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November Dessert: Chinese Desserts in Burnaby

October 11, 2017

November Dessert is a Chinese dessert shop located on Grimer Street in Burnaby. This street has a lot of dessert shops and cafes opening up in the last few months and locals are noticing. I’ve heard of November Desserts but haven’t made a visit until they asked me to come for a visit to try some of their different dishes. If you’ve heard of Scorpio M in Richmond, they moved their operations here, changed the name and the menu is very similar to what they had before.

Interior

The interior is large and can fit small to large groups. They have utilized the beautiful grey brick walls and incorporated some beautiful Chinese decor that gives it a unique look.

Their regular menu has different soupy desserts, pancakes, and limited drinks. They also have a beautiful afternoon tea set, but you need to order 24 hours in advance. You wouldn’t know they had it unless you look at their social media accounts. I missed out on the tea set since I didn’t reserve ahead of time, so we stuck to the regular menu.

It was hard to figure out how each item on the menu differentiated itself from another, so I had to get my mom to translate some parts of the menu since I can’t read Chinese.

Drinks

I started with the milk tea, they use oolong tea as their base, but when they mix it together with the milk it’s eerily frothy, perhaps they use powdered milk, which I really do not like.

Mango and Durian Pancakes

The pancakes are wrapped like little packages. The skin is thin and is filled with whipped cream and the chosen fruit inside.

Durian

The durian pancake has a good chunk of fruit inside and all the durian lovers will enjoy it. It’s an acquired taste, so you will either love or hate it. I’m more on the neutral level since it taste like onions to me, but everyone’s experience if different.

Mango

Mango is a classic and a hit with everyone unless you are allergic to mangos. One of my favourite items to get here.

Snow Ice with Chopped Strawberry

We also added taro mochi, grass jelly, and papaya. I love this bowl since it has the cute little polar bear in the centre. I really enjoyed the toppings and the snowy ice flavoured with a bit of condensed milk.

It’s a good item to share with friends and you chat away and pick at this.

Mango and Black Sticky Rice with Homemade shaved ice

The shaved ice was milky, which was enjoyable. It is topped off with 2 large scoops of black sticky rice and chopped mangos. This was ok, but not that special.

Mango, kiwi, homemade riceball with homemade shaved ice

Final Thoughts

They have improved their desserts since they were Scorpio M, but with the tough competition of dessert cafes in the area, it’s hard to stand out since there is another cafe doing similar desserts. The space here is quiet, so we did notice some people studying here.

We Rate November Dessert:

Address:
5358 Grimmer St, Burnaby

Website:
http://mdessert.ca/en/

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Rad Tea Room: Bubble Tea inside Granville Skytrain in Vancouver

October 3, 2017

Rad Tea Room is in the Granville Skytrain serving up premium bubble tea and drinks made of loose leaf teas. I’ve been keeping an eye out when this would open since it’s always nice to have another option in the area. My friend told me that they opened and we decided to check it out. Imagine it as a hidden gem as it’s hiding in the skytrain station and they actually have some pretty good bubble tea.

Interior

The interior is clean, nice and quiet too. On their menu, they have bubble teas, smoothies, milk tea caps, matcha lattes, tea mocktails and cold brewed teas.

They have a large table in the front if you want to have a big group of friends. Alternatively, there are some seats for smaller groups in the back.

Milk Tea with Pearls

There’s so many versions of milk tea you can create and customize. I personally love the roasted oolong milk tea with pearls. Since the normal sugar levels are lower than most places, I keep it regular sugar and less ice.

Another feature of Rad Tea is that you can ask for almond or soy milk. Great for those who are lactose or vegan to be able to enjoy bubble tea like everyone else.

Cold Brew Pu’er Tea

They don’t serve coffee, but they do have cold brew teas. Today, they had the Pu’er Tea, which is a strong black tea. I love my black teas and this was good to have a good dose of caffeine.

Winter Melon Tea Cap

Another drink I also really enjoyed was the Winter Melon Tea Cap. It has a good balance of flavour and sweetness compared to other places. If you are a fan of Winter Melon, I would highly recommend their version at Rad Tea.

Strawberry Tea Mocktail

If you are looking for something a bit different, they have strawberry inflused tea mocktails with pearls if you want.

Matcha Tea Cap

They use ceremonial grade matcha, so it is deeper in colour and has a stronger matcha taste. I use it at home for drinks too and it’s definitely not for everyone.

