Chatime (Surrey) – ChineseBites Media Event

January 20, 2016January 17, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: As part of the ChineseBites media event, all beverages were free, but all opinions are based on my own personal experience.

Chatime is expanding again! For all you Surrey peeps out there, no longer do you have to make the trip to the other locations for your fix of Chatime! The newest addition is in Whalley, right next to Surrey Central in a strip mall. I was invited by ChineseBites to their soft opening and was able to try any drinks I liked.

My favourite thing about Chatime is the ability to customize. You can choose the sugar and ice level. I find that most of their drinks are on the sweeter side, so 50% or less is the best. There are also many toppings to choose from and each topping is $0.50.

I brought K along to the event since we are both fans of Chatime. Our go-to item is always the Roasted Milk Tea with Grass Jelly, but since we were able to get our drinks comped, we decided to be adventurous and try drinks we’ve never tried. The first was the Tieguanyin Tea Latte. The drink is divided into layers when you first receive it and after shaking it, you get sort of a milk tea. It’s much thicker than their normal milk tea though. The tieguanyin tea flavour really came through and is perfect for those who enjoy the tea itself. One of our new favourites.

We were curious about what the Oriental Beauty was all about, so we gave it a try and added aloe vera. It turned out to be a tea based drink and was rather sweet due to the aloe vera. We couldn’t figure out what kind of tea it was, but it’s definitely one of those Chinese teas. Quite refreshing actually.

K really enjoyed the Oolong Tea. We added rainbow jelly in it so it was a bit odd due to the sweetness. Also, the jelly is too big to go through the straw. The tea itself is very strong though so more on the bitter side. K loves bitterness of oolong tea so it was perfect for her.

The Matcha Mousse is topped with a thick layer of cream and tastes sort of like a frappucino but without all that crushed ice. Instead, there are just ice cubes at the bottom. I thought this was average as it was quite gritty. Strong matcha flavour though.

Our last cold drink we tried was the Jasmine Green Milk Tea with Grass Jelly. This is pretty good and I would order this again to change things up. The milk tea was smooth and had a nice jasmine tea fragrance to it. It was also my first time trying their hot drinks and we got the Roasted Milk Tea with Pearls. We asked for it to be warm instead of hot so that we could drink it right away. Plus, you don’t need to worry about sucking up the pearls and burning your tongue. This was great and lived up to their cold version! I would highly recommend getting this during the winter.

Overall, Chatime at the Surrey location did not disappoint. Pearls are still on point with a nice chew and not overly sweet. Drinks come in two sizes and most start at around $4.30. This location also has a decent amount of seats for you to enjoy your drinks.

Check out my prior reviews from my visits at the Broadway location: Visit #1 and Visit #2

Chatime – ChineseBites Media Event

June 3, 2015June 4, 20151 Comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were comped

The other week, I was invited by ChineseBites to attend the Chatime media event. This was the Broadway location, but they have opened up stores on Robson and in Richmond as well. They are the #1 bubble tea brand in the world and have over 1200 locations worldwide.

We got to try their top 10 drinks, which included:

1. Pearl Milk Tea
2. Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea
3. Taro Pudding Milk Tea
4. Brown Rice Green Milk Tea
5. Taiwan Mango QQ
6. Matcha Red Bean Milk Tea
7. Mango Smoothie
8. Red Bean Pearl Milk Tea
9. Matcha Tea Latte
10. Chocolate Mousse

You can also customize your drink with pearls, grass jelly, coconut jelly, red bean, coffee jelly, aloe vera, rainbow jelly and pudding.

They have two sizes – regular or large. Their large size is basically the size of the regular bubble teas elsewhere. The great thing about Chatime is that you can customize ice and sugar level.

They are famous for their teas, which are brewed fresh in store, using tea leaves and other high quality natural ingredients. Therefore, they rely on natural flavours without the use of preservatives, pre-made tea or tea powders.

