As I was munching chicken in the Eat Up food court on De Anza, I couldn’t help but notice that the cashier on-duty at Vampire Penguin was missing most of the time; the shop looked closed even though it was officially open. It goes to show that not long after ordering my drink, I ran into her shopping for candies & snacks at the Ranch 99 next door.
’Twas also annoying that the default options for the honey rose milk tea I bought did not include pearls…or so it seemed. When I saw the cashier again at Ranch 99, I mentioned the lack of boba. With a look of disdain, she said it was my fault because I had not requested toppings. Later, I looked on their website and found she was wrong; brown sugar boba was supposed to come free with the drink.
Despite the poor customer service, I might come back. Perhaps I simply ran into a cashier that didn’t give a rat’s ass about their job, much less its customers. To its credit, Vampire Penguin’s menu is very diverse. It stocks all sorts of treats ranging from avocado smoothies to salted cheese drinks to waffle fries.
The fact that it sells lots of gelato is what really caught my interest. Thanks to the 2004 CYS tour, I’m a real sucker for that Italian ice cream; while it’s true that Gelato Classico in downtown Mountain View is the place to go, it is a bit far for a 32-year-old man-child without a car.
