Cafe de Hei joins bubble tea craze

The bubble tea race is alive and well on Saipan with the latest entry into the market being Cafe de Hei.

Located behind 99 Cents in Garapan, Cafe de Hei opened last Oct. 31 just in time for Halloween, according to owner Yun Hee Choi.

She said they wanted to join in the Halloween festivities and that’s why they prepared candies for trick-or-treaters at their soft-opening.

Choi said Cafe de Hei’s opening is yet another sign that the local economy is returning to normal more than a year after Super Typhoon Yutu.

“I know everyone has had a hard time with [Super] Typhoon Yutu and [other] issues. I also know that Saipan’s economy is slow and people are feeling down. But I opened Café de Hei despite everyone’s worries,” she said.

And that ray of optimism is immediately palpable once you enter Cafe de Hei with its visibly clean and perky look.

“I just wanted to change the mood, so I had to go ahead. I wanted to make everybody feel better with a modern and bright interior and cheerful music,” said Choi.

Cafe de Hei is a play on the word “hey” as Choi wants to welcome everyone to the new establishment.

“We are welcoming people from everywhere. We are targeting locals to come and, of course, I wish the tourists would come as well.”

So far, Cafe de Hei’s most popular item is its Black Sugar Bubble Milk tea. It also serves other hot and cold drinks like frappes, coffee, smoothies, and, of course, different kinds of tea.

“We serve home-made ricotta cheese and the best Nespresso capsule coffee on the island,” she said.

Pining for a snack, Café de Hei also got you covered with its assortment of breads, cakes, home-made ricotta cheese salad, crackers, and honey cheese.

“We are planning to serve a variety kinds of food including pizza and food that the locals might like. I guess it will be more of Korean food,” said Choi.

Currently, Cafe de Hei has a loyalty card where 10 stamps get you a free drink.

Cafe de Hei is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 8am to 8pm and Saturday from 11am to 8pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm. It is closed on Tuesday. It can comfortably accommodate 30 customers.

For reservations, advance orders, and for more information, call 233-1234.

“We are so happy to meet with different people after we opened our cafe and we appreciate that people are coming to find us,” said Choi.