Hydration Coffee & Tea

Worst chicken cutlet I’ve ever had. Salted as if it was being cured for the winter. Milk tea tasted like a cup of sugar milk.
Do not recommend. Avoid the chicken and milk tea.

Lame.
I wanted to get chicken from Amor, but they were closed for Memorial Day so I looked up «boba» on Unilocal and it led me to this place. The idea of boba and bentos together seemed good so my boyfriend and I ventured over here.
First off, this place is in a building that resembles a house. There’s outdoor and indoor seating and they even have a cat around here that you can pet which was pretty cool.
The menu is easy to understand and there’s only a few choices in each category so it didn’t really take long for us to decide on what we want.
I got a lychee milk tea and an order of their crispy chicken while my boyfriend got their honeydew milk tea and a chicken teriyaki bento. Let me say now, the words «let down» come to mind. The lychee milk tea only tasted like lychee because of the lychee bits in it and the crispy chicken was overly seasoned to the point that you need water to wash it all down. My boyfriend ate a few pieces of chicken, a scoop of rice, and called it quits ’cause it was just that nasty. And his honeydew milk tea tasted burnt. Wtf.
Overall, uh, no. Service was friendly, but the food was bleh. The cat was adorable, though.

There are places that you pass by so many times but you neglect to try it out. Hydration was one of those places. However, I decided to try it out during ‘Big Wow’ convention week with my new friend.
My friend and I got the same exact thing, popcorn chicken bento with the tea combo (both were requested to be lightly sweetened).
The bento box was decent for the price we paid. It’s not like «oMgz its totes aMazE~~» you know. The tea was just a total bust. My tea was overly sweet and my friends was not sweetened at all. How does that happen? Not to mention, the tea was bitter. That’s a huge NO-​NO for me! I hate bitter tea. :(
Will most likely pass on by this place again like I use to.

My goodness, talk about disappointing. Just be aware, the pictures they post outside do NOT represent the product you get. I came in soooo hungry and left feeling sick.
Ordered a teriyaki chicken bento and when it came out I could tell nothing was fresh and looked like what I was expecting. Okay, maybe the slice of orange, but that’s about it…
But I do have to say, the bottle of water I ordered with it was perfect. Haha. One star for that!

TL;DR? Food portions are bigger than the other boba shops around and it’s pretty tasty too! Tried their Popcorn Chicken and Sweet Potato Fries and it was flavorful **Review for FOOD Only**!
Food Quality, Service, Prices: A
Location/​Ambiance: B
I have been to Hydration a few times but it was mostly out of convenience and going with friends. This will be short and sweet since my most recent visit was for the food snacks only. Today I was completely craving for Popcorn Chicken (PC). Of course I remember that Quickly’s PC was like $ 4.99? or something ridiculous like that. Amor Café has Chicken Nibblers but I was not too fond of it. Not sure if Thirst Tea had snacks so my brain jolted an old memory– Hydration sells snacks and real food! I headed over and there was like about 3 people sitting in the quite empty café. The cashier (tall, glasses-​wearing college student presumably) greeted me quickly but I told him to continue his duties as I was deciding what snacks I wanted besides the PC, because we all know Unilocalers are true fatties haha. He was so helpful cause I bugged him about the portions and the sweet potato fries. I caved– ordered both chicken and fries and it came out to about $ 7.51? I literally waited 5 minutes for my food, excellent! The snacks came out in regular Chinese take-​out boxes and portions were hearty. Both snacks were fried to a perfect crisp and left me filled. The fries were mediocre and the chicken had a slight flavor– salty? I also told the cashier he should work for GQ haha… Good food and great-​looking service :) Huzzah!

Ok, truth be told, I used to work here. But I won’t try to sound biased or anything. This review is mainly for the food. (The tea was pretty good though, I mean… when I made it. Haha jkjk) Anyway, the food is still the same as it was, like 5 years ago, talk about consistency. Well the ground pork changed a little, but it was still tasty. I really enjoyed my meal, and I super liked the pickled veggies. Food here is relatively cheap for the starving college student. I think my friend (old coworker) and I got a Teriyaki bento, ground pork over rice, fried tofu, and crispy chicken snack for about $ 20. And it was still a little too much food for the both of us.
Overall, food is still the same as I remembered it. Only thing you might get annoyed with is the parking situation, but that’s the same problem you face every where in downtown.

I have been coming here for years and still love the place. I will admit the place was going down hill because the change in management but now that the old manager and workers are back it is right back to where it was before.
The food is what it is, a quick small meal that is definitely not gourmet but it does hit the spot in a pinch. Plus, them having an affordable combo that includes a milk tea is a bonus. They try to make the drinks with fresh ingredients and use nondairy creamers which is a bonus for any vegans out there.
Last thing to note is that Carne Asada Cat is probably one of the most sweetest things to walk the earth. If you come by and see a brown cat with patterned fur feel free to pet her, she is shy but super friendly.