There is a decent amount of seating, and the interior is bright and modern.

Taro Pudding Milk Tea and Mango Smoothie

I decided to try the Taro Pudding Milk Tea, with regular sugar and ice levels. You could immediately tell that they used fresh taro, since the drink was rather gritty with the taro bits. The pudding was smooth, but I wished that pudding was chopped up a bit, since I found it hard to get through the straw. S got the Mango Smoothie, which was refreshing with a slight tang. The ice wasn’t blended fully, so you got some bits of ice, which I enjoyed.

Chatime also treated us to some of their in house desserts and fruits. I’m not sure if they actually sell these during regular hours though.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Chatime, and since it’s right near work, I’ll likely be visiting soon again. Thanks to ChineseBites for the invite!

Pros:
– Tea based drinks are of high quality
– Sugar and ice levels can be customized

Cons:
– Slightly on the pricey side for bubble tea

Price Range: $5-10

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 4 Parking: 3 Overall: 4

Chatime (Broadway)

May 12, 20151 Comment

Chatime is a Taiwanese bubble tea chain store and has franchises all around the world. In Vancouver, they have actually been selling their bubble tea inside Chef Hung restaurants, but they never had their own storefront. However, last month, they expanded in several locations around the Greater Vancouver. I believe they have one on Robson, one in Richmond and one on Broadway. Conveniently, the Richmond location is a few blocks away from my house, but the grand opening promotion had already passed for that location. Since Broadway’s location is also extremely close to work, I decided to head down there after work to take advantage of their grand opening promotion.

For the first week, they offered buy one get one free drinks. The free drink was either the Pearl Milk Tea or Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea. A really good deal!

As for your first drink, you can choose from their large assortment of drinks. They specialize in their tea drinks, so of course we tried one from their fresh tea line. They also have small or large sizes. The small is quite small compared to your typical bubble tea, yet the prices are around the same. Chatime definitely is on the pricier side, so the promo was great.

The great thing about Chatime is that they offer customization. They will always ask you for your sugar and ice option. This is great for people who are conscious about their sugar intake and I especially liked the ice option as I usually like my drinks to have less ice.

Service was not the quickest that day, but it can be understandable since they just opened.

Brown Rice Green Milk Tea & Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea

We decided to get the Brown Rice Green Milk Tea, which we opted for less sugar and less ice. This was delicious! You don’t normally see brown rice flavoured milk tea on the menu at other bubble tea shops, so we had to give this a try. Tasted basically like milk tea, but it had a hint of wheat flavour to it. This was a large size, and it came to be the same size as typical bubble teas. As we had purchased a large bubble tea, we got the free bubble tea also in a large size. We chose the Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea, which is a must try. The grass jelly is not super sweet, but was very smooth and soft. The milk tea itself was smooth and had a roasted flavour to it. Way better than your typical milk tea. I also find that their consistency is much more thin, rather than being very thick and milky. I actually prefer this consistency as you don’t get as filled up.

Overall, I’m super happy that there is a new bubble tea shop right by work and also home. They are on the pricey side, at around $5 for a large sized drink, but the quality of the drinks are great! Also a good amount of seating to enjoy your drink.

Pros:
– Roasted Milk Tea is delicious!
– Sugar and ice options

Cons:
– Service was a bit slow
– On the pricier side

Price Range: $5

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 2.5 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 3.5

Memory Corner

June 19, 2014Leave a comment

Memory Corner just opened this year and it seemed to catch many people’s attention. It’s located at the corner of No.3 across the city hall. That location has changed restaurants multiple times, probably because it’s an odd location. Well Memory Corner now takes the spot and they offer what many say is authentic Taiwanese food. I decided to try it out with J for a late lunch. I had saw tons of pictures online, so I had to give the Potted Milk Tea a try. I’m the type that will try things that look cute, even though it might not be amazing. Anyways, this was definitely a disappointment. Although it was very whimsical to look at, I definitely didn’t like that so called “soil” on my drink. It was basically cookie crumbles and I found it difficult to go down my throat. Imagine drinking some rough sediments. Not a great feeling. On the other hand, the milk tea itself was quite good. I wish I had just ordered a regular milk tea…

Satay Beef Fried Noodles

J got the Satay Beef Fried Noodles. I like how the food here looks very home cooked, so I feel like it might be more authentic tasting. J said it was pretty good.

