Chatime

"As a customer of Chatime, I have always enjoyed their delicious bubble tea and have never had any issues. However, during my most recent visit, I felt deeply discriminated against along with my partner. As members of indigenous communities, with shared cultural values, we felt a sense of comfort and belonging upon entering a store that was created by another indigenous peoples. My partner and I both identify as gay and are both Māori. Upon entering the shop, we noticed three Asian customers sitting in front of the counter, two girls and a boy, who immediately began staring and laughing at us. While I initially disregarded their behavior, I later realized that they were interacting with some of the girls who were actually working behind the counter one of which took my order and they all began to stare at us, very obviously, very rudely, turning their heads at different times, making us feel extremely uncomfortable. As someone who is half Taiwanese and half Maori, I felt the discriminative side of their actions and I have a deep understanding of how some Asian cultures view Māori in a negative light. Now I know others may say I am over reacting however, this is what the Māori experience feels like when we walk into any store- staring, strange looks, an uninviting atmosphere. I was more disappointed to see that the workers were interacting with these customers and even laughing at us, which made us feel unwelcome and unvalued. This experience has left a negative impression on me and my partner, and I hope that the bubble tea shop can address this issue and ensure that every customer feels welcomed and respected."

"It's a great option for chai and coffee, and probably the only option for south asians who want to taste similar chai that they used to get in their places back home. The wall with city names is a funny one because it's a lazy work: so if you are looking for your city name, it might not be there. It's just a copy pasted thing. The price I found is a bit too much, really."

"Seems the only Taiwan milk tea in Dunedin. Milk tea is great, taro tea is just OK. Not bad in total."

"My first time ordering from here, I got the Taro Milk Tea and I couldn't have more than 2 sips. It tasted great except for the fuzzy texture. Is that normal with this drink? Tried to capture on camera."

"Came by to pick up some bubble tea before heading back to the conference. They have a range of different flavours of milk tea and other drinks available, similar to the other branches. Like other places, they have a selection of different toppings. There was quite a few tables inside so you can sit and enjoy your drink there. The drink was alright and the pearls had good chewiness."