Famous Taiwanese Bubble Tea Chain Xing Fu Tang Opening At Century Square In SG
Its popular brown sugar pearl milk is said to rival Tiger Sugar’s.
Taiwanese bubble tea chain Xing Fu Tang may only be one-and-a-half-years old, but it already has 60 outlets in its native Taiwan and 30 franchised stores worldwide in countries like Japan, Canada and Thailand.
Like its bubble tea counterpart Tiger Sugar, it’s known for its signature brown sugar ‘boba’ milk (boba is Taiwanese slang for tapioca pearls), as well as super Insta-worthy drinks like a Mango Smoothie with Rabbit Panna Cotta (that’s wobbly panna cotta pudding shaped like a bunny) and Matcha Boba Milk with red pearls.
Come end of June this year, Xing Fu Tang will open its first permanent franchised Singapore outlet at Century Square in Tampines. It takes over the space formerly occupied by fellow bubble tea chain Partea. The takeaway-centric outlet “with limited seats” will serve its range of colourful, cheerful drinks, which includes Grapefruit Green Tea and a Soda with Handmade Jelly.
The franchise is brought in by Singaporean company Joy 8 Cafe, whose first F&B venture is this Xing Fu Tang franchise. According to their rep, the company plans to open “three outlets within six months” in Singapore.
If you can’t wait till June 28 for Xing Fu Tang’s official opening, they will also launch a pop-up store at Takashimaya’s basement atrium food fair, which runs from May 30 to June 16. A second pop-up in a central location is slated to open this July, and will run for a few months , so non-Easties don't have to trek all the way to Tampines to get your bubble tea fix.
The selection of drinks at Xing Fu Tang Singapore will cost between $3.50 to $6.30. Pricing for specific drinks is still in the works, but the brand’s rep confirms to us that their “signature Brown Sugar Boba Milk will be $5.30”.
And be prepared to queue for your bubble tea fix. According to Xing Fu Tang Taiwan, their highest sales record was a whopping 6,000 cups sold in one day at a single outlet.
Xing Fu Tang (which literally means ‘Hall of Happiness’) is named for its founder Edison Chen’s (nope, not that Hong Kong bad boy) grandmother. Pictured here with Edison’s grandfather, she used to cook brown sugar at home, so the caramelly concoction holds happy memories for Edison, who later named his business in honour of his grandma. The line-like stripes in Xing Fu Tang’s drinks, which are created by staff members coating cups with brown sugar syrup that drips down languidly, are affectionately called “happiness lines”.
The bubble tea chain is also famous for its house-made brown sugar pearls, which are stirred in a wok in front of customers and ladled warm into a plastic cup before the beverage of choice is poured in. They’re served al dente so they have a firm bite.
Other than beverages, there will also be soft serve ice cream, which comes in two flavours: a vanilla-infused Original Flavour with Brown Sugar Boba, and a Strawberry version. We can already picture the thousands of Instagram snaps this ice cream will garner. Prices will be confirmed closer to the store’s opening.
In the meantime, ogle at the chio drinks below.
Xing Fu Tang Singapore will be at #01-22 Century Square, S529509 from end of June. Xing Fu Tang’s Takashimaya Pop-Up is on from May 30-June 16, 10am-9.30pm daily. www.facebook.com/xingfutangsg.
Check out our guide to the best Brown Sugar Pearl Milk in Singapore here.
PHOTOS: XING FU TANG
