Boba

Take a huge breath and hold for as long as you can until you realize that another tasty Hiccups Teahouse and Restaurant opens in Loma Linda, California on Monday, November 18.

If you’ve heard of and have eaten at this Asian fusion order-by-counter restaurant before, do 1 of 3 things for me. One: leave this page if you already know your go-to dishes and drinks (by the way, thank you for checking my post!). Two: get your curious eyes wander by looking at my food-tastic photos. Or three: read up on both my experience and recommendations during my visit on Hiccups’ most recent opening: in Santa Ana located close to South Coast Plaza and Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

When I’d visit a Hiccups, I personally like to order either a sweet drink or — depending on the location — a looped churro coated with their saccharine toppings. So on the former I crazily sipped (because I was drastically thirsty during that visit) on their Vietnamese Iced Coffee with Hazelnut, which was more mildly flavored on the nutty side than I expected. As far as my recommendation I’d automatically order their Taro Milk Tea — whether iced or hot — or the refreshing Horchata Milk Tea.

For appetizers my Man and I dived into their Popcorn Chicken and their Crispy Tofu Bites with their signature vegetarian sauce. The former showed off its perfectly juicy morsels, though I prefer a verdant dash of that fried Thai basil if Hiccups could provide them. Providing their red spicy sprinkles on the side was definitely appreciated. The latter item wonderfully returned from Hiccups’ old menu; garlicky was a prominent adjective describing these bites.

Onto the main courses: let’s first delve into their Pho, particularly their flank, tendon, and tripe Vietnamese soup. I enjoyed mostly on their flavorfully comforting broth and their impressively tender and exceptionally tasty yet atypical proteins –i.e. the tendon and the tripe. Their flank steak and thin noodles weren’t our personal faves, but what struck our taste buds the most was the insanely welcoming hotness from their freshly sliced jalapeno that unabashedly swam all over the broth.

Pad See Ew drew the most attention to me when it comes to main dishes. When I finally had that perfect opportunity to ravage this generously portioned platter, I became blissful eating a piece of beef, a piece of broccoli, and a slither of pan fried rice noodle all grabbed from my pair of chopsticks. That continued per every chopstick hold until my stomach waved a white flag towards this plentiful plate. In other words, more than 1/2 of it were destined to the leftover to-go carton.

If you need a friendly reminder of recommendations, certainly have a foodie partner or 2 help devour those 2 said main courses and/or their Kimchi Fried Pork Belly Rice, or anything smothered in Shaken Beef.

When visiting the Loma Linda location, make sure to gather your foodie crew and drink up your teas or coffees of choice without the presence of the literal hiccups.