Waffles

If you feel like you want something to nibble on, they have waffles served with different sauces for an additional charge. There is Salted Caramel, Lavender Chocolate, Matcha Cream or Dark Chocolate. Our group was torn between the lavender chocolate or the matcha cream. I personally prefer the matcha cream as it isn’t too sweet. The waffle itself was meh since the sauces stood out a bite more.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for an independently owned bubble tea shop outside of all the Taiwanese chains, use loose leaf tea, and has milk alternatives like soy and almond milk, Rad Tea Room is definitely a place you should check out. The location is a bit hidden in Granville Skytrain, but enter through the Dunsmuir Street entrance and you’ll find it at the bottom of the stirs on the right. I’m a tea lover, so what really attracted me in the first place was their good taste in teas and how they balance the sweetness of the bubble tea.

We Rate Rad Tea Room:

Address:
80-678 Dunsmuir Street, (The Granville Station – Dunsmuir Exit)

Website: https://www.radtearoom.com

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ZenQ: Now Open in Vancouver

September 22, 2017

ZenQ is an international dessert chain originated from Taiwan within the same parent company as Chatime. They are quickly expanding in Canada, Vietnam and Hong Kong this year. They specialize in desserts that have grass jelly and Q balls (matcha, yam and taro flavoured).

Waffles

Orea Cocoa Waffle

There are 4 pieces of waffles with a sprinkling of Oreo cookies, bananas, chocolate sauce and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Good for chocolate lovers.

Fresh Fruit Waffle

There are 4 pieces of waffles too with a drizzle of honey and as scoop of ice cream. The fruits that were on the plate are mangos, strawberry, honey dew, and banana. Of the two waffles, I liked this one because of all the fruits.

Creamy Frappe Series

Mango Creamy Frappe

They have a bunch of different snowy ice desserts, but this one has mango frappe, fresh mango, mango jelly, vanilla ice cream, condensed milk and fruit loops. The mango frappe was delicious and the textures of the mango and jelly went well together.

Tofu Pudding Series

Tofu Pudding No 3

In this dessert, there is Pearls, Q Balls, Peanuts, and Sweet Potato a top tofu pudding. The Q Balls were nice and chewy like mochi.

Hot Grass Jelly Series

Hot Grass Jelly No 2

This has grass jelly, taro, pearls, Q balls, and a ball of brown sugar.The grass jelly and the pearls were nice and chewy.

Royal Sweet Soup Series

Red Bean Soup No 3

Sweet potato in a red bean soup was ok, but we all personally didn’t like red bean soup.

Longan Black Glutinous Rice Series

Longan Black Glutinous Rice No 3

This version also has Sweet Potato right in the centre. The consistency is thicker and you get a lot of texture from the rice.

Oreo Cocoa Ice Diamond

If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll like the oreo chocolate drink.

Hot Hand Made Taro Milk Tea

There are pieces of taro in this and it’s pretty hard to find a taro milk tea with real taro. Make sure you mix this around as the taro sinks to the bottom.

Winter Melon Latte

The winter melon taste is faint as you can taste more of the milk and it has more of an almond taste to this.

ZenQ Milk Tea with Grass Jelly

Classic item to get at any bubble tea shop. Since they do specialize in grass jelly, it’s a must.

Strawberry Black Tea

The sweet strawberry paired with the black tea. Good for those who like a bit of caffeine and a fruity touch.

Mango Green Tea

The mango green tea I felt was a bit sweet for my taste preference.

Final Thoughts

Overall, some food and drinks were a hit and miss. If you want to impress your friends, go with the classic milk tea, waffles, grass jelly desserts or their tofu desserts. It’s good to have more options in town where there are desserts and bubble tea to hang out with friends.

We Rate ZenQ:

Address:
495 SW Marine Dr, Vancouver

Website:
http://zenq.ca/

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Boba Essence: Bubble Tea near Olympic Village

August 22, 2017

Boba Essence is a new Bubble Tea shop that opened up near Olympic Village. My friend knows I love bubble tea, so she thought of me when she heard about this place. Of course, I made sure to stop by during my lunch break to give it a try. It’s located right by Mario’s Gelati.

The exterior doesn’t look like much and you’ll probably pass by it without noticing they are here, so you gotta pay attention and look for their logo inside.

Interior

The interior is very small, so there is no seating. Everyone got their drinks to go. You can order at the counter or you can order from their website to pick up or schedule your order to pick up later in the future.

Regular Milk Tea

I got their regular milk tea with grass jelly and had it less sweet. It was ok, but it would be better if they used different tea bases to give more of a variety to the menu.

Strawberry Watermelon Slush

They did use fresh watermelon, but the taste of the strawberry was more artificial that we would have liked. The pearls were on the sweet side too.

Final Thoughts

It’s great to have a bubble tea shop in the area as there really are no options close by. The bubble teas that we tried were so-so in my opinion. With the amount of bubble tea shops in town, this would definitely not be on the top of my list.

We Rate Boba Essence:

Address:
68 E 1st Ave, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.bobaessence.ca/

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The Tea of Brightness (TTOB): Bubble Tea in Vancouver

August 20, 2017

The Tea of Brightness or TTOB is a Bubble Tea Cafe from Taiwan. There’s really not much I could really find online, but their cute menu items drew me in. I was with a few friends in the area and we made it a mission to give this place a try.

Princess Milk Tea

The Princess Milk Tea was really the main reason why I wanted to come here. I thought it was initially latte art, but it turns out it’s a marshmallow. SUPER CUTE. MEOW. The milk tea wasn’t very good, but them again, I’ve had a lot of milk teas in my life time, so I’ve become a milk tea snob. I could taste the powdered milk and I really don’t like that taste.

Three Flavoured Bubble Waffle

The 3 flavours are original, chocolate and matcha. We didn’t take a liking to the matcha flavour as it seemed super artificial. The original and chocolate are very good. Where else are you going to find a 3 flavoured bubble waffle? It’s pretty unique but it’s too bad the matcha didn’t stand out.

Final Thoughts

The basic milk tea was definitely lacking, but since I didn’t try any other drinks, I can’t comment on the other drinks. At any new bubble tea shop, I always get the basic milk tea as it’s a basic sign if the shop is good or not. The aesthetic of the princess milk tea was great but the flavour and taste was lacking.

We Rate TTOB:

Address:
3318 Cambie Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.ttob.com.tw/

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45 Degree Bubble Tea House in Coal Harbour

May 6, 2017

45 Degree Bubble Tea House in Coal Harbour is a new bubble tea shop close to Stanley Park. M told me about this place, so one day when I was waiting for him to get off work, I came here to get a drink. I love bubble tea, so I’m always on the look out for the best bubble tea out in Metro Vancouver.

Interior

The space is nice and simple with a few tables for groups. I came at 3pm on a Monday, so it was pretty dead. The staff were very nice to guide me through the menu since my order seemed pretty basic. They made a lot of suggestions for me.

Sakura Oolong Mousse

The sakura oolong mousse was very floral and light. It complimented the mousse on top very well. It kinda reminded me of beer because of the colour. It was interesting trying to find the best way to drink this but it seems like they instruct everyone on how to drink it. You press you lips into the cup and tilt it 45 degrees to drink the you get a good ratio of the cream and tea in each sip. If you lift the tab up on the drink, you get too much foam.

Black Tea Mousse

I grabbed this to go. It was delicious but it was stronger because its black tea. A good option if you straight up asian tea without the floral taste. When I ordered this I found it was funny how they tried suggesting other drinks to me too.

Final Thoughts

They have a good selection of coffees and teas. Even a few items were sold out. The teas are great here and brewed fresh, which is awesome. I would definitely come back to try more.

We Rate 45 Degree Bubble Tea House:

Address:
1467 W Pender Street, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.facebook.com/45-Degree-Bubble-Tea-House-1394743023927257/

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MYST Asian Fusion in Burnaby

April 27, 2017

MYST Asian Fusion just opened in Burnaby and they are serving up many different kinds of Asian cuisine. We were invited for a tasting of their menu to see what they offer. There is a parking lot but it can be quite full at peak hours, but there is free street parking too.

The restaurant is a bit hidden but just look out for the bright blue sign.

Interior

They have lots of seating inside with booth style configurations. This location took over Lester’s Arcade, so they really did a lot of renovations to get this look.

Drinks

Taiwanese Beer

They have a selection of Taiwanese Beer on the menu. It’s sweeter than the average beer and infused with fruity flavours.

Uchikinoki ice cream smoothie

A green tea drink with ice cream, mochi and red bean.

Slushies

They have huge slushies with marshmallow and chocolate eyeballs. This particular one was green apple flavour.

Pea Flower Tea

They have a series of pea flower tea, which have been quite popular among bubble tea shops around town. These 2 particular drinks were Calpis butterfly pea flower tea and the Strawberry lemon butterfly pea flower tea.

Potted Milk Tea

The milk tea base to topped with a cookie crumble and a green leaf. it was a really cool concept, but I didn’t like the gritty texture of the cookie crumble.

Takoyaki

It comes with 6 pieces and has a piece of cooked octopus inside. It is topped with mayo, teriyaki sauce, and shredded seaweed. It was interesting to see this on the menu, but tasted decent.

Fried green beans with minced pork

It has a good portion size for a table to share this. It had a nice caramelization from the hot pan. It was good.

Steamed sticky rice dumplings

7 pieces to an order in a steamed bamboo basket. The wrapper is filled with all the delicious sticky rice. It was an interesting dish but it was too carb heavy for my personal liking.

Skewers

They have a large variety of skewers on the menu. They were all pretty meh I would have wanted more char for added flavour.

Pork intestine
Lamb
Pork
Chicken
Fish cake
Chicken gizzard

Japanese style egg fried rice

There is a good amount of seafood in the fried rice and it’s topped with a fried egg, seaweed and mayo. My kind of comfort food.

Golden sand prawns with salted egg yolk sauce

Very delicious and the egg yolk crust is so addictive. I peeled the head off and at the rest with the shell on. Some people hate it with the shell but I oddly like it with the crunchy texture.

Chives & shrimp spring rolls

Mediocre spring rolls and nothing was special about them.

Pan fried beef pancake

The green onion pancake is rolled with beef, green onions and some sauce. 4 pieces some in an order and they are big pieces.

House special spicy lamb hot pot

This was my favourite dish of the evening. It is lit underneath with some fire to keep it nice and hot as you eat the meal. It is served with rice and 2 side dishes.

The hot pot was packed full of ingredients like spam, tofu, fish cake, bean curd, and imitation crab.

Deep fried ginger flavour chicken whole wings

This is their large order and each wing was perfectly fried. The exterior was crisp and golden brown.

Fried chicken in chili pepper

The pieces had a lot of bones so it wasn’t as enjoyable to eat. Meh.

Sandwiches

The sandwiches are pretty basic. Egg, tomato, ham and cucumber are inside the slices of white bread.

Chives, shrimp & pork dumplings

Pretty decent for dumplings and there is 10 pieces to the order and some sauce on the side.

Taiwanese style fried rice vermicelli

Soft vermicelli noodles with some veggies and meat mixed throughout.

Assorted deep fried basket

This basked had squid tentacles, salt and peppery chicken, blood sausage, and other deep fried items.

MYST beef noodle soup

Inside, we added beef shank, tripe, and tendon. It was decent and filling.

Marinated 3 item combo

This had dried tofu, seaweed and pork ear string. It was served cold on this dish and we slowly picked at it.

TaiNan style egg noodle soup

This was an ok dish but it didn’t compare to the other soupy dishes on the menu.

Myst deluxe marinated pork with rice

This dish had a lot of ingredients in it. Just mix it all together and enjoy.

Preserved cabbage with shredded pork fried rice cake

It was a good dish for sharing around the table. The chewy rice cakes with the preserved cabbage and pork were a nice combination.

Hakka style sweet rice cake

Nope. The dates gave it an odd bitter preserved flavour to the dish. No one likes it, but maybe you have to have an acquired taste.

Myst Jelly

This is a Winter Melon Jelly and has a consistency of a harder jello. It was very sweet and I didn’t really like this either.

Shaved Snowflake

They have this in either strawberry or mango flavours. We got the strawberry version and it sit on top of dry ice that makes the fog underneath. The strawberry shaved ice and the ice cream have a sweet artificial taste to it, kinda like Pocky. The strawberry slices were fresh.

Myst Taiyaki

The taiyaki sits in a ice cream cone bowl, matcha ice cream, mochi, red bean sauce, chocolate drizzle and a chocolate wafer stick. It was a dessert fit for a kid.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food was so-so, but there is quite a variety that you’ll find something to enjoy. My favourite were the House special spicy lamb hot pot, deep fried chicken wings, and the golden sand prawns with salted egg yolk sauce.

We Rate MYST:

Address:
6400 Kingsway, Burnaby

Website:
http://www.myst6400.com/

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Shiny Tea: Bubble Tea Ice Cream in International Village

April 19, 2017

Shiny Tea inside International Village is serving up soft serve ice cream. They still have their classic milk teas and other drinks. After work, I came with a few friends to begin the long weekend and to enjoy some ice cream. It was close to the office, so we thought it would be great for a visit. It got busy later into the evening.

Interior

There are about 14 seat inside, so it’s not great for really large groups. But, the food court is a few steps away, so you can go there instead to sit and eat.

Soft Serve Ice Cream “Italian Gelato”

They have 2 flavours on rotation – Peach Mango Green Tea and their Sri Lankan Black Tea. You get 1 sauce and toppings are extra. The flavours change every week, but they usually have one tea-based flavour and a fruity one. They let you taste the flavours before you purchase, which is nice.

