Cha Dao Tea Place

Unless you’re living under a rock you surely noticed the milk tea craze in Manila. There seems to be a new brand opening another milk tea store every week in every corner.

Why is Manila so much into food trends? Do you remember when the hottest thing in town was shawarma? Then it was lechon manok and frozen sago drinks. Recently it’s frozen yogurt and now the king of food trends is milk tea.

I don’t usually go around trying each and every brand that opens but since the people behind Cha Dao Tea Place so kindly sent me 4 gift certificates to try their product so I went to the nearest branch one day before the certificates expired.

Cha Dao was tucked into the ground floor of a building along a busy street in Kapitolyo, Pasig. It was quite close to Pioneer Center supermarket where I do my grocery shopping.

Ready made brewed teas were in clear containers.

Aside from 4 glasses of tea which I took out and gave to my staff to try I was also allowed to pick a bag of chips. The choices were cassava, potato and taro which was out of stock.

The girl said the potato was the best seller but I chose the healthier cassava. Oh my goodness it was so good!!! Thin, crisp and well seasoned. I kept munching until almost half the bag was gone. I had to ask for some tape to seal it and stop me from finishing the whole bag.

cassava chips

Based on the suggestion of the girl behind the counter I ordered their bestsellers – Assam, Wintermelon and my usual milk tea favorite, Green Tea with little milk and no sugar. I just add my favorite Halo sweetener which is the only artificial sweetener without any after taste. It’s a local product that I can only buy at Pioneer Center supermarket.

I asked for a small sample of each tea so I can try it. The Assam and Wintermelon milk teas were virtually indistinguishable and quite weak for me. My staff liked them though. My Green Tea was quite weak too until they added more brewed tea to it and it was quite pleasant.

My favorite was actually the Cha Yen which was made with red tea, vanilla, cinnamon and milk. It was their version of Thai milk tea. It had the most character and unusually good flavor. Strangely my staff didn’t like it that much. I guess we had different tastes.

Cha Yen and Green Tea milk teas

Cha Dao’s menu

With all the brands of milk teas in the market, local brands have their work cut out trying to compete with international brands that come from Taiwan. My suggestion is to try the one that’s most convenient to you and find a drink that you like. Every one has different tastes and no one can say which brand will remain victorious in the end. So drink as much milk tea as you want while they remain open. But beware with all the milk and sugar these milk teas can pack a lot of calories just like your favorite coffee or sago concoctions.

Cha Dao Tea Place
Unit 2, FADI Building,
#5 West Capitol Drive,
Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City
(Beside Cebuana Lhullier and main Kapitolyo gate)
telephone: 738-8719 / 0905-2236041