or the sweetness. Their Honey Milk Green Tea is my favorite because it has amazing balance and it’s stayed consistent over the 7 years I’ve been going here! They used to be smaller but they bought out the location next door and remodeled the space to make it a lot bigger.
Their food… is meh. I’d eat elsewhere.
Their service is typical Chinese «what do you want.» type of service. Sometimes it pisses me off but for the most part I get it to go just because of that. They got my order wrong one time and blamed it on me ordering wrong. That pissed me off.
The only reason for a «decent» review is because I love their tea. Everything else needs major improvement.

Came here last night to try out their drinks to see what the hype was all about.
Pros:
+ decent place to hang out with your friends
+ not as busy like other tea houses out there
+ to go special where you purchase a small and you’ll get a large (great concept to encourage more to go orders!).
+ take credit cards with a minimum of $ 10 purchase
+ clean and cute decors
Cons:
— only a couple of parking spaces in the parking lot. The chances of getting dings/​scratches are very high
— no outlets inside, only outside
— extensive menu
— drinks (we ordered: passion fruit green tea with boba and their horoscope drink-​pisces, both were meh).
— a bit bothered at the fact that someone came in after us got his drinks before us.
This place didn’t live up to the hype, so I wouldn’t come back here on my own nor would it be my first choice.

The heavy oncoming traffic and lack of parking always deterred me from giving this place a chance, but after passing this tea house for so many years, I finally decided to try it.
Upon entering, it seems like your typical tea house with plenty of seating. I came here and ordered a regular Blueberry Green Tea (~$ 5), which was recommended by the server. To be honest, this tea was delicious, but for ~$ 5 and it being a regular size, my wallet would be happier if I took my tea business elsewhere.
I would honestly give this place a 3 stars max, but –2 stars because of their minimum charge and customer service. There is a $ 10 minimum, but their sign is not noticeable anywhere in the seating area due to the plants and interior design.
I tried to pay for the bill (~$ 9) and the waiter said I had to pay a $ 10 minimum in order to use my card. I asked if he could charge me $ 10 and I’ll give him the rest as tip, to which he responded it being illegal. I’m not too sure of the legality of this, but really? He then insisted that I purchase another drink. I explained that I honestly didn’t want another drink and if he could just excuse this one time since the $ 10 minimum is enforced so they could make more money. He then pushed the menu to me and pointed at a drink and said to get it. My friend and I even asked to speak to the manager, to which he responded, «She’s right there” – not even asking her to come over and speak with us. In the end, I left with an unwanted drink.
I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone, not for their overpriced drinks, their slow wi-​fi, and definitely not for their lack of customer service.

One of the many boba establishments on Valley. They have a very small parking lot so you usually need to find street parking. There is outdoor seating, but it is usually packed with smokers playing cards. When I came on a Tuesday night, the outside was packed and the inside was completely empty.
Drinks and the boba were pretty good, not too sweet which I like. The popcorn chicken I ordered tasted like all the other popcorn chickens out there, good but not amazing. It is a bit pricey, about $ 4 for a regular sized item. They also only accept credit cards with $ 15 purchases or more.
ID Cha House is really a place you come to hang out with friends, play some cards. They play blast great EDM songs and is open late.

Parking was slim pickings at JR Café across the street so we ended up at ID Cha House. It was dead in here on a Saturday afternoon (1pm).
There was a dude smoking outside and it filtered into the entire restaurant even though we sat the furthest away as possible. The tables weren’t overly clean, not disgusting but there was noticeable dust that could have easily been wiped during the down time they seemed to be under.
FOOD
There aren’t a lot of choices if you are choosing to dine here for a meal, they have more snacks on their menu. We normally get the same items (even from the Monrovia location): beef noodle soup, steamed dumplings and their tea eggs.
DRINK
I got the kumquat lemon black tea with less sugar, which was very good. My boyfriend got the coconut milk tea, which I thought tasted like coconut soft candy from my childhood. They didn’t have boba at the hour we came :(
SERVICE
There was one person in the kitchen and one who took our order and made the drinks. Our server/​drink maker didn’t communicate in English all that well, that or she was new and didn’t know what the heck we were asking for (less sweet, toothpick, combining stamp cards).
OVERALL
The parking lot is somewhat tiny, but we managed to get a spot because we were there at an off hour. The restaurant is not as clean as I prefer, but the food and drinks were decent/​average.
Unilocal 100 Challenge 2013 — 82 of 100