Yipi

Entrance of Yipi Bubble Tea

Rob and Elise Loomis own Yipi Bubble Tea on Front Street in Poulsbo. Yipi is housed in a little cottage-like shop overlooking Liberty Bay. There’s a whole list of reasons to take the trip on the ferry to visit Yipi - the fun, bright interior, wonderful view, drinks, and amazing crepes are just a few for starters.

Saturday afternoon Josh and I took the ferry and went to visit Yipi. We’d heard that Rob is a great cook, and good, authentic bubble tea is hard to find outside of Seattle. We woke up with a craving for crepes and bubble tea and decided it would be a good day for an adventure. The weather was gorgeous, and the view from the back windows of the shop are beautiful. The nearby park has a boardwalk that follows the base of the hill, and you can see the shops up at the top.

Back View of Yipi

Yipi has taken full advantage of this view. Not only is the back wall almost entirely windows, but they have a courtyard that runs the length of the side of the building that overlooks the water as well. This will be the perfect place to relax once the weather warms up a bit.

Side Courtyard of Yipi

This afternoon we wanted to start out with something savory, and I’ve heard good things about the pesto crepe. We watched as Rob mixed pesto with crepe batter, smoothing it over the hot griddle.

Pesto Crepe in Progress

Almost Ready to be in My Belly...

The crepe was then filled it with fresh spinach, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. The result was amazing. The spinach was fresh, but just barely wilted from the heat, so it took some of the sharpness of the flavor out of it (which I was glad for), and the artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes were pulsed into a tapenade-like spread, which added a nice tangy flavor to our lunch. We quickly polished it off, our mouths very happy.

Amazing Pesto Crepe!

I was thrilled to find Lavender Bubble Tea on the menu, and ordered one of those. Josh tried the Mate Mango on Rob’s recommendation. They were both amazing. The Lavender is mixed with a black tea, and the flavor is mellow, creamy, and smooth. It has just the right amount of sweetness in it, as they add a bit of cane sugar to the drinks as well. The Mate Mango was full and bright, a little tart, but with a nice bite of the mate flavor. It was so good! Elise joked about him feeling amazing after he’d finished it - Yerba Mate is packed full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and just touch of caffeine. It’s a bit of energy without the jitters, and a dose-full of goodness to boot. Not to mention the fact that it tastes good. Both of the drinks had a generous helping of those addicting little tapioca pearls resting in the bottom…just waiting for me to suck ‘em up! Elise told us the “bubble” in bubble tea is not only from the little pearls in the drink, but it’s actually referring to the foamy bubbles that are created when the drink is shaken to mix it.

Shakin' Up Some Bubble Tea!

Throughout the afternoon, we tried some samples of the fruit smoothies they offer - mango and honeydew were two that we loved. The mango was smooth, and the honeydew was surprisingly sweet. I’m not a fan of honeydew melon usually, it always seems bland to me. This drink however, tastes like everything that’s good about honeydew melons. It was rich and sweet and full of flavor.

After a bit, our sweet tooth started to kick in, and we decided we needed a dessert crepe - caramel apple sounded about right. The crepe is filled with apple pie filling, and topped with caramel sauce, powdered sugar, and a generous dollop of whip cream on the side. We were very, very happy…

Caramel Apple Crepe

After a long while, we finally decided it was probably time to take off… we wandered around the nearby park and through Front Street… I decided we needed to go back. We went back in, and I (almost) sheepishly asked for another drink. They’re so good, and so rare in our neighborhood, I had to order another one for the road. This time I tried the Matcha with Jasmine Tea. It was perfect - light and fresh, with the earthy flavor of the matcha tea. Besides, I was fascinated with how they seal the bubble tea cups - I had to watch one more time, and even asked to take pictures. It’s a machine that you place the full cup in, and it pulls its arm beneath, lowers a sheet of plastic, and heat-seals it to the rim of the cup. The result is a sealed, leak-proof cup that you poke your straw through. Simple pleasures.

Bubble Tea Sealing Machine

Do we recommend it? Absolutely. And we’ll be back. The environment, the customer service, the food and drinks are well worth the ferry ride to Poulsbo. Next time I need to try the Milk Tea Crepe…. For more info, visit www.yipibubbletea.com.

[where: 19015 Front Street, Poulsbo WA 98370]

Tags: Bubble Tea, Crepes, Poulsbo Restaurants

This entry was posted on March 24th, 2008 and is filed under Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.