There is only one size, so it’s still good for individual consumption or sharing.

Yaaassss…condensed milk.

I got the Sri Lankan Black Tea with white pearls, black pearls and condensed milk.

They did have suggested toppings and sauces, but I wasn’t feeling it, so I crafted my own and it turned out delicious.

My friend got the Peach Mango Green Tea with brown sugar honey and it was a bit on the sweet side.

Milk tea

There are lots of drinks on the menu to choose from, but my favourites are the milk teas.

My friend got the 3Q milk tea. It has black pearls, white pearls and coconut jelly.

Overall,

We Rate Shiny Tea:

Address:
88 W Pender St,Unit 2113, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.shinytea.ca/

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Teapressu: Bubble Tea Shop on Wheels in Vancouver

April 8, 2017

Teapressu is a mobile trailer that sells bubble tea drinks on the go. I was passing by with a friend and had to make a U-Turn to get here. I’ve never seen a bubble tea food truck, so we had to come here for a visit.

They have hot and cold drinks available. What I like most is their ability to customize your drinks by selecting the sweetness level and ice level. Similar to some other bubble tea shop around town.

There is no bubble tea shop near my work area, so I was really excited to check this place out.

Grass Jelly Milk Tea with half sweetness and minimal ice. It was really good. I usually order this when I go to a new place to see how it compares. They made a great milk tea and I would recommend this place. The grass jelly is delicious as well.

My friend got the cold honey lemon with no sweetness. Very brave, but she’s on a pretty minimal sugar diet. She did say she enjoyed it.

Red Bean Matcha Milk Tea is what a few people recommended to me. They suggested 100% sweetness to counteract the matcha as it is slightly bitter. It was good but I still really enjoyed their milk tea. Does that make me basic?

Final Thoughts

I gotta say, I did really enjoy their bubble tea. If you see them around town, definitely give them a try. I would highly recommend their milk teas. You can taste the difference in the teas and ingredients they use.

We Rate Teapressu:

Address:
Varied

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Teapressu-1674957589488689/

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Chatime Kerrisdale: Now Open in Vancouver

March 7, 2017

Chatime locations are slowly popping up all over Vancouver and in the subburbs. Their newest location that just opened in Chatime in Kerrisdale.

They are having their soft opening right now, but on March 10th till the 12th, they will be having their grand opening, where they are having a buy 1 get 1 free promotion, where the free drink is either Pearl Milk Tea or Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea.

I go to Chatime quite often as it’s my go to bubble tea shop in Vancouver. I always go with my usual order – Roasted Milk Tea with Grass Jelly, half sweet and less ice. This time around, we tried 5 different drink combinations to explore more items on their menu.

Interior

On the right side is where you put in your order and then wait till its ready.

There are a few tables in the front, but there are more chairs and tables in the back to enjoy your bubble tea and spend time with friends.

Butterfly Pea with Grapefruit Juice

We got this drink regular sweetness and regular ice. Butterfly pea is been brewed in teas dating back centuries while providing numerous health benefits. These flowers are known to act as anti-oxidants, increase blood circulation, help you sleep and promote skin health. The natural blue colour of the drink will magically change colours as the acidity level changes.

The name was inspired due to the shape of the flower and its glamourous blue-violet colour, resembling a butterfly.

The tea itself isn’t very strong, but the grapefruit juice balances really well with this drink. I can see it being a great drink to get once the temperature starts rising in Vancouver.

Oolong Tea Mousse

Oolong tea mousse was made with half sugar and regular ice. I like the variety of tea with the delicious salty sweet mousse on top. Similar to another bubble tea chain in town.

Pretty good drink, but I would get it with less ice.

Hazelnut Milk Tea + Coffee Jelly

We got this with no sugar and less ice. I’ve never had hazelnut milk tea before and it was good with the coffee jelly. Surprising combination.

Kumquat Lemon Juice + Aiyu Jelly

It has regular sugar and regular ice. They use fresh kumquat when available, but due to it being a seasonal fruit, real fruit syrup may be substituted. It was refreshing and tangy.

Aiyu jelly is a jelly made from the seeds of various figs that is found in the mountains of Taiwan. Aiyu jelly is usually served with honey and lemon juice as well as fruit tea. A good combination.

Strawberry Au Lait + Pudding

This last drink has regular sugar. It is made with blended strawberry syrup, coconut jelly and milk, then topped with more coconut jelly. On the bottom, there is pudding added.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the bubble tea is pretty consistent with some of the other locations and bubble tea is just delicious. If it’s your first time here, I would suggest my favourite drink – Roasted Milk Tea with Grass Jelly, half sweet and less ice. I always love getting milk tea as it’s a great benchmark to see how their drinks compare to other companies.

