Serenitea Milk Tea Cafe at BF Homes: An Honest Review

Royal Milk Tea with Panna Cota at Serenitea

I’ve heard a lot about how Serenitea is one of the best places to get milk tea. But every time I would pass by, the absence of any parking slot easily swayed me to try it some other time. So, when my friend, Erika, arrived from Cebu last week and invited me to hang out with her, I took this as the chance for me to finally get to try the Serenitea tea cafe. After all, I wasn’t the one driving this time.

As expected, it took us some time to get a parking space. I was a bit worried that there were too many people ordering. But when we got here, it was practically empty. As to why there was no parking slot, we were guessing it was the number of people that were having a massage at Nuat Thai located right next door or some of the other establishments close by.

Endless Array of Milk Tea

The menu at Serenitea was extensive. Any first-timer to this tea cafe will find so many different tea drinks to choose from: cold milk tea, hot milk tea, fruiteas, brewed teas, Yakult teas…the list just seemed endless.

On top of that, you can also choose from a variety of add-ons to include in your milk tea—bricks (nata de coco), pearls (tapioca) red beans, pudding—and even the sweetness level. When I saw that, I couldn’t help but smile. Finally! Someone actually thought of that! I guess that’s why a lot of my friends love this place. You can choose from the following sweetness levels:

• Full: Standard sweetness
• Less Sugar: 75% of the Standard
• Half Sugar: 50% of the Standard (duh!)
• Mild Sugar: 25% of the Standard
• Healthy: No sugar added

Aside from teas, they also serve some snacks here like Pepper Tofu, Pepper Chicken, and Fish and Chips. We weren’t able to try any of them because we just had dinner at home and we were still so full. I made a resolution to try them out the next time I drop by.

Refreshing Alternative to Coffee

I have to say, the milk tea we got here (I got the Royal Milk Tea while Erika got the Wintermelon milk tea) were pretty refreshing. Although the mild sugar level was a little bit too bland for me. I’d probably try the half sugar next time. It’s definitely a healthy alternative to all that coffee I have been drinking these past days. It was also very affordable. Eka’s drink cost just P105 (about $2.48) while mine cost about P100 (about $2.36).

Milk Tea Delivered to Your Door

The other good thing that I liked about Serenitea was that they are willing to deliver your milk tea to your home. The minimum delivery order depends on how far you are from their branch. Since I only live a few blocks away, the minimum order amount for me is P200, which is a pretty okay deal for me.

Service to be Desired

I won’t mince words here. The milk tea that they serve here is good, but the service is just terrible. As soon as we entered Serenitea, we made our way to the counter. For a while, we stared at the menu, trying to find out which milk tea to get. The lady at the counter was not only unhelpful. She was also rather impatient with us despite the fact that we told her nicely that it was our first time here.

Thinking that this was just an isolated incident, I decided to head over here again a few days later. Unfortunately, whatever bad service Erika and I received the first time we came here seemed to be the norm. While waiting for my milk tea to be prepared, one lady approached the counter complaining that she’s been waiting for almost 20 minutes to get her order. I actually had to wait for a whole 15 minutes just to get my order of milk tea, and get my change.

The worst part? Apparently, during that entire time, the pepper tofu that I ordered was not yet being prepared. Utterly disappointed, I asked for what I paid to be refunded to me. When I did, the lady at the counter suddenly told me that it was already being prepared. I waited for another five minutes, and when I followed it up again, I was again told that it was not yet being prepared. Frustrated, I again asked for my money, and again their story changed. But this time, I insisted to get my money back.

The Verdict

Overall, the extensive menu offered at the Serenitea tea cafe in BF Homes makes this a great place to try milk tea if you haven’t had one yet. However, I would strongly recommend that if it will be your first time to visit here, make sure that you go with someone who’s already familiar with the menu and would be able to recommend to you a few things to try.

In as much as I would like to say something good about the quality of service that they have here, I simply can’t. The impatience of the ladies at the counter towards customers who have a difficult time choosing from the different milk teas, and the long wait time you need to endure just to get your order hardly makes this a relaxing place to enjoy milk tea.

Have you tried the milk tea at Serenitea recently? Rate your experience below: