Bambi Boba and Coffee

We’re not sure whether Bambi Boba and Coffee actually dates back to 2015 as its signs indicate, as this single-location Vietnamese tea shop first appeared in its current Westminster location in 2022 – three years before we randomly discovered it while driving in the area. While we were wowed by its insanely long (and almost entirely $6 to $7) menu of 22 milk teas, 22 lattes, 19 coffee variations, 11 fruit teas, six smoothies, six slushies, six yogurt/cheese ice blended drinks, 14 whipped cream ice blended drinks, and 18 toppings ($0.70 to $1 each), we didn’t love the actual cafe space – so loud with music near the counter that our order wasn’t heard correctly – and were ready to write our visit off as a mistake.

Then we tried our drinks and pretty quickly pivoted to something approximating love. Many of the coffee and tea drinks can be blended with chocolate, mint, malted Milo, Oreos, fruit, or other teas, resulting in locally uncommon flavors such as a green Thai tea with coffee, mint chocolate tea, Oreo taro ice blended drinks, and mocha mint coffees – plus traditional Vietnamese egg coffee, salted coffee, butterfly pea lattes, and dâm cups of crushed ice and toppings ($6.50). The version we tried, “Green Thai Choco” ($6), somehow became fun by combining roughly equal quantities of green Thai tea and chocolate milk with crystal boba ($0.80), and was surprisingly well balanced across each flavor and texture.