We Rate Chatime Kerrisdale:

Address:
6075 West Blvd, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.chatimebc.com/

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TMIX Butterfly Lover Series: Blue Coloured Tea

November 3, 2016

TMIX tea & dessert bar is located on Cambie and they recently introduced their Butterfly Lover Series of new drinks using Butterfly Pea Flower that gives a natural vibrant colour to their creation of drinks.

The Butterfly Pea Flower is an ancient Thai herbal plant which is believe to provide antioxidants, improve eyesight, nourishes skin and hair, prevents premature aging, boosts immunity, and it slims. I’m not 100% sure if these claims are accurate, but I find it pretty neat that it produces such a blue colour. They also don’t advise pregnant people to drink this.

Foodgressing invited me to tag along and since I’ve been seeing this pop up on Instagram, I wanted to try it for myself.

Interior

There are tons of seats inside the cafe and the staff is very friendly.

Butterfly Lover Series

They have 7 drinks in their series:

Starry Night: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Kumquat Soda with Ai-yu Jelly
Reverie: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Ribena
Blue Danube: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Earl Grey Latte
Romantic Sunset: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Passionfruit Green Tea
Love in Coco Island: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Pina Colada Slush
Snowy Lover: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Calpis
Blue Moon: Hot Honey Butterfly Pea Flower with honey

We tried 4 of the flavours and I liked the Starry Night the best because of the added ai-yu jelly, it adds a nice texture to the drink as you have it with the kumquat soda. The Butterfly Pea Flower is very subtle and you are tasting predominantly the soda.

We also had the Reverie and similar thoughts. They also advised us to shake this drink before consuming to mix the flavours.

Blue Danube has 3 distinct layers of colour from the different densities of liquid in the drink. With the strong earl grey tea flavour, it masks the Butterfly Pea Flower too. It’s not necessarily a bad thing because of the colours of the drink. You will want to mix up this drink too to incorporate all the flavours.

Blue Moon is the only hot beverage using the Butterfly Pea Flower and honey. Once it is steeped, it has the vibrant blue colour. You can get refills of this drink which is nice.

The tea has hardly any flavours to it. What special about it is the natural blue colour that makes it fun to drink and great for photos.

Overall, the new drinks are pretty unique due to the strong vibrant blue colour. As for the taste, because of the subtlety of the tea flavour, it does get masked by the other flavours in the drink.

We Rate TMIX:

Address:
3432 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.tmixtea.com/

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Shake Shake Tea: Bubble Tea in Richmond

November 1, 2016

Shake Shake Tea is a new Bubble Tea shop in Richmond at Empire Centre. I was invited to try a few items and since I was in the area with a few friends, I thought it would be convenient to stop by and try some of the teas. With the amount of Bubble Tea shops opening in Metro Vancouver, it’s pretty tough competition since a lot of the large chains in Asian has started opening up shops here.

What made Shake Shake Tea unique as they use real milk, loose leaf tea and quality ingredients in their drinks.

Interior

Their shop has a few seats and can fit a few groups inside. Most people we noticed did take out. It gets busier later in the evening when people need their bubble tea fix.

The menu has their milk tea, iced milk, flavoured tea and hot drinks.

Milk Tea

We started off by trying their milk teas.

Roasted Oolong Milk Tea was my favourite. At 100% sugar, it was the perfect amount for me without toppings. The tea was very strong and the roasted flavour shined through. The use of real milk makes a difference in the taste too.

Jasmine Milk Tea was my second favourite. Similar feelings to the roasted oolong milk tea but with the different flavour of Jasmine tea.

Grass Jelly Iced Milk and Caramel was more sweet than the first 2 drinks. The caramel was more present and good for those who have a sweet tooth.

Iced Milk and Black Sugar with Pearls was the sweetest of them all since they cook the pearls with sugar. I prefer the milk teas.

Flavoured Teas

I also got the Peach Green Tea with coconut jelly. It was really good and just the right amount of sweetness.

Toppings

They have pearls, grass jelly, pudding, coconut jelly, agar, green bean, red bean and taro.

A good selection of toppings, but I really enjoyed the grass jelly. It helps add texture to the drink and it’s not sweet. The pearls were a bit too sweet for my liking. It was good that they tried to infuse more flavour into the pearls by cooking it with sugar, but not my personal preference.

