London’s best bubble tea

Taiwanese bubble tea culture has been around since its street food beginnings in the Nineties, but over the past decade or so, it’s established itself as one of London’s best loved sweet treats, with cafes sprouting up across town pouring the stuff.

Today, it’s as trendy as ever — much of social media remains teeming with tapioca and bursting with boba. For the seasoned bubble tea aficionados and novice’s alike, the list below will help you wade through the online fodder and sort the best of the bunch in order to get that sweet tea fix sorted.

The Alley

The Alley is a bubble tea success story. The Taiwan-based group have been nailing bubble tea in London for years and have gone on to open five thriving sites in Holborn, Mayfair, Camden, Hammersmith and have most recently at Stratford Westfield. The group specialise in a range of fantastic teas and freshly prepared, hand made tapioca. It’s these soft, sweet and lightly chewy pearls that give bubble tea its feed-friendly look, and the Alley is one of the few places in town where you’ll see the dough being prepared each day. They also serve up a range of viral-ready sweet-eats, most recently their Croffle; a croissant-waffle hybrid topped with tapioca pearls.

Various locations, the-alley.uk

BAO Kings Cross

Taiwanese bao bun specialists and one of London’s most essential restaurant groups, Bao opened their Kings Cross location in 2020, offering their distinctly polished take on classic Taiwanese cafe culture. The bakery at this location is a highlight and their bubble teas from the to-go counter are something of a gem. Perfect for a beginner looking to break into boba, they offer two teas to go, a simple oolong or a more classic fresh milk iteration. Deeply flavourful, highly addictive and inescapably chic, Bao is an ideal way to begin a journey into the world of bubble tea.

Unit 2, 4 St Pancras Square, N1C 4DP, baolondon.com

Biju

Singaporean-born founder Nick Phan first brought Biju bubble tea to London nearly a decade ago. Today the self styled “boba connoisseur” runs a site in Shoreditch — sadly past London locations in Soho and Camden now appear closed — serving freshly prepared bubble teas. That freshness is key. Unlike other teas, which are often made with powdered milk, Biju prides itself on fresh milk and freshly-brewed, loose leaf tea. The result? A lighter, more subtly flavoured creation which still delivers that tantalisingly sweet hit. Go for the roasted brown sugar and salted cream boba for the ultimate indulgence.

Unit 27, Boxpark Shoreditch, E1 6GY, bijububbletea.com

Dragon Cat Cafe

Dragon Cat Cafe is not only a popular bubble tea hot spot, but it also specialises in sweet Taiwanese wheelcakes; a fluffy pancake typically filled with adzuki bean, chocolate or sweet cream. Its original outpost in Hammersmith closed in mid-January but the team quickly announced a residency on Chinatown’s Little Newport Street serving a variety of creative wheelcakes (ranging from savoury cheese and tomato to sweet apple and custard) and classic bubble teas — most recently announced was a real Taro milk tea and accompanying wheelcake dessert in celebration of the Lunar new year. The residency space is there until March, so run, don’t walk.

15A Little Newport Street, WC2H 7JJ, dragoncatcafe.com

Happy Lemon

This busy Chinatown hangout is usually packed, but it’s worth battling through the bustle for boba of this calibre. Their creative concoctions include a rock salt cheese addition — a slightly savoury, slightly salty addition which sounds odd because frankly, it is. Whilst this one might be better suited to the more seasoned bubble tea drinkers, there are lighter and simpler offerings available too, which, as the name elucidates, often revolve around lemon. The grapefruit lemon smoothie is one perhaps best enjoyed in slightly warmer months, but the mango matcha latte works year round.

24A Newport Court, WC2H 7JS, happy-lemon.co.uk

GoNuts bubble tea

Bubble tea’s recent trending can be attributed to the sort of cafes that offer an experience that GoNuts seems to have nailed. A pastel colour scheme? Check. Vast selection of teas? Check. An affordable menu? Check. Customisable options set this cafe apart and the ever-expanding menu is designed to keep fans of bubble tea coming back to try each newly added iteration. The menu features fresh milk teas, brown sugar pearls, fruit teas and seasonal specials but its also added a unique cream cheese foam series, a topping designed to deliver both sweet and savoury flavours. If that sounds a little too ambitious, then plump for a fresh milk matcha or vanilla tiramisu version instead. Crack open the ‘gram and drink up.

228 Holloway Road, N7 8DA, gonutstea.com