Our 42nd Spot:

K On The Go

31877 Alvarado Boulevard Union City, CA 94587

www.konthegouc.com

[inhale] I’m taking a deep breath first, to calm myself! There’s so much I wanna say about this spot. And I’m trying to figure out a good place to start… If I’m going WAY back, there was a cute cafe I had pinned years ago that I wanted to try: K-Café Patisserie & Tea. They didn’t serve afternoon tea, so this would’ve been a non-Tour visit for fun. Then the same company started putting up these smaller versions, and THEY served afternoon tea!! Yay for us. The one in Milpitas has already been offering…but I really wanted to try the Union City location cuz it was so close to me! (And I wanted to say the Tour had visited that small city!)

They were due to open January 2024 and were going to be the last of the new Spots we go to on this Leg of the Tour. We forreal pass by this spot every day on our way home! And every day we passed, we still saw the brown paper on the windows. January came + went, but I didn’t want to abandon our visit there. I was lowkey stalking their socials to see if anything came up about UC. Nothing for a while. Okay, I’ll be patient. THEN, I got a random DM from them!! Don’t know who handles their social media, but out of the thousands that followed them (my finsta wasn’t even following at the time)- they remembered to message me about their opening!! (happy crying emojis) Dang, I felt special. They notified me of their Soft Opening on April 23rd. Naturally, my daughter + I stopped by.

[sigh] Still not serving afternoon tea yet. They said mid-May, maybe earlier. Okay.

Randomly, on Monday, I sent them a message asking when they might be serving afternoon tea. The following day they replied saying they were taking reservations. [GASP!] Let me make note here that I had one week before I was going on Break. Our last Spot is this Saturday, and THEN, I even scheduled another last-minute Spot visit for Sunday because this place will be starting to serve afternoon tea and my funny-self thought to squeeze that one in too. Ayyy! My only option would be this Thursday. BUT- they require a 72-hour advance reservation. [whine]

I called. Told them I was hoping to come in Thursday (this was Wednesday btw), but I understood there was a 3-day advance. They said they would take me. Huh? What!? I told them I wanted them to feel comfy + confident with what they were offering, and that I could maybe possibly find a time for Monday. They said they thought it was so sweet of me to consider that/them but that they would make Thursday work. So sweet, right guys?! I was on the books.

I decided to take my kid to this one for a Mommy-Daughter Date. And to make it even more interesting + fun for her, I told her she could Guest Write my blog post for them and even take pictures if she wanted for it. She loved the idea. As an artist + Lefty, she has some pretty cool perspectives and we have some of her photographs framed + up on our walls. (She has this sick one she took of the Bay Bridge right outside Delancey!) Let me take this moment to talk about the flyest 13-year-old girl I know. As mentioned, she has been making and selling her art for a few years now. She has an eclectic taste in music, knows how to play the ukulele and bass, and knows how to speak Korean!! I’m legit her biggest fan and am BLESSED to be her best friend. (but mostly her Momma!!!)

I’m telling you right now- I’m including A LOT of extra shots in this one, cuz there were just too many good ones and I’m sharing them ALL. Before even coming here, I have to admit whenever I would see overly floral cafe’s…I already wrote em off. After going to places like Son & Garden and iChina, where it was more about the trendy atmosphere and Instagram-worthy backdrops than the FOOD, I don’t expect much from anything that looks well (air quotes) too pretty. And altho this spot had the flowers…it was decorated really well. They were more like “statement” flowers, and not as the owner mentioned “gaudy”. But even for my daughter (who takes after her Mom and) who is not girly whatsoever, she could appreciate the interior.

I didn’t know til later, that we were their VERY FIRST afternoon tea party! Look at our cutie table!! I’ve had my name set on tables before, but not PRINTED!!?! That was such a sweet touch and very personal. Love! (yes, my name is spelled wrong but he even fixed it later and gave us the keepsake!)

Everything was ready for us as soon as we got there. We chose our shared pot of tea and she started bringing our tiers out. We each got our own too!! I couldn’t get enough shots!

[taken by my daughter]

I was taking everything in. All the details. Even the mismatched paper napkins, I loved! The Savories were their focus, you could tell. (LOVE THAT.) Points from me already.

[taken by my daughter]

They had 4 tea options. My daughter + I agreed on their Floral Peach. It had good peach flavor, tasted a little sweetened. Darling pink hue, probably from hibiscus.

Daughter – Yes even tho my mom sells tea and goes to tea places I dont really drink tea that often lol Oky! Soooooo my first thought was: Hhmm… the color of the tea is kinda dark… I hope its not too strong. My next thought after I had was: Ooooohhhh!!!! Its not too strong, It was so good that I had way more cups of it than my mom did lol

Truffle in Paradise (truffle cucumber sandwich) – This was me: “mm. Mm. MM!” Truffle is not a usual profile paired with cucumber tea sandwiches, a first for me for sure. She should be proud of herself and that was YUMMY!