Seasonal Desserts

For the fall, they have introduced their Jar Desserts for a limited time. They have 3 different combos to choose from:

Original Milk Tea + Rocher Mousse
Jasmine Milk Tea + Matcha Granola Mousse
Earl Grey Milk Tea + Caramel Banana Mousse

The combos are around $15, which is a bit pricey, but they only have limited quantities a day and do sell out.

Rocher Mousse is topped with a Ferrero Rocher and a chocolate straw. There are delicious layers of chocolate and mousse and accompany the teas well.

Matcha Granola Mousse was good as well and the added granola texture worked. The matcha was strong but not bitter at all.

Caramel Banana Mousse has bits of banana bread on top.

Overall, I think their milk teas were really good. It’s not overly sweet and is good with 100% sugar. The dessert prices seem a bit high but could be due to the ingredients they use inside. I would come back for their Roasted Oolong Milk Tea, Oolong Milk Tea and Peach Green Tea.

We Rate Shake Shake Tea:

Address:
4600-3 Road, Suite 131, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.shakeshaketea.com/

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Gong Cha: Bubble Tea in Palo Alto

October 27, 2016

Gong Cha is one of my fondest memories from Hong Kong. Having bubble tea with their signature cream on top was something very unique to Asian until Gong Cha started expanding to the United States and Canada.

When I was in Palo Alto visiting a friend, I had to come here for an after dinner bubble tea.

They have a guide on the table if you want to know the different levels of customizations you can do to your drink like sweetness, ice, and toppings.

Milk Foam Green Tea was what I ordered with 50% sweetness and 50% ice. The milk foam on top is a bit salty, but after a while, it starts tasting pretty good with the tea.

We rate Gong Cha:

Address:
439 Waverley St, Palo Alto

Website:
http://gong-cha-usa.com/

In Bubble Tea

Boba Guys: Bubble Tea in San Francisco

October 21, 2016

Boba Guys is a popular bubble tea shop for local and tourists. My hotel at Station Square and Boba Guys was literally a block away, how could I resist to try one of the most popular bubble tea shops in San Francisco. When I got here in the middle of the day, there was a bit of a line up but it wasn’t too long.

The menu has a good amount of drinks to choose from. Since it was my first time here, I couldn’t be too adventurous as I wanted something pretty standard so I can compare to the other bubble tea shops I’ve been to.

Classic Milk Tea with tapioca balls and half sweet. As a Canadian, I still find it funny how it’s called boba since I’m use to calling it pearls. The subtle differences when it comes to our 2 countries. Half sweet was the right amount of sweetness for me since the tea stand out and the quality of the tapioca balls were really good.

Overall, the quality of tea, milk and tapioca balls were great.

We Rate Boba Guys:

Address:
429 Stockton Street, San Francisco

Website:
http://www.bobaguys.com/

In Bubble Tea

Peanuts Bubble Tea: Richmond Public Market

September 29, 2016

Peanuts Bubble Tea is located inside the Richmond Public Market in the food court. This bubble tea stand has been here since 1996 before the wave of all the other bubble tea shops opened across town in huge numbers.

While having lunch at the food court, we decided to make a stop here to quench our thirst.

Original milk tea with pearls and oolong milk tea.

I got the oolong milk tea half sweet. A good tea flavour with a good mount of milky balance.

They also serve Che Lung Bing for $0.60 each. These are the little wheel cakes with fillings inside. The fillings can include peanut, chocolate, coconut, radish, cheese, cream or red bean.

I didn’t end up getting the wheel cakes since they ran out of the cream flavour. $0.60 is such a good price since most places at the night market charge $1 or more.

Overall, a good place to get bubble tea at the Richmond Public Market.

We rate Peanuts Bubble Tea:

Address:
2130-8260 Westminster Highway, Richmond

In Bubble Tea

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice: Bubble Tea in Downtown

September 22, 2016

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice is the world’s largest Bubble Tea company and they have locations all over Asia and North America. The interior is pretty small, so most people do take out.

Bubble Tea

Classic Bubble Tea with pearls was what I got. I opted for half sweet. It was pretty good, but ChaTime inches out slightly ahead since I like more of the roasted flavour.

Taro Milk Tea with Sago was what Maggi ordered. Check out her blog to hear what she thought.

Overall, it’s a pretty solid bubble tea place in the Downtown area. Nothing fancy or different that really differentiates them from the other shops in town.

