First Trip to Happy Lemon!

I know, I'm pretty much late into the whole Happy Lemon Hype. While everybody was raving about it, I'm at home contemplating whether I should make an effort to go to Greenhills just to try it out. Too friggin' far.  I've been bugging my sister to come and check it out with me but only last Sunday did she give in (thanks Ate!) :D After attending mass at Baclaran church, we went straight ahead on our mission and try to find out what everyone was raving about. I forgot to research where the place is actually located within Greenhills so I had to send SMS to people I know who had been there for some directions. Gladly, Charles of Wickermoss ended my misery and told me it's at The Promenade beside Starbucks. Thanks Charles! :D

Photo credit to www.clickthecity.com

Sorry, I was not able to take my own picture of the place as I was suddenly shy and it was too dark outside. First thing's first, For those people who have been hiding under a rock lately who has no idea what Happy Lemon is (as I still have so many friends who go "Happy what?" every time I try to persuade them into coming with me!) let me give you some background about this franchise straight out of their menu/leaflet (because it's easier for me that way! :D):

About Happy Lemon...

Happy Lemon started in 2006 in Hong Kong and now has over 100 outlets spread across Hong Kong, China, Australia, Singapore, and other countries.

Happy Lemon aims to provide consumers with a lifestyle experience, interweaving quality beverage choices with popular culture. Whether through our creative infusion of coffee, selected tea leaves, cocoa and lemon or though our careful selection of high quality ingredients from around the world, we continuously surprise our consumers by injecting creativity in every drink we make.

The place was jam-packed when we got there and we were outnumbered by mostly teens hanging out inside. I quickly scoured their menu for what I should order. I know Cocoa with Rock salt and cheese had been getting so much rave from everyone but I was in the mood for some milk tea. I was hoping to lure either my sister or her fiance to order it but they too, had their own craving at the time being, so no luck there. My mind went ballistic thinking of what I should have from their Milk Tea choices. A milk tea with pudding is something I haven't tried before so I went ahead and ordered Roasted Milk Tea with Adzuki Bean and Pudding (Large P100). My sister had Passion Fruit Yogurt with Nata de Coco (Large P90) and her Fiance had the Green Tea with Rock Salt and Cheese (Large P90). 

We decided to take our order to go since we haven't had dinner yet and we were darn hungry. We went to Peri-Peri and there I had the opportunity to taste these concoctions for the first time while we wait for our dinner to arrive. I was really happy with my Roasted Milk Tea with Adzuki Bean and Pudding. I didn't know what Adzuki bean was but basically it resembles and tastes like red beans which by the way I love so perfect! The pudding at the bottom was an extra treat. Tastes like our local leche flan but not nearly as good. I took a sip from my sister's Passion Fruit drink. She said she liked it. It tasted like just a regular Passion Fruit juice that borders sweet and sour. I almost forgot about the Nata de Coco as I asked her what was the thing at the bottom (duh!). Finally, I took a sip of the Green Tea with Rock Salt and Cheese. As this belongs to the innovative Rock Salt and Cheese family, I expected so much from this drink. I drank it from the cup not from the straw as some food bloggers suggested. I took yet another sip just to make sure. Tasted weird for me. It tasted like jasmine tea or what we would like to call sampaguita. Doesn't taste like green tea at all, or was I mistaken? Also maybe I took a sip a little too soon from tasting my sister's Passion Fruit drink? Hmmm...(Ha! That's for meddling with other people's drink! :D) whatever it was, I did not like it. But of course, this was just the first. I'm not totally cancelling this drink out. I'm giving it a second chance for when I visit Happy Lemon again, God knows when. :D

All in all, the experience did not give me the WOW factor that I expected after all of the raves that I heard about it. I could get the same fix at the same kiosks offering the same tea-based drinks at a more accessible location for me. But that's just me :D 

On to the next!