180/8 Central Park Avenue, Chippendale NSW
Hey, funny how typos can inspire? Accidentally missing the ‘C’ off Chippendale, resulted in Hippendale! And that is what Chippendale has become, the hip place to open up a shop which has a fresh new take….. This time a fresh new take on Bubble tea.
I’m not counting, but I think Bubble Nini Tea has been around for at least 6 months now, we first went there within the first few weeks of their grand opening, and it has since redefined the concept of Chinese Bubble tea stores. The usual Bubble stores, it’s usually a small shop with a long counter; a bunch of people non-customer facing hurriedly mixing people’s tea orders; loud Asian pop music; and a cashier chick who is just going through the motions of taking your order and then taking your cash. But here at Bubble Nini, everything is chilled and relaxed, an oasis of calm. (I was tempted to place an exclamation point after calm, but that would seem shout-y, so calm, you only get a full-stop). This is what I mean by calm- The music was a selection which was at a slower pace cranked only to 30% volume; the staff were nearly Zen-like speaking softly when taking our orders; the shop was large and spacious with nice wooden floorboards; the store was fresh smelling from all the fresh day-old flowers; and even the AC was more refreshing than other AC units, it wasn’t cold but just right! I swear, their cash register till even had a soft close cash draw! Ok….. I’m probably exaggerating, the service girl was just so chilled and relaxed that she probably slid shut the reboundable drawer with just the right amount of force to close it, without making a clatter. Ah! So Zen!
Tonight, after a heavy protein-laden meal, and an after-dark search for LP’s Quality Meets, a refreshing Jasmine tea with seasonal fruits (orange, green apples and pineapple) was exactly what the gastronomic doctor ordered! **Note: $6.50 for medium size. The drink is actually called ‘Orange You Glad to See Me’, and all other drinks have similarly creative names, some word-plays cheesier than others. Hehehe. What was served to us was just the right amount of sweet, the tea taste was pure, and the fresh fruits lent just enough of their natural flavours to lightly flavour the drink. All in all, a refreshing beverage. And when you’re done, and if you have some cutlery on hand, you can cut the plastic seal of the cup open to consume the fresh slices of fruit at the bottom. Yum!
Our first time at Bubble Nini Tea, we had a milk bubble tea (Exhibit B). The stand-out of Nini teas is the fact that their pearls are handmade, and flavoured like its accompanying milk tea flavour e.g. pink strawberry pearls for the strawberry milk tea, Matcha pearls for the matcha milk tea etc. Bubble Nini Tea definitely worth your while when you’re down in Hippendale!
Four Senses: Touch Smell Taste Sound 