Bubble Tea Recommendations

deasine · #1 Posted **Nov 7, 2007, 4:24 AM**

I love bubble tea, and Vancouver has so many it's impossible to try every single one. My favourite:

Pearl Drops: North Burnaby (Willingdon @ Hastings) - about $3.50 - $6.00, a little bit more expensive than others but everything is fresh!

bils · #2 Posted **Nov 7, 2007, 5:59 AM**

Dragonball at King Ed & Oak is prolly the best in town.

Oddly enough, I don't think I can name a single good bbtea place in Richmond....

twoNeurons · #3 Posted **Nov 7, 2007, 6:47 AM**

Dragon is good... but if you haven't tried Pearl Drops, you'll soon change your mind on what you consider the best.

Pearl Drops tea is awesome too. They import a lot of it directly from Japan from a family that has been growing tea for hundreds of years.

And the owner knows the art of Matcha.

bils · #4 Posted **Nov 7, 2007, 6:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintinium

Dragon is good... but if you haven't tried Pearl Drops, you'll soon change your mind on what you consider the best.

Pearl Drops tea is awesome too. They import a lot of it directly from Japan from a family that has been growing tea for hundreds of years.

And the owner knows the art of Matcha.

i'll have to give it a try. pretty damn far for a richmond boy like me. what would you recommend i try there?

deasine · #5 Posted **Nov 7, 2007, 8:23 AM**

Richmond........ hmmm....

Tapioca Express is alright... (their snowbubbles). But it's really expensive for bubble tea from powder... $3.50 - $5.50

There's also Peanuts in Richmond Public Market... it's nice and cheap LOL (so chinese of me to say taht =P). Green Apple Green Tea is their best one there. $2.50 - $4.50

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintinium

Dragon is good... but if you haven't tried Pearl Drops, you'll soon change your mind on what you consider the best.

Pearl Drops tea is awesome too. They import a lot of it directly from Japan from a family that has been growing tea for hundreds of years.

And the owner knows the art of Matcha.

Yeah! Someone else knows that place =P

For some reason, I don't raelly like Dragon Ball. It's alright but nothing from there really shines out for me.

twoNeurons · #6 Posted **Nov 7, 2007, 4:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bils

i'll have to give it a try. pretty damn far for a richmond boy like me. what would you recommend i try there?

I've always liked their matcha stuff... but watermelon is amazing too.

You can't go wrong with Mango either, but everyone seems to have a good mango.

True though, it's a long trip if you're from Richmond. I'd say if you're in the area, make it a night by going for dinner at nearby Anton's or Bombay Bhel.

Hot Rod · #7 Posted **Nov 8, 2007, 3:19 AM**

The best bubble tea is in Chinatown, at the Crown Bookstore on Pender. We ONLY go to this place, since it is authentic taiwanese run and made.

mr.x · #8 Posted **Nov 8, 2007, 4:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Rod

The best bubble tea is in Chinatown, at the Crown Bookstore on Pender. We ONLY go to this place, since it is authentic taiwanese run and made.

just yesterday, i found out there was a basement floor to the UBC Student Union Building....so many more options for food. -_- it was like that episode of King of the Hill where the family goes to Japan, and lives in the hallway of their suite - unaware that the walls are actually sliding doors to other rooms. (not that i watch King of the Hill...was one of those slow days with nothing to do)

anybody know if the bubble tea there is good?

giallo · #9 Posted **Nov 8, 2007, 8:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bils

Dragonball at King Ed & Oak is prolly the best in town.

Oddly enough, I don't think I can name a single good bbtea place in Richmond....

My brother lives over Dragonball. I liked the bubble tea there, but it still lags behind Taiwan's variety.

Deasine, you need to visit Taichung in Taiwan. It's the home of bubble tea and has a ton of different kinds to choose from.

twoNeurons · #10 Posted **Nov 8, 2007, 4:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Rod

The best bubble tea is in Chinatown, at the Crown Bookstore on Pender. We ONLY go to this place, since it is authentic taiwanese run and made.

I think I've been there... a long time ago. I'll have to check it out again.

deasine · #11 Posted **Nov 9, 2007, 2:40 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Rod

The best bubble tea is in Chinatown, at the Crown Bookstore on Pender. We ONLY go to this place, since it is authentic taiwanese run and made.

Ohhhhh... i should try that =D hopefully I can do that tmr before i go to work. Does anyone know the exact name?

