Chicha San Chen draws praise for tea-first quality with fresh brewing done per order, resulting in strong, authentic flavors and chewy pearls. Many reviewers rate it among the best bubble tea spots in Montreal, with favorites like taro, green tea, oolong, and osmanthus honey and the option to build your own drink with the base tea, dairy, sweetness, and ice levels. The setting is small and often lacks seating, and lines or wait times can be a factor, with price cited as high by some. Service is described as friendly and helpful by many, though a few notes mention occasional impatience at the register or language miscommunications. Overall drinks are praised for real tea, fresh ingredients, and a sophisticated preparation that sets it apart from powdery bubbles, and numerous reviews call it a premier destination for bubble tea in the city, sometimes noting awards and authenticity.
I've been a loyal customer at Chicha Sanchen Montreal for a long time & genuinely love the boba here which is exactly why I feel compelled to leave this review.
Unfortunately, my recent visit today was disappointing due to the staff's attitude & lack of service you can see at the picture. When customers entered the store, the staff member on duty did not acknowledge us or prepare to take orders. Instead, she ignored both myself & other customers waiting in line, leaving us standing for an unreasonably long time without any communication.
This kind of poor service attitude is frustrating, especially as a regular customer who keeps coming back. A simple acknowledgment a smile, a'I'll be right with you' goes a long way. Customers should never feel invisible when walking into your store.
I hope the management takes this feedback seriously & provides proper customer service training to the team. I truly want to keep supporting this business, but the experience needs to improve.
This is the best place to get tea or milk tea. They've won awards in Taiwan!
I personally enjoy the green tea & oolong tea. You can build your own drink with $5.95CAD as the base. I recommend adding fresh milk &/or boba. There's only one size.
I passed by twice during the week & there was no line. Finally when I was here on a Sunday, there was a line out the door. They need AC inside!! It was so hot.
There is no seating inside. It's quite tight inside, barely enough room for a line & a pick up area. There are a couple tables outside under the shade.
Apple Pay/credit card accepted
No bathroom
No WiFi
(This review is also posted on Yelp)
Aug 11, 2025
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I am a bubble tea fan, but mainly into fruity flavours. They did not want to add boba to anything in those lines though. Maybe a good idea to at least give the option.
Simply the best place to get boba in Chinatown! I appreciate the strong & complex tea flavors in the drinks. Even with low sugar, it's still flavorful.
Ayy it's the tasty boba place known for making tasty boba.
First time trying it but it was pretty tasty as expected. The focus on the tea as well as the different method of fresh preparation made it taste better in my opinion.
Got their Dong Ding Oolong Tea & the tea was brewed so well. Honestly, one of the best boba drinks I've had. The flavors, sweetness, & creaminess were perfectly balanced. I also love the packaging of the sleeve + carrier - so smart & convenient!
Had really strong taste of tea unlike most boba places, asked for no ice & the drink came warm (but it's fine, didn't really know what to expect). Tapioca was very good & seemed fresh! $9+ for a small size was kinda rough but would probably come back to try something else
I had the taro king with green tea & honey osmanthus oolong with crystal boba. Liked the green tea but the boba was hard & taro a bit chunky still. It was hard to get through the straw. The osmanthus oolong tea flavor was masked by the crystal boba so didn't really get much tea flavor there. It is pricey & took awhile to come out as they brew the tea fresh & there were a couple of people ahead of me. Definitely don't recommend if you're in a rush. The shop is very small & it gets warm in there. Presentation is very cute. I'd probably come back for a different green tea but really wish the boba wasn't hard.
Since the closing of one of our favorite boba shops, we had been longing for bubble tea with the perfect chewiness. After trying Chicha Sanchen for the first time, it quickly became one of our favorite spots for boba ! While the place & menu are a bit small, the Bubble Volcano was excellent & exactly what we were looking for.
Hands down the best bubble tea in Montreal! (& I consider myself an expert.). The quality of both the tea & its preparation...the care, the packaging... the boba... EVERYTHING.
The milk tea was OK, I don't see the hype that says it's really good, considering it's not cheap. The bobas were a bit hard for my liking. I wish they were more chewy or soft. The formosa fruit tea is highly recommended- light, refreshing, & sweetened just right. The ambience is another story. Will I come back? Maybe I'll pass.
Aug 12, 2024
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We got two drinks: the "Bubble Milk Tea", 8.5/10. The tea/drink is definitely high quality, creamy, flavorful & the boba has the right chewiness. The "Dong Ding Oolong Tea + Fresh Milk" is a 0/10. No flavour. I could only taste the milk. Prices are on the high end. The store is really small, so it can get crowded quickly. Customer service was great, though. Overall, I think it was pretty good but I wouldn't line up for this & would only get a drink here as a treat *occasionally*. I definitely wanna come back some time & try the other drinks though. Maybe it'll make me revisit more often!
