Kung Fu Soy

*sigh*
I’m always looking for good Taiwanese desserts, passed by this place and could tell it was exactly what I was looking for. Waitress that helped seemed quite nice but not very knowledgeable about the items as I asked which was her favorite she had nothing for me.
When I went in and ordered the Shaolin signature #2, I was unfortunately quite disappointed. They only come in two sizes and I got the smaller size which looked actually quite large. The tub they give you is something like a quart-​pint, they fill it with less than 10% of actual items and 90% with watered down sweet liquid.
The Mochis they make are about the size of a dime and I had about a dozen matcha ones, about a dozen black sesame, a splash of peanuts, and nothing else but liquid. This cost me about $ 8… Large should have cost $ 13ish
If I wanted sugar water I could have made that at home by the gallons, for what they have in their pictures and the size of their to go bowls, disappointing comparison.
Wasn’t the worst I ever had but probably top two or three, won’t be coming back not even if I can’t find another one.

I honestly came here because I didn’t want to wait in line for half and half for a drink. I ordered the Genma milk tea with match balls which totaled $ 4.80.
After waiting about 5 minutes, I got my drink. I say it’s way better than half and half drinks. It wasn’t too sweet and the matcha balls were fun to chew but they were incredibly hard to suck up and they didn’t taste like matcha. It was just a green mochi ball at the end. I didn’t get to try their other desserts so I might come back.

Kung Fu Soy is just another version of Blackball (
) and Meet Fresh (
) and it is conveniently located few stores away from the Half & Half Tea House in Monterey Park,
The double-​sided menu was really confusing with desserts named after three different sects in Jin Yong’s martial arts fiction novels: Wudang Sec = herbal jelly (aka grass jelly) series, Emei Sec = aiyu jelly series, and Shaolin Sec = tofu pudding (aka douhua) series. While one side of menu listed desserts, the other side showed other drink options such as milk tea, latte, ice blended, fruit tea, and creama. My recommendation is pick one of the top five popular drinks or desserts written on the blackboard (see below).
Top 5 drinks: Genmai Milk Tea w/​Matcha Balls, Matcha Milk Tea w/​Red Bean, QQ Panda Milk Tea, Rose Tea w/​Creama, and Taro Latte w/​Egg Pudding
Top 5 desserts: Shaolin Signature #1, Wudang Signature #1, Shaolin Signature #2, Ultimate Taichi, and Emei Signature #1
***
Shaolin Signature #1 (Tofu pudding + taro balls + sweet potato balls + red beans + boba + red dates, medium $ 6.99): Better balls than Blackball’s version with the right syrup sweetness level, but the portion was pretty stingy for a $ 7 dessert. Normally I do like smaller dessert portion because that way I won’t get a sugar coma, but $ 7 is somewhat of a rip off for a slightly better-​than-​OK dessert.
***
If you are looking for better balls (e.g. taro balls, sweet potato balls, boba, etc), then I do think this is a slightly better option than Blackball. Sorry Kung Fu Soy, no knockout punch was ever delivered by your dessert.
P. S. — It is also a participating member of FiveStars rewards program.

The essence is there, the punch is not
the pictures are somewhat deceptive because of the portion size. It is probably the size of your average adult palm. ok, maybe one inch larger but no more than that…
i came twice, the first time for their genmai tea… it was ok… the second time, i came back for the fire phoenix, it was ok, but i much rather prefer patbingsoo any other day for the price of almost 8 dollars…
they do have a nice random azn snack aisle…
the staff is nice at least

We ordered a medium shaolin signature, an osmanthus oolong green tea + creama, mango green tea with aloe and original plain soy pudding.
It wasn’t bad. I like their tofu pudding. My friend likes her osmanthus oolong tea. I’m whatever about my tea. It wasn’t really good but it was really bad. They’re pretty stingy on their toppings and ice too!
The service was okay. I felt that their English was not very well-​spoken. The workers were chatting with each other and I had to get their attention to order. I felt the awkwardness while I was ordering because they all just looked at me (maybe because I have pink and purple hair, lol). Other than my hair, I just didn’t think they care much about the service.
Overall, our experience was okay. Ill be back since my friend likes their osmanthus oolong tea.

