“Gong Cha” in Chinese means the tea used as a tribute to the Emperor. The tea used for this purpose is usually of the highest quality. This is the hidden meaning behind the Gong cha franchise. Gong Cha came to Vancouver in the early stage of Vancouver’s bubble boom in late 2016. The Gong Cha location we have visited is on Tyne Street near Kingsway in Vancouver.
Strength: Cozy interior space with lots of seating. Good Bubble waffle
Weakness: Tea was too sweet, Grass jelly was a little tough
Other Bubble Tea Shop
- Share Tea (4.5 Stars)
- Chatime (4.5 Stars)
- Hanlin Tea House (5 Stars)
Gong Cha Counter with logo
Gong Cha has pretty good interior decor. There are many customers clustered into little groups to socialize. The logo behind the cashier counter looks simple, but the wall is quite distracting. The staff here seems relatively young, and they chat for a while before acknowledging my presence. I heard Gong Cha’s franchise don’t pay their new employee for the first 20 hours of work time. With an employee who does not respect their employees, it is not surprising that they don’t care about the business either.
Tea of the day special menu
This tea of the day special menu features large sized drinks for $3.99. It is probably the cheapest bubble tea franchise in Vancouver are offering, if you don’t count Peanut’s Bubble Tea in Richmond Public Market.
Combo menu items
Gong Cha is very good at providing seasonal combos. This is a winter combo where you get a hot drink and a bubble waffle. Their bubble waffles’ quality is definitely better than the ones served in Bubble Waffle Cafe, but a far stretch from Rainbow Cafe at Richmond’s Parker place.
Caramel Milk Tea with Grass Jelly
We ordered the large size of this drink and found the cup very skinny. This is very tricky because skinny cups carries a lot less content. The drinks were too sweet for me that I cannot stand more than 2 sips. Some of you are gonna say that’s because I ordered the Caramel version. I’d like to think it is the bubble tea shop’s responsibility to know when a drink has too much sugar. This is not trial and error. When a bubble tea shop expects me to memorize and customize my own drink, I’ll just go to a different store.
Another part of the dink that’s poorly done was the grass jelly. Contrary to the ones I get from Chatime that was soft and supple, the grass jelly from Gong Cha has a tough skin on one side of the grass jelly. They have a plastic texture that was tough to chew. I had to spit out a few.
604 Food Critic Assessment
If I was the emperor to receive this cup of tea as a tribute, I would have wiped out their civilization really quickly. Perhaps my expectation was set too high after reading Gong Cha’s business philosophy. Unfortunately, they did not live up to the standard they have set out on their own website. Today, I have had a cup of tea that fails at the forefront of the tea’s body, the topping, and even the size. I cannot think of any reason to recommend Gong Cha.
How to get in touch
- Phone: (604) 336-9797
- Address: 5712 Tyne St, Vancouver
- Hours: 1:00 pm – 11:00 pm, Friday 1:00pm – 12:00 am, Saturday 12:00 pm – 12:00 am, Sunday 12:00pm – 11:00 pm. (There is no way to make the hours more complicated)
