Review: CUPP Salisbury launches new sushi meal deal

There are two new deals at CUPP – the boba bundle trio priced at £12 for non-app users or duo (which includes a snack and a drink) for £7.

Customers who use CUPP’s free ‘loyal-tea’ app will receive a £2 discount on trio meal deals, bringing the price down to a fairly reasonable £10 when you consider the price of a drink alone being £4.90.

This deal lets you pick from a wide selection of sushi including the ever-popular salmon and avocado rolls, vegan kimchi, vegetable gyoza and much more.

Tanpopo, a family-run business founded by a young couple in 1996, delivers fresh sushi to CUPP daily. The quality truly shines through and the chicken katsu rolls with sweet chilli mayonnaise were delicious.

My passionfruit tea with mango popping bubbles, strawberry and cream Dorayaki and chicken Katsu rolls. (Image: Newsquest)

Using the self-service kiosks, you’re then asked to order a regular-sized fruit or milk tea with full choice of tapioca pearls, popping balls and jelly.

While I’d usually go for a latte bubble tea with tapioca pearls, I wanted to try something completely different and chose a passionfruit tea with mango popping bubbles. It was the perfect mid-day pick me up and the fruit balls added an exciting layer to the drink.

Some parents may be concerned about how the sugar content of bubble tea but there is no need to worry as CUPP lets you decide how much sugar ends up in your drink (with the choice of none at all). With the right combination of taro tea and basil seeds you can effectively make a drinkable superfood.

Regular coffee and ‘baby boba’ are also available so CUPP really does cater for everyone.

Dorayaki pancakes are part of the meal deal. (Image: Newsquest)

Back to the food and traditional Japanese Dorayaki pancakes in flavours red bean, strawberry and cream, green tea custard, regular custard and chocolate belong to the snack section.

From here, customers can instead opt for tapioca-coated seaweed crisps or oat milk chocolate bars. I’m told Little Moons mochi will soon be joining the snack ranks, so that’s something exciting to look forward to.

The strawberry and cream Dorayaki layers two incredibly fluffy pancakes with a cool, sweet filling which I can best-compare to a British arctic roll.

I also tried a bag of vegan cheese-flavoured seaweed crisps which looked as though they’d been dug up from a beach and were unlike anything I’d eaten before. My colleague Matt described them as “weird but nice” and I’d have to agree with him.

High praise for the seaweed crisps from the stoic Matt Rooks-Taylor. (Image: Newsquest)

The new menu launched on March 15 and franchisee Roberta Herridge, 37, told me how regulars gladly welcomed the choice of food.

 “We felt there wasn’t a lot of entertainment for younger people in Salisbury. Our main customer-base is students so it’s nice to see them coming in, hanging out, having a bubble tea and now sushi,” she said.

Franchisees Roberta Herridge and Keith Mabuto opened Salisbury CUPP in 2021. (Image: Newsquest)

I would return to CUPP for a meal deal, perhaps as a monthly treat, as the choice is extensive and everything I tried was tasty. You’d be hard pressed to find better sushi in Salisbury, especially for what works out to be roughly £3.

CUPP celebrates ‘Bubble Tea Day’ every year on April 30 by giving away 100 free first-come-first-served drinks.

Read more: ​This how you can get free bubble tea in Salisbury from CUPP

Last year, customers queued down the corner of Silver Street all the way to Boots in the hopes of bagging a free beverage.

From 12 noon on Tuesday, April 30, there will be 100 free boba teas, 50 exclusive merchandise giveaways and 25 per cent off until it shuts. Celebrations continue into Friday, May 3.