Came here with my cousins this past weekend and it was empty when we came in. Once we sat down and looked at the menu, the people started coming and the line started t get really long.
It was a cold night and is being 1^st timers we thought getting the desserts hot would be good for the weather. It took pretty long like 30 minutes until we got our desserts. Maybe because we ordered it hot.
We got the black herbal jelly and when I saw it, I really thought it was the wrong order because it was all melted and it looked like those Chinese herbal medicine drinks. Then later found out there was stuff inside the bowl. The boba, mochi balls and red beans
We also ordered the tofu pudding. That one looked better as its not all melted and it tastes better than the black herbal jelly. Did not like the peanut toppings on it.
Lastly we got the aiyu jelly which is the clear one. It was also melted like soup. Has boba and Mochi inside.
Overall, we know next time we will not get it hot! Don’t get it hot! Cold would be better at least it will come in pieces instead of melted jelly. The taste is ok, not too sweet and it tastes pretty healthy. Price is decent not too expensive. A medium size bowl can be shared with 2 people for the cost of $ 7

Hello my Unilocalies,
First I want to say Bruce Lee approved this place!
Discovered this place on Unilocal while searching for waffles! lol I know right? Why did this place showed up? But you have no idea how glad I was that it popped up! Parking here is very convenient, they have a back parking lot shared with half&half and other restaurants.
I never usually give a place 5 stars but this place without a doubt deserves a 5 stars. I was very excited to have some Taiwanese dessert. I was all about Black Ball, but now I discovered something even better. This place literally Kung Fu Pow my taste bud! WAHHH TAHH! I order the tofu pudding bowl (which is number 1) medium size for $ 6.99. It comes with tofu pudding, boba, red bean, taro mochi, and sweet potato mochi. The sweetener was the perfect amount, i was afraid it will be a little too sweet since most places make their dessert way too sweet but this place was perfect. I order it hot since it was a cold day and it definitely warmed my belly super fast. They also have ice and shaved ice. I definitely suggest this one if you like tofu pudding, they also have the same but with grass jelly.
My boyfriend order the taro latte with pudding which is one of their specialties. The taro and the latte have the perfect balance, it wasn’t too sweet or too strong taste of taro. It was definitely one of the best taro drink we’ve ever tried. Other place’s taro drinks are too overwhelming, since they put way too much taro powder. But this place definitely make it seem like they used real taro to make their drinks.
They have the cutest decoration in their restaurant, you feel like you’re in kid town! The service was great, they were very friendly and patient since it was our first time there. Very very satisfied with everything.
Overall, 5 stars for service, 5 stars for food, 5 stars for environment and decoration and 5 stars for cleanliness. Will come here very often now!!! Thank you for being so close to my work!!!

I ordered the rose milk tea, but the cashier had to confirm my order 2 to 3 times before finally getting it right.
The drink was sweeter than I wanted, and yes, like other reviewers had said, they were stingy with the boba… Hard, tasteless, boba.
We had a baby in our party that needed some water, so I requested a cup. The employee (different from the first cashier) asked if small Dixie cups were ok… I asked if they had anything bigger, eyeing the boba cups, but was informed no.
After having trouble with the smaller cups, I asked again (to the first employee) for more water, in bigger cups. She ran into the kitchen to ask the manager, and came back out with a «no». I asked about the cups they use for tea, which led to the employee running back into the kitchen… Moments later, the manager came out, said «we can’t give those as water cups unless you pay» and as I agreed, she asked the employee to charge me a quarter.
Oh yeah, they also don’t have any regular sized straws. Just jumbo ones for toppings. Not quite baby friendly.
All in all, this was a quiet place to hang out and catch up with some friends. However, their mediocre drinks and even worse boba, poor service and lack of consideration for guests (even for the simplest of requests) makes me doubt this place will last longer than a year.
I will not be back.

Currently the restaurant is in a soft opening and it definitely shows. All the workers seem really green. It took 15 min to make two simple boba drinks. There’s no way they can hope to compete with half and half a few storefronts down if they can’t turn over customers quicker.
The drinks were average and the boba was actually pretty crappy (hard). And they were pretty stingy with the amount of boba.
I haven’t tried the Asian deserts, they looked ok and I like how they were named after characters in Louis Cha wuxia novels.