Daughter – First thought: Hahaha!!! I love cucumber sandwiches!! After I had it: Hmm… the flavor is interesting! I like the way its not like the typical cucumber sandwiches, and the way you have to come back for more to get the flavor! Ok ok so far so good!

Apple of My Eye (apple chicken salad crackers) – There was maybe a light curry in there… Loved the apple. The chicken was so juicy + tender, like it was fresh off a rotisserie spit rod! I was clapping that there were three of these.

Daughter – First thought: Ok… this could either be really good or really interesting… After I had it: Again I dont really know whats in this… It took me awhile to get it but mom said that there might be a little bit of curry and I’m not the biggest fan of curry stuff but it was really really good! Like they made me a curry fan! Lol

Eggcitement (mini glaze egg croissant) – Egg + dill = GOOD. And of course (hand up) the Croissant-Lover enjoyed this one.

Daughter – First thought: [Back story: I dont wake up early at all oky? Like I’m talking 1:00PM Lol So this was my breakfast…] Oh ok… I’m not exactly excited to have egg breath rn buuuut… I’m still gonna eat it! After I had it: Aaaahhh!!! Its DELICIOUS!!! And is that dill?! I made a HUGE mistake of eating a small little smth before we left…

Talking to my daughter, I couldn’t figure out which savory was my favorite because they were all excellent! They each had just a little something in them to make you question ‘hm, what is that’ which I highly appreciate. Reminded me so much of when we catered for our old tea company. Each of our tea sandwiches from our menu had something different in them that made you keep coming back for more! Well played, K On The Go. (wink)

A verbatim convo between me and my daughter…

Me: “I’m ready for my sweets, dood.”

Her: “Half it!” (talking about all the mini cheesecakes + macarons)

Me: “Hold on, I’m licking my plate!”

HAHAHAH!

All My Ladies Cake (ladyfinger almond sponge cake) – This was so light + airy and had such good flavor. My favorite part were the crunchy pieces on top. What scone?? You did not miss any scone with this on your plate. It was like an elevated tiramisu…

Daughter – First thought: Uhhh….. Ok I’m not a big sweets fan but I’ll have it! lol After I had it: Oooooohhhh!!! I LOVE IT!!! Its soft and not OVERLY sweet! Definitely one of my favorites!!!

Assorted Desserts (changed daily) – Today’s were a variety of mini cheesecakes and french macarons. We couldn’t tell if those cheesecakes were store-bought or homemade and I think that is a compliment! They were fantastic. The macarons, they were really good quality ones.

Daughter – First thought: Ooooohhh they look soooo pretty!!! After I had it: WOW!!! Its rare that I come across food that looks good and taste better than it looks!!!

Just when we were pretty stuffed and about to clean up shop, she came out from the back with more! We were treated to these stunning complimentary desserts for being their first afternoon tea reservations. So so kind of them huh!? All I could say about those- INHALED.

Daughter – First thought: [Back story: The almond sponge cake had a butterfly and I bit it but I dont think it was edible lol but after I tried to eat the butterfly I said to mom: “Edible things like that is the way to win my heart” Then after we were done and they brought the special end and they said that the butterfly was edible my eyes got big and I was so excited!!!] Aaaahhhh!!! I’m soooo excited!!!! after I had it: I scarfed down one of them I said to mom: THIS WAS SOOOOO WORTH SCARFING!!!! As soon as I get a chance, I’m coming back!!!! 🙂

I was THOROUGHLY (how many ways can I highlight this?) impressed. The husband-wife team/owners were a delight!! He kept us company in between customers and she came out in between creating those culinary masterpieces back there. I loved how he was very community positive and got to know everyone that walked through their front door. He was even introducing me to their regulars! (dood, they’ve only been open a few weeks and already have Regulars what!?) You could tell how much awe he has for his wife (excuse me) Business Partner too, cuz he was singing her praises the entire afternoon. And she was just the CUTEST, so rightfully so!! Her imagination and brilliance shined in this tea service. My teenage daughter thoroughly enjoyed herself. We were both already planning when we can come back and who we were gonna bring. She kept saying “I really do love it here” and as a mom, that just made me so happy.

I really wanted this place to work out. Since the downfall of Tyme for Tea, I needed a new spot close to me that I could frequent. Of course, there’s still my new go-to’s Malaya and Four Seasons…but I still have to drive a bit for those. So I’m ecstatic that it turned out to be so good!! Stay tuned cuz they made it pretty high on my raTEAng. You’ll have to see where I put them! And please please please make your way to K On The Go Union City because you will eat well and be treated like family!

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