Not the best boba place, but it gets the job done. Been here about 3 – 4 times the past 4 years and each time was just okay. It’s one of those places you go to if you’re in the area and for the convenience. Parking sucks, it’s all street parking with meters. The last visit, they ran out of pearls… at 5pm! I will never understand how you can specialize being a boba place but have no boba. In hopes to substitute boba for lychee jelly, I was disappointed to hear they didn’t even have that! :(
Plus side: The lychee green tea had fresh lychee pulp in it.
Another plus side: 10% off when you check in on Unilocal

Quick lunch: bento boxes, rice bowls, and a whole lot of tea. Best ratings for their crispy chicken. I tried a braised pork rice bowl. Interesting stuff (he said, chewing slowly): fatty meat, carrots, hunks of garlic, and a hard-​boiled egg that had gone purple, all over a big bed of rice.

Came here because, well, quite frankly, I needed some hydration… HA! Sorry, corny, I know, but I had to do it.
First off, it’s tough to find parking in the area. Then, once you make it inside, you’re stuck waiting in line, and it BARELY moves! 2 people working behind the counter at a boba place? Then again, it’s such a small place, maybe an extra person would cause chaos…
I had a Strawberry Milk Tea with Peals for $ 2.75 + 50 cents (for pearls), plus Unilocal provided a 10% discount (yay!). I was surprised at how great it tasted!
Note: If you plan to use a credit card, make sure your order is over $ 7, otherwise, you’ll be charged an additional transaction fee.

This place is good. This was my first time and I got the crispy chicken while my friend got the teriyaki chicken, both are bento boxes, but they have it on plates too. Well. I tried both and it was good ! The chicken was so crispy. The rice was good along with it, the tofu and eggs. Odd but not so bad. Don’t forget about the salad because that is yummy. I tried the teriyaki chicken and nothing was bad about it. The sauce was so good. My friend had dumplings and she said it was good. Overall, the food is good good good. Perfect for lunch. Ph one thing, my friend got a taro smootie but she said it taste nothing like it. Somewhat just sugar and water. If you want tea or any drink, I heard the coffee was good and some of the teas. Some of the items may be out. But there are so much more to choose from so I didn’t mind. Only if they had sriracha !!! Lastly, it is very affordable.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually liked the milk tea from this place. However, the place feels a little grungy. When I walked in, there was a cat just chilling at the door. weird. I got the milk tea, and my friend got hot black tea with boba. Both pretty good.
When we were there there was a club meeting and some people playing some card games, so its nice they let you stick around.
I’ll probably be back to try the food or the actual boba!

I like Hydration, it’s a cheap Asian spot, but they really have issues with their menu. Truly, I really want to spend money here, but it’s really hard. This is my last experience.
Can we please get 2 ground pork over rice.
We are out
how about 2 crispy chicken?
We don’t have that either.
What «do» you have?
Chicken curry.
Great, 2 chicken curry please
Oh wait, no chicken, pork only.
Pork is fine.
Oh wait, we only have fried squid…
Are you sure? That’s not what we want but at this point that’s fine.
Ok, do you want something to drink?
Yes, Can we get green tea with pearls?
We are out, how about black?
Black is fine.
Oh wait… we are out of black
You’re a milk tea station, you’re out of black and green tea?
We will make some, do you want hot or cold?
Cold.
(Continues to steam milk…“hot right?“
No, cold.
Oh yes, no problem, here is your drink with pearls.
There aren’t any pearls in it though.
Oh wait, we will make it again…
Wow, really? 9 of the 10 menu items were sold out. I’d leave 1 star, but I actually like their menu items, when they have them!

I’ve been giong here for the past 2 years to order from their Bento and to get my occasional Tea /​Coffee fix. The Tea /​Coffee is higher quality than Starbucks, but wouldn’t count it higher than Peet’s Coffee. I normally would order the Fried Tofu Bento dish, and the fried tofu has the soft/​crispy taste that I like. They added some Teriyaki added to prevent it from tasting too dry. If you feel it’s too dry, just ask for extra Teriyaki. The staff are laid-​back and relaxed, which adds to the calmness of the place.
Overall: 3.4 /​5.0