Quote:

Originally Posted by giallo

My brother lives over Dragonball. I liked the bubble tea there, but it still lags behind Taiwan's variety.

Deasine, you need to visit Taichung in Taiwan. It's the home of bubble tea and has a ton of different kinds to choose from.

I SHOULD! I'm a starbucks (maybe not as much) and a bbt addict.

Kats Bubble Tea House across from Petro Canada at E 49th Ave. and Victoria. Their bubble tea is pretty good and they are very consistant. i prefer pearl drops but this one is WAY CLOSER to my house =P
$3.00 - $6.00

Tea Wok at E 41st Ave and Victoria. It's alright.... nothing special.
$3.00 - $6.00

David · #12 Posted **Nov 22, 2007, 5:26 PM**

does anyone know of any good bubble tea places downtown? i have never been able to find a good one yet.

Rusty Gull · #13 Posted **Nov 23, 2007, 10:17 PM**

For Richmond, try the GoGo Tea Cafe. Sort of a higher-end bubble tea experience. It's right at the corner of Garden City and Cambie.

Bert · #14 Posted **Nov 24, 2007, 4:35 AM**

I find the service at GoGo attrocious. I would definitely recommend against going there. They exemplify a "I'm too busy, so make your order in 5 seconds and never call me to your table" attitude. They wouldn't even remove ice from bubble tea I specifically asked them not to put ice in. They said something to the effect of "we're really busy". When I insisted, it was, "fine, fine". Then they took it away for 10 whole minutes. Finally, they came back again with the tea, saying, "sorry, we're too busy" again. The ice was still in the tea!!

I'm also not a fan of Pearl Drops. To me, both their pearls and milk tea have problems.

Dragon Ball is for sure my top pick. Fresh fruit, incredible pearls on a good day (I think they must use something very unique to flavour them), and the milk tea blended so you can definitely taste both the tea and milk. That said, the quality isn't always consistent, but that just seems to be the nature of bubble tea. For pearls, does it partially depend on the weather (i.e. humidity)? I know a lot depends on the length of time they're cooked or sitting.

bils · #15 Posted **Nov 24, 2007, 5:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bert

That said, the quality isn't always consistent, but that just seems to be the nature of bubble tea.

i totally agree. i actually find that bbtea is the worst during busy times (i.e., friday nights) and best during off-peak hours. it almost seems like they'll throw more fruit into your drinks then.

Hot Rod · #16 Posted **Nov 26, 2007, 5:25 AM**

Deasine, the bubble tea place is right inside the Crown Book Store in Chinatown. It's tops!

deasine · #17 Posted **Nov 29, 2007, 2:18 AM**

I didnt' have time to look for the crown book store before I had work =(

Yeah DragonBall isn't consistant, and that's why I like Pearl Drops better, which has the best fruit slushes and fruit milkshakes honestly... milk tea wise yes I agree it isn't that good. Then Tea Wok for milk tea or perhaps Tapioca Express is good for that.

I don't really know any bbt store that actually has consistant bbt/good drinks overall. Then again I haven't went ot the crown book store one. I HOPE I WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED HOT ROD!!! jkjk XD

Hot Rod · #18 Posted **Nov 30, 2007, 9:26 AM**

I;ve found Crown Bookstore - Chinatown's BBT to be pretty consistent, especially when the young (and very attractive) Taiwanese girl is the barista!!! They actually have one of the real sealing lid machines (instead of just giving you a cup and a goofy fast food lid), so you can shake your BBT prior to piercing it with the wedge cut straw!

Hot Rod · #19 Posted **Dec 16, 2007, 8:19 AM**

Correction, I went to Chinatown over the weekend and discovered that Crown Bookstore is gone. BUT, the BBT store is still in the same location; the new store is called Qi Pao ~ a clothing store with, you guessed it.

Anyways, on W. Pender half of the superblock away from Main (S side of Pender), the BBT shop is inside the 'new' Qi Pao store (old Crown Bookstore).

Also, it appears that chinese operators may have taken over the business but it also appears that the former taiwanese owners tought them well since the product is very much the same.

deasine · #20 Posted **Dec 19, 2007, 2:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

does anyone know of any good bubble tea places downtown? i have never been able to find a good one yet.

I finally found an okay BBT place in downtown.

Capstone Tea on Robson St.

View Map: http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...&t=p&z=15&om=1

Comments:
Bubble tea is alright (better than normal) though there is nothing special. Service is incredibly slow.

I will be trying more BBT places in downtown. =)