YES, it’s Sakura Season in Japan, and the Cherry Blossoms are abound, painting the entire country pink and white. It’s a wonderful time to be in Japan, but, alas, not everyone can afford to fly to Japan to experience it.
So, Tokyo Bubble Tea brings a piece of Japan’s Sakura Fever to Manila with its Sakura drinks and special cake, the Sakura Mango Roll. Tokyo Bubble Tea, a seven-year-old Japanese milk tea place and restaurant owned and operated by young and talented couple Reagan and Aileen Tan, celebrates the Cherry Blossom Season with two special beverages: Sakura Milk Tea and Sakura Milk Shake.
Sakura Milk Tea is a dreamy concoction of vanilla and green tea, blended with cherry blossoms essence for that romantic feel. As for the Sakura Milk Shake, it is a smooth and creamy blend of vanilla, milk and green tea, finished with cherry blossom essence to add to the Sakura Season experience. Both drinks are served with a generous amount of Tokyo Bubble Tea’s signature sweet and chewy bubbles (or black tapioca). Introduced just in time for the Sakura Season in Japan, the Sakura Milk Tea and the Sakura Milk Shake will be available only until the end of May, so if you’d like to try it, you have two months to do so.
I got to try the Sakura Milk Tea last week when publicist-friend Nana Nadal invited a few media friends to visit Tokyo Bubble Tea’s Katipunan Extension branch in Quezon City and not just celebrate Sakura Season with the restaurant’s Sakura offerings but also meet with the amiable owners (*in my case, since I’ve met them many times before, it’s more of catch-up time with them now) and get to try new items on the menu as well.
I also got to try the Sakura Mango Roll, which is another beautiful work of edible art by Aileen Tan. While Reagan takes care of Tokyo Bubble Tea’s Japanese-inspired food, Aileen is in charge of the cakes and desserts under the umbrella of Honeybee Patisserie. An area of each Tokyo Bubble Tea store is devoted to a Honeybee Patisserie display, where you will find a wide selection of cakes, rolls and other desserts that taste as good as they look. My favorite Honeybee cake has always been Aileen’s Matcha Cappuccino Cake, which is a heavenly green tea cake with cappuccino filling between layers of green tea cake. It’s moist and smooth on the palate, and I love the way the flavors meld together beautifully with every bite.
Between the Sakura Milk Tea and the Sakura Mango Roll, the media group feasted on Bulgogi Nachos (245), which has bulgogi drizzled over a bed of crunchy nachos with spicy mayo, onion, tomato and carrot strips; Shinjuku-style Buffalo Wings (Php265) for six pieces of chicken wings seasoned with a special mix of spices toasted in a spicy and aromatic Buffalo-style sauce; Hawaiian Salad (Php175), a healthy salad of ham, corn, cucumber and pineapple on lettuce; Samurai Burger (Php24, a juicy pork patty with simple layers of honey mustard and lettuce and a topping of signature apple sauce with potato frits on a sesame seed bun; and Wafu Gambas Carbonara (Php285), a combination of shrimps, red bell pepper, cream, chili flakes, shiitake mushrooms and Parmesan cheese on pasta.
The Bulgogi Nachos was good, a bit spicy, which is perfect for Filipinos who love a little kick in their food. The Shinjuku-style Buffalo Wings was a bit too hot for the group, but the good thing is that you can ask the server to prepare it “mild, medium or hot” for you. The Hawaiian Salad was light and refreshing. I didn’t taste the Samurai Burger, since I don’t eat much of red meat, but the meat lovers among us in the group said it was juicy and flavorful. One of my favorites was the Wafu Gambas Carbonara. It was lightly creamy, the pasta was al dente, and the ingredients complemented each other.
The group also shared four main entrées: Aloha Sesame Sauce Glazed Salmon (Php295), a fillet of salmon on grilled pineapple served with tomato concasse and mashed potato (or garlic rice); Sizzling Chicken with Black Pepper Sauce (Php22, a piece of juicy chicken covered with special black pepper sauce, sliced and served with sweet corn kernels and mashed potato (or garlic rice) on a sizzling plate; Korean Bibimbop (Php285), which is Japanese rice topped with zucchini, carrots, beansprouts, spinach, mushroom, egg, chili pepper paste and special sauce; and Omurice with Steak Mushroom Sauce with Hamburg Steak. The latter was a combination of two dishes on the Tokyo Bubble Tea menu – Omurice with Steak Mushroom Sauce (Php23, which had the omelet filled with fried rice bathing in a lovely special steak sauce with mushroom, and Hamburg Steak with Demi Glace (Php25, a delicious hamburger patty with a luscious tangy sweet demi glace (brown sauce) that balances out the cream and mushroom.
My tummy had room only for two, so I tried a bit of the Aloha Sesame Sauce Glazed Salmon and Sizzling Chicken with Black Pepper Sauce and Garlic Rice, and both were good. I’d order them the next time I dine at Tokyo Bubble Tea.
Finally, it was dessert time, and the cake of the hour, Sakura Mango Roll, was served along with slices of my favorite Matcha Cappuccino Cake, Chocolate Caramel Cake and Frozen Mango Brazo. The Sakura Mango Roll had character. It was lovely, as all cakes by Honeybee are, and the bits of fresh mango complemented the cherry blossom essence of the Sakura Mango Roll. It could stand up well to my favorite Matcha Cappuccino Cake.
Although the Tan couple behind Tokyo Bubble Tea keep a relatively low profile in the local culinary scene, I really love the food. It’s my kind of food. It’s the type I wouldn’t mind eating every day.
(Tokyo Bubble Tea has branches at SM Megamall, SM City North EDSA, Tomas Morato, Wilson-Greenhills, The Fort Residences-Bonifacio Global City, TriNoma, Eastwood City, Katipunan Ave., Robinsons Bacolod and Centrio Mall-Cagayan de Oro.)