OMG a new Taiwanese tofu pudding place in Monterey Park? I was so happy to find out this new dessert spot close to my house! The décor of this place looks exactly like what tofu pudding place in Taiwan would look like. Red lantern and wooden chairs/​tables. They have varieties of dessert with different theme: Grass jelly, tofu pudding, aiyu. I had come here for two times, once for drink and another time for tofu pudding. I have to say I was totally disappointed by the service and the dessert.
First time I came here when there was no costumer. I ordered rose oolong tea since it sounds cool. The drink came out to be the wrong flavor. Seriously? There was no customer and you gave me the wrong drink. If you cannot handle ONE customer, how can you handle the craziness when its packed. The drink tasted okay and it was way more expensive than other boba place. The second time I visited since my friends wanted to try some tofu pudding so i decided to give this place one more chance. I ordered the Shaolin #2(Tofu pudding, sesame balls, mung beans, boba, red dates) I waited 15 minutes to get my order and there were not too many customers. The dessert was served in this silver bowl which is cute. I was super shocked when I saw my order in a bad way. They gave me lots of sugar water so my bowl looks pretty full. I barely find much boba and sesame balls. It was also covered by huge chunk of tofu pudding which had no flavor. The flavor of my order was really bland. The cashier could not communicate in English well so I think it will be tough for non mandarin speaker to come here.
Seriously there are plenty better dessert place in the same plaza like Ganache, Hooshik and Half and Half. I do not see that this place could survive for long run but I wish best of luck to them. I am not coming back for sure.

Did they kung fu kick my taste bud to heaven? Not really unfortunately. Cute décor though with the cartoon drawings of soy beans doing different «kung fu» moves around the restaurant.
Fire Phoenix (medium) $ 7.49: super icy shaved ice like that of the hawaiian shaved ice. Is there ever too much ‘ice’ in one sentence? LOL Strawberry flavored ice with strawberries + mochi scattered neatly as well as vanilla ice cream in the center. The ice were not quite flavorful despite the obvious strawberry syrup poured on it.
***$ 10 minimum for credit card, debit card no minimum. ***
Place opened 2 – 3 months ago, August/​September 2015.
They are fairly new, so maybe they need more time to master it? But service was good. One of the waitresses went around asking everyone if everything was ok. Hence the reason for the extra star. Hopefully they improve with time!

Great new spot for dessert. So great because parking is easy and they take credit cards! It’s a cute little spot that’s great for small groups and there are extension cords available for you to plug in your electronics, ie laptop.
Phoenix fire:
Size medium is sharable for two and it’s perfect. Not too sweet and not watered down. Fresh strawberries and a little bit of condensed milk. Perfect for someone with a sweet tooth but not looking to go into a diabetic shock afterwards.
Genmai Milk Tea with Matcha Balls
Milk tea was sweetened just right, no adjustments needed. My first time tasting matcha balls. I’m not sure exactly what they are made of but I can tell you what they taste like. I’d describe them as chewy like boba but taste like green tea with a roasted sesame after taste. Definitely a taste I could get used occasionally.
Customer service:
Cashier was friendly and talkative. Drinks and food are made to order so they take some time to come out, but the wait isn’t too bad.
I plan to come back to try more items

Meh, that’s what I think when I recall my recent visit to Kung Fu Soy. I was really hoping for more when I saw the concept — I love dou hua (tofu dessert). Tried the shaolin #2 and I do not know how they’re justifying their price for the amount of product they give you. If the actual dessert were really good, maybe, but it’s just okay. They were out of boba this time as well — seems like a recurring theme. I will say that the rose milk tea was pretty good, but I could just as easily go over to Half n Half for my tea drink needs.
If I’m really craving dou hua, there are plenty of other — better and cheaper — options nearby.

