Bubble Tea is the result of a weird Taiwanese experiment in combining British style milk tea and southeast Asian style tapioca desserts. Apparently not very popular at first, it exploded in popularity in the mid 1990s, and now can be found in many large cities in the world, except--or so I had mistakenly thought--in Lyon. In a rare google failure, searching for "Bubble Tea Lyon", "Boba Tea Lyon", or other common names didn't turn up any results, but a friend of a friend of a friend invited George to this little Taiwanese place the other day, and now the secret it out :)
Apparently this place opened a little more than a year ago, but sadly remained unknown to me until last week. It's a bit out of the way, and not easy to see until you are right up on it, but it's definitely worth a visit. It's pretty close to a popular private school, and Lyon Universities 2 and 3, and apparently gets pretty busy during the school year (especially when the weather is cold and people crave hot drinks). It also has a handful of food options, but not much vegetarian except for Taiwanese style french fries. George, who spent 5 years living in Taiwan, says the food is quite authentic and while I cannot vouch for its authenticity, it was tasty. Like all Asian restaurants in Lyon, they have nems, which I think are originally from Vietnam but are synonymous with "Asian food" in Lyon :-).
So definitely a great restaurant/salon de thé to add to your list. FYI, like many shops in Lyon they are closed for the month of August for summer holidays.
Taste & See
50, Rue Pasteur
69007 Lyon
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