Boba Guys Soho

A Review of the New Boba Guys Cookbook | Eater SF

"I was thrilled to see the Hayes Valley flagship reopen this week — boba fans had been desperate for milky teas and chewy pearls — and Boba Guys, which began as a 2011 pop-up out of Ken Ken Ramen before going permanent at 19th and Valencia in 2013, has grown into a small chain with nine Bay Area locations plus outposts in LA and New York. They're known for upgrading bubble tea with quality tea leaves, organic milk, from-scratch syrups (no fake powders) and drinks ordered to specified sweetness levels, producing colorful layered drinks like dirty horchata and strawberry matcha and toppings from grass jelly to egg pudding. The co-founders Andrew Chau and Bin Chen — self-described nerds who met playing ping pong — also released The Boba Book, a playful, design-conscious cookbook (millennial pink, line-drawn illustrations, chatty author bubbles) that walks through classics like milk tea, matcha lattes, Thai iced tea and Vietnamese iced coffee, includes a thrilling chapter on toppings and a primer on simmering boba pearls to capture the silky-but-chewy “QQ” texture, and reads like a nerd-out for devoted boba fans even when some specialty drinks require sub-recipes and special equipment." - Becky Duffett