Karen G.
Yelp
We came into Cha Feo during one of the Open Newbury Street weekends and were drawn in by their food stall right outside their physical store. We were really excited to try some of their food as we have seen a lot of excitement around Cha Feo on social media. We ordered their Chinese Style Classic Milk Tea with Tofu Pudding, Strawberry Tanghulu, and Chinese Crepe (Jianbing) with Sausage. Our drink was prepared inside the store and we had to pick up the other two items from their stall outside.
Although we were most excited about the jianbing, it was unfortunately what we were most disappointed by. It lacked a lot of flavor and our added sausage did very little to salvage the taste. I also wished that it would be packed in a more hands friendly way as this dish is meant to be picked up instead of trying to eat it with their provided forks out of a styrofoam box. I did appreciate that they made them fresh to order and that you are able to watch the process. However, for the price of $9.95 with an additional $1.95 for the sausage, I would not order it again. The tanghulu was pretty good! The sugar coating is a bit thicker than what I am used to, which can make eating it a bit hard with all of the sharp edges that are harder to melt, but the strawberries were juicy and sweet. I also enjoyed their milk tea, it was creamy and just sweet enough where you can still taste the tea. I was also very excited to see tofu pudding as a topping choice, which is an uncommon find.
The service experience at Cha Feo wasn't the best. To start, they have an outdated menu pasted near the ordering area which has items that are no longer on the menu. There is no indication that this is an older menu and it looks the same as the other menus in the store. I originally ordered an item they didn't have and because the store was loud, I couldn't hear the staff telling me they no longer made it. When I tried to proceed with my order, the staff seemed impatient with me and was not very helpful in offering an alternative. Additionally, Cha Feo charges an additional $0.50 for cold drink orders with no ice. This is not yet a common practice for other bubble tea stores so I am not tempted to come back. Lastly, as some folks have already pointed out, there are open food containers near the front of the store. I assume these are placed for easy access for their outdoor stand but does not seem to be the most sanitary and food safe practice.
Overall, my experience with Cha Feo was a mediocre one. If you really want to try Jianbing I would say to give it a try here and order a drink but otherwise, I would probably skip visiting if you are in the area.