Taiwanese Sausage

J also got a side of Taiwanese Sausages. This was my first time trying them. I found that they reminded me of a mix between Chinese sausages and typical American sausages. It was definitely interesting, although not my favourite. J is Taiwanese though, so he seemed to really enjoy them.

Taiwanese Deep-Fried Crispy Chicken Thigh in Noodle

I got the Taiwanese Deep-Fried Crispy Chicken Thigh in Noodle and the chicken came in a separate bowl so it wouldn’t get soggy. I love Taiwanese crispy chicken, and currently Sunway is my favourite place for them. Here, they were also quite crispy with a thin layer of batter. The seasoning wasn’t too strong or salty which I liked. I don’t think it beats Sunway’s though!

As for the noodles, I really enjoyed them! They were cooked to al dente, which is not common for Asian noodles. Something about the noodle’s texture was really good! It had a slight chew to it. I wonder if they were handmade. The broth was a bit of a disappointment though. Seemed more like a plain chicken broth with garlic chips in it. It really lacked flavour.

Overall, I was quite happy with Memory Corner’s food. The food is affordable, but keep in mind that the interior is nothing impressive. It’s really casual and similar to what you would see in Asia as a snackbar. They also only take cash and debit cards. I hear that they are famous for their lamb though. Will definitely give that a try next time!

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee

August 23, 2013Leave a comment

J always craves shaved ice, but doing a quick Google search of shaved ice locations in Richmond, I found that most of the best ones seemed to be at food courts. And others, of course being at typical bubble tea shops, which we’ve probably all been to by now. Since most malls close by 9:00pm, the food court wasn’t really an option for me, so I ventured out to look outside of Richmond. I found Tealips, which had pretty good ratings, and although it was a 30 minute drive to Burnaby, I gave it a shot.

The place actually seems to be Korean-owned, and they offer not only shaved ice, but waffles, coffee, tea, and other bubble tea drinks. The place also has wi-fi so you will see many customers with their laptops. The environment actually reminds me of Blenz, except they serve drinks and food other than coffee. It was quite busy the Friday night we went, but we luckily still found a two-seater table.

After placing your order and paying at the cash register, you are given a buzzer, much like the one at the Cheesecake Factory down in the States. I love how Korean restaurants always know how to utilize technology to their fullest. Super convenient and efficient way and customers don’t need to stand around waiting for their orders to be called.

Matcha Shaved Ice

There were only three types of shaved ice to choose from: red bean, match, and cocoa. As usual, I suggested we get the Matcha. They say that their shaved ice is an “Authentic Korean Dessert called Bing Soo”. And they also claim that there is 100% pure Japanese green tea. And it definitely was. Because even the Ice Cream on the top was just vanilla ice cream, but covered with match powder. and the shaved ice was also mixed with matcha powder. You could definitely taste the flavour of the tea and its hint of bitterness. However, it was fine because it was balanced out with the condensed milk and sweetness of the other ingredients. There were red bean, thinly sliced almonds, mochi, and an abundant of fruits. The fruit included chopped up strawberries, bananas, and my pineapples. I really enjoyed the pineapples and it was really sweet. The mochi was green tea mochi that were orginally a big ball and they were cut up into little pieces. They also sold these mochis separately. I wish that they had more mochi in the shaved ice though.

All in all, the shaved ice was quite delicious and refreshing. It is a very large bowl, hence priced at around $9, but is perfect to share with a friend. I hear that their bubble tea is also pretty good, so I would love to come back to try some.