Not really impressed… at all. They are located in the same plaza as Half n Half so they got stiff competition on their Boba drinks. What differs is that they also serve desserts — mianly tofu based. Came here last weekend for some drinks. The place was empty — we were the only 2 customers and there were 2 employees. One of them was the cashier and taking orders and another one was in the back making drinks. The cashier spoke very limited and broken English which is why he got our orders WRONG even though we were the ONLY customers. I don’t blame the guy the made the drink since he made it based on what the cashier said.
At least they were nice enough to correct our drink…

I like their dessert. Their menu are interesting yet can be annoying as some of the pre set items can not be exchanged for other items on the menu or they will go for «custom made» prices.
The syrups are made from brown sugar, and every ingredients are well prepared but I do wish they can make the peanuts more softer but it is just my personal preference.
Price do seem higher than competitors. A simple small size dessert can run easily $ 5+

Honestly pretty disappointed with this place. It seemed very promising. Clean looking store, friendly and attentive staff, popular dessert selection. It was off to a good start. Upon receiving our dessert, I got worried.
First off, although the bowl seemed pretty big, getting the medium size gives you very little actual dessert. It was filled approximately half way, and for the price, the portion is just to small to justify everything. The taste is pretty underwhelming too.
I got the signature hot grass jelly and tofu pudding combo 1. The taro and sweet potato ball is applauded for using mostly the real deal as ingredients. You can actually feel the texture of the taro and sweet potato. But its too soft and not chewy in the slightest. The mango pudding was no different from the mango pudding you’d expect to find at a dim sum restaurant, except the taste was very artificial; almost medicine like.
If visiting this place I would suggest getting the tofu pudding and grass jelly ONLY if you don’t mind the price, and do yourself a favor and skip the mango pudding.

This review is for their Gen Mai Cha Milk tea with green tea mochi balls and their original tofu pudding with syrup.
I like their milk tea. the flavor is light but you can still taste the roasted brown rice. The green tea mochi balls were bland and they only give a little bit compared to other boba shops. I was a bit disappointed with that.
For their tofu pudding, we really liked the texture. It’s smooth and really creamy — almost like a custard. The syrup was a little too sweet for my taste buds but not bad. I wish the puddings are not that expensive. Granted they are homemade, I don’t think it costs that much to make.
Will I go back? Probably not. Next door is Half & Half. I’ll take my business there instead.

It’s my first time here, but I am pleased. Upon entering, the cashier (Rich?) was very friendly and helpful. He was happy to make suggestions and was patient while I looked over the menu. There is so much to choose from. In the end, I ordered an Iced Jade Green Tea Creama with Lychee Jelly. It’s delicious. I like the creama, as it is reminiscent of «cream top» style. The 15% soft opening discount is a plus. This drink was a total of $ 4.71 after tax.
The place is clean, with cute snacks, nicely sized tables and décor around. Chinese music plays at a reasonable volume. The tables can be individualized or community style. There is free wifi with the password on the blackboard. The restroom is clean as well. I even felt safe to leave my belongings while nature called (or maybe I’m crazy).
I got lucky and parked in the shaded structure in the back but there is also street parking.
Lastly, I’m a fan of kids and I don’t have any issues with fun ones! The little girl here, I won’t name her name because only special people know it, like me. Haha! Just kidding. But one of the worker’s daughters was here today and befriended me. We’ve been chatting and she’s just adorable to talk to. I’m new to the city, so I guess any new friends will do! The workers looked concerned she was bothering me but I assured them I didn’t mind. At least they were thoughtful enough to make sure. I’m bookmarking so I can come back to try pudding and more drinks.

Pros:
— friendly staff
Cons:
— Overly priced
— Sizing
— Takes too long to get the order
Medium fire phoenix for $ 7.49. Totally not worth it. It’s a little smaller than a samsung galaxy note 3. :smh: AND it’s overly sweet!
The ice blended taro with taro purée was kind of bland if not for the taro purée. PLUS you get more of this for $ 4.49.

* OVERPRICED *
Well, if you are tired of the line at Half and Half and dying of thirst, I guess you can come to Kung Fu Soy as your backup option. I waited and waited for this store to open and was disappointed when I walked into their store during the Soft-​Opening.
1) Didn’t feel Welcome.
2) Items are overpriced
SHAVED ICE
The table next to us must have ordered a medium size shaved ice, it is served in a mini-​wok looking dish and presentation looks decent. However, I think they must be out of their mind to price that shaved ice for $ 7.49 when HOOSHIK next day serves shaved ice double its size (and with more ingredients for slightly more).
PUDDING
OMG… Are they out of their mind? $ 4 for a pudding that I can wolf up in 3 spoons?
To be honest, I waited and waited for this store to open and had very high expectation for them, but the their price is outrageous. They really should make some changes if they want to stay competitive in the Monterey Park area.