Noah's Ark Teahouse Lower Hutt

To me, Noah's Ark seems like a confused bubble tea shop; a mix between your local ice cream shop which has a small fruit tea range, and a premium, expensive shop such as Wucha.Despite the marketing of them being traditional, I have found this to be the total opposite when comparing to other bubble tea chains such as Gong Cha, which originates from Taiwan. In particular, the flavouring of the brown sugar (my regular), is definitely not traditional when comparing to Gong cha. Despite this, it tastes somewhat good, so I wouldn't let this stopping me coming here - unless you're looking for the most traditional drink possible, in which case I would recommend Gong Cha or Wucha.Something I do take issue with though is the overall quality. Pearls done well are a big marketing point for them, and well I have to agree that the pearls are a perfect density, sadly the mixer they use means that many of the flavour contained in the pearls from the cooking process is sadly loss and incorporated into the overall drink, leaving you with bland pearls. A simple fix would be to add the pearls after the mix/shaking has occurred. In saying this though, most other bubble tea chains generally perfect pearls also, so I probably wouldn't call this a marketing point.Overall quality isn't great; I generally find my regular brown sugar to be watery, and have even seen the staff adding additional water to fill up a quarter empty cup! When it's already 50% ice, this can result in a water drink. Furthermore, the brown sugar flavour isn't very intense, when compared to other shops, and selected a higher sweetness only leads to a sweeter drink - in future, I would recommend that they increase the amount of brown sugar per drink.They openly advertise their use of dairy free creamy, but regardless of how much more/less it costs them to buy, it is a much lower quality compared to dairy creamer, resulting in a thin drink. In future, I would like to see dairy becoming the default with the option to switch to dairy free. I find that the overall quality of the drink is quite variable when comparing to other stores which generally remain quite stable.I appreciate their use of environmentally friendly packaging, though in future would like to see them use some sort of removable lid for if you get cheese foam like most other bubble tea shops do.I find the service to be quite hit and miss - sometimes the stuff and really nice, and sometimes they're kind of rude.It's a reasonable price compared to other bubble tea shops, though I suspect this is at the price of other aspects. The size (which is the equivalent of large), is the only one they offer - which is a plus when considering that their only size is often cheaper than another shops small, though again, this is definitely at the price of quality, and bearing in mind that other shops offer student free upsize, this closes the difference for some.However, I would still recommend Noah's Ark, since their drinks are overall good. However, if you're willing to pay a little extra, you may prefer alternatives which are of (in my opinion) higher quality and more intense flavour.

Don't be like me - read the instructions on the left before you order! The green tea is magnificent. Everything else - dial down the sugar to 25% and you'll have a good time.

Wow, best priced bubble tea by far. They only have large cups but their prices are better than gong Cha or any of the other joints. Taste great, we were skeptical about their soy based milk drinks but was pleasantly surprised. We've been back twice so far, it's our new favorite.

Busy teahouse with delicious bubble teas. Pearls were cooked to perfection and I love how the taste for the different %s I requested was the exact taste I would like for my drinks :) Cups and straws were recyclable.

Often quite a busy little store. Often only has one staff member working so sometimes there can be a wait for your drink/s to be made. Lovely staff always really friendly. Lots of flavours, sweetness and ice levels to choose from as well as a variety of toppings. I have a favourite I always order but I have tried lots of the flavours and they're all really yummy. You can also get your bubble tea as a hot version for winter and ice cold for summer.

Love getting my bubble tea at Noah's Ark !But holy moly the staff need another training session or something. Terrible service.Edit : 3 weeks later went back. Service even worst than last time. Absolute brat behind the counter. If I could do lower than one star, I would.

A very rude girl that took my phone order. She turned my mood from being chilled and relaxed to being angry. What kind of service is that?

Trendy new store popular with young people. Mainly serves bubble tea. A nice contemporary place with seating. Prices are higher than I'd like but it can be very nice if you pick the right combination of flavours. Can get a little slow when busy.

I was indecisive and got one of the girls to make me one of their favorite drinks, passion fruit with mango boba. Best decision I have made at that place. Highly recommend getting that drink. She had cool red hair, so thank her not me.Would drink again :)They can't seem to make a bad drink, I will stop going until they make me a horrible drink

Once a nice place gone terrible.Noah's ark is a good bubble tea store but the one located in lower Hutt is not one of the best ones in wellington, as a customer I should be able to receive good customer service which they failed horribly, the drink was alright but had to order the sweetness lower than usual due to the fact I had past occurrences with the drinks being made too sweet, which felt like drinking solid sugar syrup with some flavor. I'm sure I went on the wrong day as the staff looked different, but the system they do with people getting their drinks is awful, I know gongcha gives you a number which is helpful but for Noah's ark I'm guessing they can't afford that? So, when customers order the same drink, you really don't know when to go or not which is quite troublesome. Also do mind that the workers there tend to give you that feeling that they're judging you.