We Rate CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice:

Address:
609 W Pender Street, Vancouver

Website: http://cocobubbletea.com/

In Bubble Tea

Bubble Queen: Bubble Tea and Bubble Waffles

August 18, 2016

Bubble Queen has their second location on Oak Street. The Richmond location is always packed, so my friends and I wanted to check out their Oak Street location and also they were having major bubble waffle cravings.

Bubble Queen is best know for their drinks and bubble waffles. A great combination.

This location has indoor seating as well as patio seating. It has a bit more seating than the Richmond location.

Oolong Milk Tea, Mango Slush, and Peach Green Tea was what we all ordered. The drinks were good and not too sweet.

Original Bubble Waffle was crisp on the outside, but there wasn’t too much of the chewy centre. It seems like its their style to cook it a bit over. Some people seem to like it but I prefer is less crispy.

Oreo Bubble Waffle has the bits of oreo integrated inside of it. Similar to the original, it is also quite crisp.

Overall, the drinks were great but the bubble waffle weren’t my thing. The waffles took a long time to come to the table. The drinks came a lot faster.

We rate Bubble Queen:

Address:
3208 Oak Street, Vancouver

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Bubble-Queen-1948623658697015/

In Bubble Tea

Shiny Tea: Bubble Tea in Crystal Mall

July 5, 2016

Shiny Tea is a new Bubble Tea shop established in Taiwan back in 2005 and have now opened their second location in Canada inside Crystal Mall in South Burnaby. They have over 360 shops around the world in countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Macao, Australia, and most recently, in L.A. and New York.

Their other location is in Richmond, but since I live in Burnaby, this location is more convenient for me to visit.

White Pearl Tea (Original) has Taiwan-style milk tea with sweet potato balls. It got it in a large size and half sweet. Even at the original sweetness, it isn’t very sweet at all. So, having it half sweet was pretty bland. I also noticed the tea taste wasn’t strong at all, it was mostly a milk taste. Even at 50% sweetness, I should be able to taste more of the tea flavour.

Panda Milk Tea is a small size was what Amy ordered. She wasn’t impressed with the drink either.

Overall, we both didn’t like the drink. With so much competition for Bubble Tea in Burnaby and Vancouver, this doesn’t hit the mark. Its very bland and doesn’t have much tea flavour, plus the pearls were not cooked well. I wouldn’t come back.

We rate Shiny Tea:

Address:
4500 Kingsway, Suite 2210,
Burnaby, Vancouver, BC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShinyTea.Vancouver/

Bubble Tea

Interior

Menu

Drinks

Mango and Durian Pancakes

Durian

Mango

Snow Ice with Chopped Strawberry

Mango and Black Sticky Rice with Homemade shaved ice

Mango, kiwi, homemade riceball with homemade shaved ice

Final Thoughts

Interior

Milk Tea with Pearls

Cold Brew Pu’er Tea

Winter Melon Tea Cap

Strawberry Tea Mocktail

Matcha Tea Cap

Waffles

Final Thoughts

Menu

Waffles

Orea Cocoa Waffle

Fresh Fruit Waffle

Creamy Frappe Series

Mango Creamy Frappe

Tofu Pudding Series

Tofu Pudding No 3

Hot Grass Jelly Series

Hot Grass Jelly No 2

Royal Sweet Soup Series

Red Bean Soup No 3

Longan Black Glutinous Rice Series

Longan Black Glutinous Rice No 3

Oreo Cocoa Ice Diamond

Hot Hand Made Taro Milk Tea

Winter Melon Latte

ZenQ Milk Tea with Grass Jelly

Strawberry Black Tea

Mango Green Tea

Final Thoughts

Interior

Menu

Regular Milk Tea

Strawberry Watermelon Slush

Final Thoughts

Menu

Princess Milk Tea

Three Flavoured Bubble Waffle

Final Thoughts

Interior

Sakura Oolong Mousse

Black Tea Mousse

Final Thoughts

Interior

Drinks

Taiwanese Beer

Uchikinoki ice cream smoothie

Slushies

Pea Flower Tea

Potted Milk Tea

Takoyaki

Fried green beans with minced pork

Steamed sticky rice dumplings

Skewers

Japanese style egg fried rice

Golden sand prawns with salted egg yolk sauce

Chives & shrimp spring rolls

Pan fried beef pancake

House special spicy lamb hot pot

Deep fried ginger flavour chicken whole wings

Fried chicken in chili pepper

Sandwiches

Chives, shrimp & pork dumplings

Taiwanese style fried rice vermicelli

Assorted deep fried basket

MYST beef noodle soup

Marinated 3 item combo

TaiNan style egg noodle soup

Myst deluxe marinated pork with rice

Preserved cabbage with shredded pork fried rice cake