It is all too easy to get bored during the often uneventful weekends at Phillips Academy. It is on these quiet and lazy mornings that students find themselves venturing downtowan in search of a nice place to eat for a change of pace and scenery. Current hot spots for a Saturday morning brunch consist of Starbucks, Brueggers and The Lantern Brunch. However, there will soon be a new addition to that list. The Boston King Café had its grand opening on April 26 and is already well on its way to becoming a new hangout for Phillips Academy students. The Boston King Café has a very reasonably priced menu, consisting of traditional breakfast foods like Belgian waffles, various French toast options, breakfast sandwiches and omelets served all day, plus some lunch and dinner options. Their food can be enjoyed in the restaurant, as takeout, or as delivery—free of charge within Andover, according to their website. The co-owner, Cushing alum Jin Tae Son said, “People are busy, and we serve home food. We’re focused on wellbeing with organic options, but also a fast grab and go style with nice quality.” Although seeming a little shorthanded and disorganized, service is very friendly and genuine. Alice Conant ’09 said, “[The Boston King Café] has a lot of potential. It was a little hectic, and they need to do some fine tuning, but I’m really excited for its future.” The Boston King Café also offers a lot of beverages and a unique dessert called Yoberry. They serve a wide variety of teas, espressos, cappuccinos, smoothies and iced bubble tea. Bubble tea is tea or a fruit smoothie with tapioca pearls at the bottom. Sofie Myers ’09 said, “If you get bubble tea, get it in a smoothie because the regular tea flavor is not quite appetizing. Hopefully they will change that soon.” For those vanilla yogurt fiends out there, Yoberry is highly recommended. The concept is kind of like vanilla yogurt parfait meets shaved ice. Son said, “The yogurt is completely homemade; it’s not made from a mix.” Oddly enough, the Boston King Café began not in Boston, but in Korea. Now branching out to have seven locations in Korea, Japan, Canada and the United States, they hope to become even bigger in the future. According to Son, “We’ve wanted this location for a very long time. When Friendly’s closed, we proposed our idea along with seven other big companies who wanted the space, and the owner of the building, Butler Bank came into our store in Woburn and gave it to us.” Overall, the Boston King Café is promising. It has the potential to become yet another excellent spot for good food, hanging out with friends and getting away from the stressful lifestyle of Phillips Academy.
