Yami Yami

Elite '08

147

264

Francesca L.

Garland, TX

Why is it that something as simple as a drink can sometimes be so difficult to order? I guess cuz everyone goes out of their way to be special and name their stuff differently etc. Anyway, I figured out the way to order and had a green tea milk tea (they call green tea with cream) with tapioca. The tea was tasty and creamy and perfect. The tapioca were way tooo soggy. Overall, cute place and friendly staff.

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2

6

Jon W.

San Diego, CA

Now 2 things before you read the rest of my review: A. I'm from California and thus I am comparing Yami Yami to the numerous bubble tea/boba places in California. B. I only tried their bubble tea.

That being said....after being in DC for 7 weeks and having crazy cravings for California food...and hearing a friend of mine who goes to UMD saying there was bubble tea, I was definitely going to try it out.

So the tea is decent. It definitely reminds me and tastes like the bubble tea you can find at your typical California bubble tea places. Prices, however, are expensive (at least for my standards). More than $3.50 for a small cup is a bit pricey from where I'm from - however it satisfied my cravings very well and I'd still come here to fill my cravings (and maybe eat some sushi too)

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1

6

Cheryl L.

Vienna, VA

It takes them 20 minutes to make a cup of bubble tea.

Item: Regular Green Milk Tea
Description: Green tea with heavy cream and tapioca bubbles.
Price: $3.65 +tax

Pro: It tastes great!!
Con: Expensive, and the service is wayyy too slow. Every time I come here, people are always waiting at least 20 minutes to get their food. If you're in a hurry, just go to Ten Ren's across the street. Or even Wasabi next door. I hear their bubble tea is amazing. Also, they need to buy a real sound system because sometimes they like to blast really bad Korean music through horrible speakers and it sounds like a man strangling a cat, banging on a pot, all while he is "singing".

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Elite '08

118

182

Su K.

Laurel, MD

--3.5 Stars---

I've been back 3 times since the start of summer session @ UMCP and, predictably, the service has improved dramatically. Several reasons for the upgrade:
1) Faster service - although the order taking system is still fairly rudimentary so I don't know how it will be once students come back in the Fall.
2) Improved rolls - Good bang for your buck. The taste has improved dramatically and I still love the fact that a roll is 8 pieces rather than the customary 6. Crunch Roll ($6) is great and the Spicy Tuna ($5) is the first I've tried that uses Korean Vinegar Red Pepper Paste (Cho Jang) and it was tasty.

For the best smoothie bubble teas in the CP area, Yami Yami is top-notch. For better teas, Ten Ren's across the street is preferred.

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3

19

claudia n.

Silver Spring, MD

Yami-Yami is my place to go for some cheap sushi and good bubble tea that's nearby.

The rolls are huge and good, and I also like to eat the chicken bowls. The chicken is sweet, almost borderline sickening sweet, but to me I love chicken and I love sugar! So it works.

The food is prepared pretty quickly but than the bubble tea? Once, I waited 10 minutes for my bubble tea to be made while glancing out the windows to see if any parking meter demons were near my car. I always order the taro on ice with extra lychee jelly and it's amazing. So I have to suffer through the wait, but I guess in the end it's worth it.

I've never been to Wasabi, but I think I'm going to try soon

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0

17

qing y.

Kensington, MD

Okay...
so when yamiyami just opened. me and my friend were addicted to this place. i mean we'd come here at least twice a week. The sushi was good and HUGE. The bubble tea was cheap if you get it as a special meal. (2 rolls and a 16oz bubble tea for 9.99). u cant beat that. yeah the service was slow, but it was worth the wait.

why the 3 stars you ask? well, that was in the past. now the sushi is small, the rice is dry. I think whole foods fridge sushi is better than this. they upped the price. and getting the bubble tea w/o a meal is just not worth it. OH and their bubbles were never too great.

Rating its conditions now, it'd be a 2 star. but i'll give it a 3 for old time's sake.

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0

37

Eric K.

Chantilly, VA

The food is good and it is really cheap for the amount of food you are getting, but the restaurant has the worst system in the world.  First of all, the wait for your food or bubble tea is extremely long and they do not give you a number or anything that shows which order belongs to you.  I usually get the Combo 1, but the problem is there are many orders that are called Combo 1.  When your food is ready the cashier calls out what is ready and everyone is unsure which order is theres.  It also gets more confusing because the wait is so damn long people aren't sure who was there first, so if there is a repeat order than there is mass confusion.  The only reason I hate going to this place is because of the uneasiness and wait, which is a shame because the food is decent.

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34

33

Jono S.

Silver Spring, MD

The latest incarnation of a little restaurant that could still serves the best bubble drinks around.  Formerly Bubble Bubble Cafe, the shop was once a Lollicup, a popular bubble tea franchise with shops predominantly on the West Coast.  Bubble Bubble Cafe had evolved into a Korean fast food restaurant that allowed you to select which combination of more than 30 flavors* you wanted in your bubble tea or smoothie.  Despite changing owners several times, the bubble tea at Yami Yami retains the same personal choice of cocktail-mixing goodness.  

The drinks can be served hot or cold; creamy or not; over-ice or smoothie-style with blended ice.  The fruit flavors all contain real fruit blended in, though only the in-season watermelon and the fresh avocado have no extra artificial flavors.  Besides regular-sized or mini tapioca balls, you can also add flavored jellies or egg pudding.

I love being about to create my own bubble tea or smoothie concoctions: blueberry / grape / ma-cha (Japanese green tea), taro / black tea, strawberry / coffee, or red bean / green bean / banana...of course, not all the combinations always work.  However, my all-time favorite is the grape smoothie with cream, which I think is analogous to my love of orange-cream Dreamsicle.  You should try the much-better-tasting-than-it-sounds avocado with chocolate stripes, which was apparently popularized in Indonesia.  The avocado bubble smoothie also gained popularity in Vietnam, albeit sans chocolate.  Ask for strawberry and cream with chocolate stripes, and you'll think they should have named the restaurant Yummy Yummy instead of Yami Yami!  

Instead of Korean fast food, the restaurant now serves passable Japanese including chicken teriyaki, seven kinds of sushi rolls, and...well, French fries--you can't get more fast food than that.  Since Yami Yami's grand opening a couple weeks ago post-renovations, I was excited to try out my favorite bubble tea place.  Being a bit leery of fast food raw fish, I went with the California roll and chicken teriyaki.  The pieces of maki were huge and the teriyaki was actually grilled not sauteed unlike the Chinese fast food carryout next door but was otherwise unremarkable.  

Notwithstanding the fast food, five stars are for the incredible amount of bubble tea choices available and the ability to tweak drinks to your exact taste.

*FLAVORS:  Juicy flavors include blueberry, cantaloupe, grape, grapefruit, green apple, kiwi, lychee, mango, mixed berry, orange, passion fruit, peach, pineapple, strawberry, watermelon, and yogurt.  Creamy flavors include almond, avocado, banana, chocolate, coconut, coffee, green bean, honeydew, lemon, ma-cha green tea, papaya, red bean, and taro.  Tea flavors (other than ma-cha--see above) include black, (Chinese) green, Thai, and flavored tea.  I usually add cream to the non-creamy flavors because of my love of all things Dreamsiclesque.

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