Ayaka Bubble Cafe

If it was based on only the boba tapiocas themselves, I would have to say these were some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Nice texturally and chewy! The smoothies on the other hand were not. I asked the cashier if their bubble drinks were made with real fruit or at least real fruit purée, but she said that none of them were but I could get a smoothie (which were made with real fruit) and add bobas if I wanted. My bf got a strawberry guava bubble drink and I got a strawberry smoothie with bubbles. Both were not tasty at all. They were very milky and powdery and more like watered down milk with flavor– not smoothie smooth. Big disappointment :(probably won’t be back unless it’s to redeem the check-​in offer for the free iced tea.

Ok so I’m not a bubble tea expert or anything but I’ve drank enough bubble tea to know what’s good and what’s bad bubble tea. It’s weird to think how much bubble tea I drink in a week. but I guess I really like it that much. I’m always open to try new places but I usually stick to Coffee or Tea or Lin’s (except not so much anymore because their «balls» are not so chewy).
Anyways, I had heard about Ayaka Bubble Café but never knew where it was until I passed by it as me & my fiancé were heading to the Phở Minh Thu for dinner. I was super excited to see that it was right near by so I could get some after we were done eating.
Even though I was pretty full from dinner, I still wanted my bubble tea. The place reminded me kind of like a Japanese conbini (convenience store). It was cute & very Japanesey. I’m guessing the girl that was at the register was Ayaka. I looked over the menu and it seemed like they had a pretty good selection of flavors. I really wanted to try the rose milk tea but I was a little chicken on trying something different so I stuck with a regular milk tea (blended). To be honest, I didn’t think it was anything special. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten it blended? But it tasted like powdered milk tea (which I don’t usually like) and the bubble was not as chewy as I normally would like. If you want some GOOD bubble tea go to Coffee or Tea or the one in Maunakea Market Place… now that’s good stuff.

Close to work, accessible parking, cool staff and $ 3.50 bubble tea. 5 star review in less than 12 words!

While on vacation/​business in Honolulu for 2 weeks, Ayaka’s was a nice refuge for a solid cup of coffee/​tea.
As soon as I had landed, my allergies went nuts, and it was nice to have the pungent teas wake up my senses and penetrate my allergies to soothe my itchy throat.
By the end of my stay, I was finally getting over my sickness and was able to sample the coffee drinks and appreciate them. The espresso based beverages are tasty and of good quality.
If I’m ever back in Honolulu, I hope Ayaka’s still there doin’ her thing and serving quality beverages.

I was on vacation in Oahu for 6 days, and I went to Ayaka’s EVERY.SINGLE.DAY to get my boba fix (sometimes twice a day). It is $ 3.50 for a large size and it is definitely worth it! Ayaka’s offers bubbles (or boba) and lychee jelly, and you can combine different tea flavors for your drink.
The drinks I tried:
Black milk tea with bubbles — the milk tea is sooo good. It was just the right amount of tea and sweetness. It is one of the best that I’ve ever had, and I’ve had plenty. The bubbles in it are okay. I am not usually a fan of bubbles, and the texture of these were not to my liking. I did like it with lychee jelly, though.
Rose milk tea — this is also really good. It is like the black milk tea, but slightly sweeter, and «rose-​y».
Green milk tea — I got this expecting it to be like at other boba places, where it’s usually jasmine green milk tea. But the tea here is more a matcha green tea, and tastes more like the ones you get from Starbucks — still good though.
Overall, I LOVED Ayaka’s and would recommend it to anyone wanting a milk tea fix in Hawaii! You can also get Japanese snacks here: D

The bubble tea I got was okay. Considering I lived in Taiwan (home of bubble tea) for a summer and drank bubble tea 3 times a day at a different place each time, I know bubble tea. That’s over 180 cups of bubble tea in 3 months!
Maybe for Waikiki this is good, but most of the the drinks were made from powder. I was happy with the texture of the bubbles though! Its not easy to get soft and chewy pearls.
If I’m absolutely craving bubble tea in Waikiki I’ll probably come back.

