San Francisco: Purple Kow

After Shanghai Dumpling King, we waddled over a few blocks to Purple Kow.  There was a line already out the door:

Looks like Purple Kow is the place for Asian teenagers to hang out in the Outer Richmond.  I felt really, really old waiting around inside:

The guy behind the cashier was super friendly...almost too friendly.  I have a peculiar fear of chipper people, so ignore me.  He's nice.

We ordered a mango green tea with pearls:

Which was DISGUSTING.  For the sake of full disclosure, I must confess that I have a not-at-all-secret dislike of green tea.  However, even TT, CK, and AF agreed that this mango green tea was just weird.  It was kind of pulpy and kind of bitter and just all around nasty.

The regular milk tea with pearls was much better:

The milk tea at Purple Kow is much more tea-y than say Quickly or TapEx.  So for those of you who like that (CK being a prime example), Purple Kow is for you.  As for myself, I enjoy my milky sweetened tea, so I enjoyed the Purple Kow's fat cup more than the drink itself.

A few weeks later, TT and I went back to Purple Kow with VT, AF, and Carmen.  This time I got a lychee black tea and TT got a Thai tea:

Much better.  The lychee black tea was a bit sweet, but the little lychee bits floating inside were a great touch.  The Thai tea was just solid Thai tea.  No complaints there.

Not the cheapest pearl tea joint in town, but it's definitely worth a detour...as long as you avoid the mango green tea.


Purple Kow
3620 Balboa St
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 387-9009
http://www.purplekow.com/