Leisure Tea & Coffee (Revisit)

December 27, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

Crispy Chicken Sandwich

I’ve revisited Leisure way too many times by now. But there still seems to be items that I haven’t tried. I always tend to go for my favourites, but this time I decided to try some other menu items. These are actually two separate visits, but I’ll just put it in one post. The first item was the Crispy Chicken Sandwich. I’ve heard great things about their Club Sandwich, but I was curious to see what a Crispy Chicken Sandwich was. So glad I got this because it was really delicious! They come in a plate of four triangular sandwiches in white bread. Each sandwich has three layers of bread, so it makes it quite large in size. With the crispy chicken inside, which is really their famous Taiwanese chicken, the sandwiches are too big to take a whole bite of. But I didn’t mind that. Inside was also tomatoes, cucumbers and mayo. I would definitely recommend this.

Crispy Chicken Waffle

Then, on Christmas night after my Christmas potluck, I joined some friends to go to Leisure again… Only Asian restaurants are open on Christmas, so the place was surprisingly quite packed. With all Asians of course. Sadly, I wasn’t too satisfied with my potluck dinner, so I was actually craving some more food by then. I’ve had their Ice Cream Waffle before, but what was a Crispy Chicken Waffle?! I decided to give that a try and it was oh so delicious! It’s really the same thing as the Crispy Chicken Sandwich but in a waffle form. The waffle also had a lot more chicken than the sandwiches. It wasn’t too salty and all the ingredients just worked well together with the vegetables giving a refreshing feel.

Overall, extremely satisfied with both visits again. The food never seem to disappoint!

Leisure Tea & Coffee

August 23, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Shaved Ice with caramel pudding, tapioca pearls, red bean, peanuts, raisins and much more..I don’t remember!

Strawberry Crepe

Revisit for Leisure again! I swear I revisit this place too often… But that’s cause the food and drinks are so good! This time, I decided to try their crepes. I got the Strawberry Crepe and it was presented really nicely. The middle was filled with lots of strawberries, and then it was topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. I found the strawberries a little sour, but the ice cream helped add some sweetness to it. Not bad!

The One Restaurant

April 9, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Matcha Slush

Cheesecake

I’ve been seeing these pictures of gigantic slushes on Facebook everywhere and now I finally got to see it in real life! The One Restaurant is famous for their gigantic slushes, and I’m guessing their gigantic plates of food too… Although I never got to try their actual food, I saw the other tables’ with enormous portions of food! The Matcha Slush was huge! And I believe it was only $5.50, which is the price of normal sized bubble teas at other shops. So definitely a good deal! And the slush is so tall that it starts to fall when it melts, so the waitress brought another cup for us to take the top portion off for us. The matcha was actually surprisingly not too sweet which was good, and for some reason, it actually tasted even better when it was melted. It was almost like matcha milk or something and it was really good! As for the Cheesecake, it was a total disappointment as I believe it was just a store bought frozen cheesecake. The blueberries were still frozen, and the cake was just of bad quality. We were also quite unsatisfied with the service. We had come here for just the matcha slush to share, but we knew that most bubble tea restaurants probably would have a minimum charge. We looked around their menus and they didn’t have it written, so we just decided to order the slush for now. We totally understood that it is acceptable to have a minimum charge, but we weren’t sure if this was the case. Minutes later, the waitress came back and kept asking if we wanted to order more, but she never mentioned a minimum charge. What felt like 2 minutes more, she came back interrupting our conversation, finally stating that we had a minimum charge of one order per person. We told her we would take a look and order in a bit, but we were in deep conversation so thought we could wait for a bit. But she came back literally 2 minutes later to ask if we were ready again. Totally annoyed us as we were planning to get more drinks and food but she wouldn’t even give us time. So service is definitely not so great, but food was decent for the price and portions.