I’m pretty pissed that Unilocal filtered my previous review.
I really love this place!

Get: Slushie milk tea with boba
I came to Hawaii and searched for Boba all over town and saw that Ayaka had a pretty high rating on Unilocal.So I made the trek over there and was also intrigued by the slushie milk tea. Ummm, milk tea + milkshake icy thing combo? I’m down for that.
Unfortunately, the slushie milk tea had a lot more promise than was actually delivered. I drank the whole thing, don’t get me wrong, but I’ll stick to regular milk tea with boba from now on.

I was soooooo very looking forward to this place. I have been on the look out for a good Taiwanese milk tea/​boba place in Honolulu for quite sometime now (I lived in LA county for 3 years and was apparently spoiled by all the amazing boba places there). So Ayaka, here we go:
Parking situation: If youre heading towards 7 – 11 from the Hilton side, beware! You will need to turn into the lot BEFORE the café. It looks like youre about to hit some tables and chairs, but DO IT. its better than getting yelled at by some crazy vietnamese man for parking in front of minh thu phở.
Boba situation: Boba can be added to their limited selection of iced and hot teas and smoothies. Their Bubble drink (aka flavored power + ice + water, like ALMOST EVERY OTHER BOBA PLACE ON THIS ISLAND) selection is pretty extensive, milk tea FLAVOR, green tea, honeydew, cantaloupe, mango, mocha etc. I tried the honey dew and cantaloupe flavors. ugh… waste of $ 3.50… I WANT MY MILK TEA… :(My brother got the mango smoothie with boba. I don’t see how it tasted any different from mine, although the menu says they use 100% real fruit or something along those lines. It did cost a dollar more… $ 4.50…oh well.
Internet situation: WHAAA!!! free internet!!! and they have computers available for customers to use if you dont have a laptop. you can also print/fax/copy…So I saw a couple happy tourists come in to print their boarding passes. smart!!!

Cute little hole in the wall. But don’t let that fool you. Excellent customer service. & their ambiance makes you feel comfortable & at home. They have computers if you need to check email, etc. Their bubble teas were ‘ono! I’ll definitely come back next time we are in the area.

This is our final stop after every karate class. Delicious bubble fruit smoothies for everybody! Ayaka (owner) is always there with her friendly smile.
Customer parking in the back makes this an easy in and out.

This review is well overdue but this is definitely one of my two favorite places to get boba. The criteria I base my rating on are ambiance and quality.
Let me start with the ambiance. In addition to being an internet café, if you’re looking for a nice place to chill this is a great spot. It has a nice ‘loungy’ feel to it with all the couches and relaxing furniture. The owner Ayaka is the friendliest person you could ever meet and if you’re not sure what you’re in the mood to drink, she has some great recommendations. Definitely adds to the welcoming feel of the place.
There are other things in addition to bubble teas, like smoothies, sandwiches, and espresso. But I have yet to try any of that I my weekly boba fix is my first priority. The drinks themselves, are enough to leave your tummy happy for quite a while and only cost $ 3.50. With around 20 different flavors, it will take a while to try them all but I’m not complaining. The flavor is great and the tapioca balls are Goldilocks (read: just right); never too mushy or too firm.
I highly recommend checking this place out. I suggest trying the chocolate almond bubble tea, definitely one of my favorite so far. When I’m not Unilocaling… I’m probably here enjoying a refreshing bubble tea!

This is a great little café to hang out and get some work done.
The have a few pastries, breakfast sandwiches and asian candies and snacks, and the standard bubble tea and iced tea offerings. It’s a little small, but it never seemed packed (we walked by pretty frequently with it being so close to our hotel). Lots of outlets, but not all of them were grounded which is a little weird since I’ve never seen a laptop power chord that isn’t.
Our boba was delicious. They make them blended style which I personally prefer, but they were milky enough that the tapioca pearls didn’t freeze like they usually do with blended teas.
They don’t have a bathroom which would make it tough to clock too much time here. The bar next door was cool with me stopping in to use their bathroom, but if I didn’t have someone with me to watch my stuff I probably would have just left after having to pack everything up anyway.

