Home Battle of the Cha: Gong Cha vs. ChaTime

I don’t recall ever ordering tea on any airline; it has always been coffee (or a Bloody Mary). See, I’ve never been a tea person unless the tea I’m drinking is Teh Tarik, Teh Ais or Bubble Tea. The last time I had bubble tea was 4-5 years ago at a pasar malam. Back then, I was fascinated by the variety of flavours and black sago pearls the tea came with.


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When ChaTime and Gong Cha opened in Mid Valley, I didn’t quite care. rif however, was really excited about ChaTime. “What? 30 minutes wait for a cup of tea?!! Hell no!” I said to him. I was willing to try the tea, but not willing to wait that long for it. Gong Cha was less crowded, probably because it is located on the second floor of The Gardens, instead of the lower ground floor like ChaTime.


We tried Gong Cha first, because it was easier to get a drink there. Here, you can choose the level of sweetness and ice for your drink. The Signature Milk Green Tea (RM5.90) is one of the bestsellers — we ordered one to try and added the black sago pearl for an additional RM1. Service was pleasant and in 5 minutes, our drink was ready.

Tastewise, I didn’t like it. The green tea flavour was quite strong, but the milk was rather diluted. It would have tasted better had the milk been thicker and creamier. We did however, enjoy the black sago pearls as they were chewy and slightly sweet.

A few days later, we tried ChaTime. Since we got there at 11.30am, the crowd was only starting to pick up. Even so, we still had to wait for 10 minutes. Unlike Gong Cha, the service here was robotic. Don’t expect the staff to be friendly; they hardly have time to do so.

He let me choose, so I opted for the ChaTime Red Bean Milk Tea (RM5.90). There was no need to add the black sago pearls, as they came with the drink. Again, you can decide on the amount of sugar and ice for your drink. While placing my order, the crowd behind me almost doubled.


The verdict? I enjoyed this a lot better than the tea from Gong Cha. The sweet red bean topping gave it a thicker and creamier texture. I also liked that my tea wasn’t overly sweet and it had a pleasant hint of bitterness. Of course the black sago pearls were nice and chewy. I reckon the pearls here were slightly tastier than Gong Cha’s.

Battle of the Cha


In this battle of ChaTime vs. Gong Cha, ChaTime won. I wouldn’t mind going back to try the other drinks from both places. But only when the queue is not too long…

ChaTime: 6.5/10
Gong Cha: 4/10
Verdict: Wasn’t too pleased with my drink from Gong Cha, but the Red Bean Milk Tea at ChaTime got me hooked.


Gong Cha
S-238B, 2nd Floor,
The Gardens Mall,
Mid Valley City

ChaTime
Lower Ground,
The Gardens,

Mid Valley City

14 comments

CUMI & CIKI June 14, 2011 - 2:13 am

woo-hoo! excellent taste coz we prefered chatime too! LOL :P

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M Ỡ Қ ҝ ¥ June 14, 2011 - 2:36 am

I love chatime too! I always go for the chatime milk tea. Do try the matcha red bean smoothie. Taste natural and refreshing with pleasant sweetness from the red beans ;) next time i shall try gong cha and see which taste better :D

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M Ỡ Қ ҝ ¥ June 14, 2011 - 2:37 am

I love chatime too!! Do try the matcha red bean smoothie. Natural green tea taste with hint of sweetness from red bean :D

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"Joe" who is constantly craving June 14, 2011 - 4:15 am

we get your cha time over here too, its funny how the bubble tea faze started yonks ago, died off like the dinosaurs and now back bigger and badder!

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Sean June 14, 2011 - 5:30 am

i haven't tried both gong cha and chatime! actually i didn't even realize there are queues. ok, guess i'm missing out on something here! :D

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iamthewitch June 14, 2011 - 5:47 am

I haven't tried Gong Cha yet! Love Chatime though! :)

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Michelle Chin June 14, 2011 - 7:39 am

there's chatime in sg too, i think…

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Bangsar-bAbE June 14, 2011 - 9:14 am

Michelle – I think it's popping up everywhere now. Like the snowflake craze. :P

iamthewitch – I have a feeling you'll like ChaTime better. But go try Gong Cha and see.

Sean – That's because they don't serve alcohol! LOL

Joe – I give it a year or so…then it will die down too.

M Ỡ Қ ҝ ¥ – Thanks for the recommendation. Will try that next round! :)

Cumi & Ciki – High 5!!

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ulric June 15, 2011 - 7:15 am

I am on my 121st cup of Chatime now…my fav for the Tea Lattes: Matcha n TieGuanYin…with pearls of cos :)

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Lovinlife June 16, 2011 - 12:57 pm

Its like torn between 2 lovers…

If having the choose, my choice will be 'Gong Cha'.. check out my post..
http://ijustwanaeat.blogspot.com/2011/05/gong-cha-ss15.html

And, can you give their 'signature milk winter melon tea' next time? and they have 'white pearl', which gives quite a unique taste…

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Bangsar-bAbE June 17, 2011 - 5:07 pm

Lovinlife – Thanks for the recommendation dear! :)

ulric – You serious?!! 21st or 121st?

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ulric June 21, 2011 - 12:23 pm

Oops…130th as of today…hehe…

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Anonymous January 7, 2013 - 12:04 am

If you want to compare the two, i suggest that you choose the same drink.
As Sig Green tea, and milk tea are totally differnt. Gong Cha also sells Milk Tea with Pearl and you can add on red bean. So maybe you should compare it like that.. order the exact same drink. Thanks (:
Anyway the GC drink i really enjoy is Sig WinterMelon with white pearl. :P

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Wendy May 17, 2013 - 11:00 am

Gong Cha all the way!!! Best milk tea ever….

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