Came to Hydration on a warm summer evening looking for a refreshing beverage and I’ve heard nothing but good things… well…unfortunately, the things I heard did not reflect the actual personal experience.
My friend ordered the lychee milk tea with pearl and I ordered the avocado milk tea and crispy chicken.
Upon ordering I was quickly told that they had no pearl and no lychee jelly. Frustrated (cause I really wanted to enjoy the pearl) my friend ordered his lychee milk yea with coconut jelly.
We sat down and waited for our order. My chicken came out first: its distinct flavoring reminded me of the first time I had this at Q-​Cup in Cupertino. Commenting on the deliciousness of the chicken, the lady who took our order came up to us and told us they were out of lychee milk tea. My friend’s frustration was worsening by the second; he proceeded to order the mango milk tea and uttered some remark under his breath.
I received my avocado smoothie and after the first sip, it tasted nothing like avocado. It didn’t even taste like milk. It was a mere shadow of what an avocado smoothie should taste like. I immediately complained to the girl behind the counter. She shot me this look like I was insulting a piece of art she painstakingly created. A trained employee should know how to create this simple drink effortlessly. Didn’t smile nor apologize. Her manager/​supervisor apologized and told me that I was going to get a new one.
The second drink came out and it was a slightly better than the first one. Still didn’t taste like a good avocado shake, more like a mediocre approximation of one.
After finishing our chicken, we promptly left.
I sent a message to my friend who hyped up the establishment and found out that it was under new establishment. Very unfortunate.
Pro: chicken
Cons: drinks and customer service (with the exception of the manager/​supervisor)

I want to give this a 3.5* but I cant so ill round it up.
Close to campus, cheap price, good food and drinks. What can I say? Their milk tea isn’t too sweet. Their food isn’t too greasy and you can order rice with it. YES!
If you check in, you get 10% off so try that. I would still prefer some of the other pearl drink places. But i would still come here if my friends decide to come here.
Their fried squid and fried squid balls are sooo good!

Hubs found this place on Unilocal.So proud of him for using Unilocal,I’m training him well. Muwahaha. Anyways, we were looking for a boba place to meet up with our friend in downtown. As usual, parking in downtown is a little tricky. However, you could try parking at McD’s and walking over if you’re just getting a quick drink.
I loved that there were 2 old Chinese men sitting on the porch drinking tea. One of them even had a cat. LOL!
I didn’t go to SJSU, and even though I grew up and lived in SJ for most my life, I rarely ever went to downtown. It was cool to find a fun college hang out. The staff were friendly. I loved my drink. I got the peach milk tea. Very very refreshing! I am definitely coming back for more.
Don’t forget to check in with Unilocal to get a 10% discount!

I liked the Almond Milk Tea that I got here! AND when I checked in, I got free 10% off because of a free promotion that they had through Unilocal!:) It was very tasty, not too sweet, which is how I like it.
I’m not sure how the prices are as I just waited in the car and my friend paid for my drink! Not sure where the parking was so I parked on the street at a loading zone. Have yet to try to fried stuffffs :) Yum though! Reading these reviews about their food makes me hungry! :P

Ventured over to this side of DTSJ after some dinner at San Pedro Square. It seems like a nice place to study because it was relatively quiet when we got there around… 730ish? There were just 3 – 4 students there, face deep into their laptops. Quiet until we got there… I felt kinda bad.
However about half an hour later, it seems like lots of groups came in here and it did get rather noisy. My friend and I both got green milk tea w/​pearls, it came out to six-​something. not too bad. $ 7 minimum for credit cards though, so we paid cash.
I liked the tea because it wasn’t overly sweet and I could actually taste the tea. It was actually quite tea-​esque so I am a fan. The pearls weren’t too squishy nor too stiff from being refrigerated. Green milk tea is a pretty solid control to use to gauge milk tea places. I mean, if you mess that up, there’s no hope!
We sat here for a couple of hours and just chatted and people watched. I noticed a lot of the customers ordered the bento boxes, so must be decent? Maybe I’ll give it a try next time I’m down here… (but La Vics is right around the corner?!). I also saw people order thai tea, and avocado smoothies, both that looked really appealing so I will back to give those two a try.
No hydration kitty when I was there :(boo.

The coworkers and I decided to venture out to a new place we’ve never had before. It was lunch time and there was only one cashier and one customer.
When we asked the cashier to recommend some dishes to us, it was like… cricket, cricket… My coworker asked what he thought about one of the dishes and he outright told her, «No it’s not good, don’t get it.» When she asked what she should get instead, he gave another blank stare and many filler words. «Umm. ummm.»
I felt like we had to ask the magical question and apparently it was, «What is your most popular dish?» He said the Crispy Chicken so that’s what I ordered. The food came out in an okay amount of time. The crispy chicken is comparable to TapEx, Lollicup, Quickly’s and Barcode. I mean, a one-​item bento box for $ 6 is not bad, I guess.
My highlight is the kitty who chills out on their front porch.