Love it!

I go here all the time! The owner, Ayaka, is very nice. I always order the mocha bubble tea, but last time I was there Ayaka recommended Almond mocha. Both are super good! It comes with plenty of boba but you can order extra boba if you like tons of bubbles. I’ve had the mocha with ice cream before and that’s also good. They have italian coffee (really good stuff!) andddd the bagels are great as well.
Also, there are computers there… you can print, make copies and fax. Wi-​fi is free if you have your laptop with you.

This café has a little bit of everything — snacks, boba, computers & fax services.
The owner, Ayaka is very friendly and seems to always be there.
I came here several times after I moved to Honolulu and didn’t have a computer/​fax setup for the first few weeks. Once when my fax was taking too long, I took off and she held my documents for several days before I returned.
I also love the Boba here. it’s kinda icey, more like a shake than milk tea. It’d be a nice place to read /​relax, but since I live so close I never really use it for that.
Like some other reviewers mention, this is a friendly, family run busines. If you’re thinking of getting a snack at 7 – 11 next door, try the Bubble Café instead. I hope she succeeds and encourage others to patronize this business. :-)
Tip: the sign alway says «Family Market 2.0» so don’t get confused if you’re passin by.

Craving for a drink with boba, Ayaka Bubble Café is located a short walk away from our hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Every other time we walked by it was closed. And, finally it was open but we almost didn’t go in because there were a couple of cops there on business, I assume. It felt serious in there. I was standing at the door and I couldn’t tell if they’d serve me or not with the cops crowding the counter.
A cop saw me and made way and said I could order. Okay. I guess something had just happened. A frantic guy came in while I was waiting for my drink asking Ayaka if she was okay and if he could use her phone.
Okay.
In the window, it advertised they had free Wi-​Fi. Inside they had PCs set up for public use as well. The café’s small and painted bright. I got my boba fix and it was an interesting stop.

Refreshing café atmosphere and drinks!
This café has open space for those people looking to relax, study, or get some work done. Internet computer workstations, printer, fax — are all available for your use.
The owner of the café is Ayaka who is from Japan. She is always friendly and takes pride in her shop and drinks. In addition to drinks, she has gathered a fun selection of Japanese goodies and snacks. Try the «Bisuko» cookie snacks… actually for young kids but a perfect complement to Ayaka’s bubble tea drinks. Ayaka said the cookies are one of her favorites as well.
You can see all of Ayaka’s different tea mixes in the glass jars that she keeps near the register. The ice teas are just $ 2.50 with $.50 extra for tapioca bubbles. I rotate between the flavors every time that I visit. The iced tea flavors are as follows: caramel apple, fruit and herb blend, papaya green tea, and blueberry.
If you walked to Ala Moana, this is a refresher stop on your way back to Waikiki. Ena road is right off of Kalakaua Boulevard on your way back into Waikiki. 7 – 11 is at the corner of Ena and Kalakaua.

I love this little café. It is always nice to walk around the corner and get a delicious bubble tea.
The staff that work here are so nice. I always leave a tip because they are so sweet. I want to see this place succeed. With some of the seedy places in the immediate area, it is nice to come into a refuge of bubble tea, pastries and other Japanese snacks.
They have computers available for use and Wifi for those that rather bring their own.
Man, I need a strawberry bubble tea now!!!

People of West Waikiki, there’s an actual café open past 8! (Let the world rejoice!) Tired of ING Direct’s café closing at an ungodly hour? Then find yourself at this very cozy Net Café. Reminiscent of a net café found in Japan, this café serves bubble tea, frappes, tea to go along with their assortment of Japanese goodies (how could you go wrong with a bubble tea, a bit of dried ika, and a nice quiet seat to surf the web?) Because of its quiet atmosphere and that it’s open until 11, you can get some serious studying or work done. The stool seats also face the street, so you can watch the crazies walking out of the two bars or 7 – 11 that are a stone’s throw away.
So come, get a drink, and enjoy your hours of peaceful study! Bring your laptop! They have wifi for their customers!