Grab n Go

Weekend Tea, a bubble tea shop in Burnaby

September 10, 2019

Weekend Tea definitely used quality ingredients, but I think the cup is a little too small for the price they are charging. I have mixed feeling about this place and not sure if I should recommend it. Zang is a direct translation of “Dirty”. It is to resemble the beautiful exterior marbling of the brown sugar pearl milk in the clear cup. The cup size is comparable to Xing Fu Tang, both are quite small. This one at Weekend Tea cost $6.50, one size only. The milk came shaken. There’s no precipitation of brown sugar syrup at the bottom. I also couldn’t experience the warm and soft pearls. The drink doesn’t taste too sweet compared to many other brown sugar drink from other tea shop. The taste is a little boring at the beginning. Towards the end, the saltiness starts to shine through to give this drink a layered flavour. For some reason, the rim of my cup have some brown sugar syrup. Maybe this is what they meant by “Dirty”? My finger kept getting dirty from touching the rim. I had to go get napkin twice.

Chatime bubble tea franchise that started it all Brown Sugar Pearls with Fresh Milk

Chatime, The bubble tea franchise that started it all

September 6, 2019

Chatime’s drinks cost are considered average compared to most other bubble tea places. Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea costs $5.85 each. The Brown Sugar Pearls Fresh Milk cost $6.35. Most of the tea served here are pre-made and kept in different casks. They might not be the best bubble tea place, but the taste really entice my palate.

Hanlin Tea House, oldest bubble tea franchise

September 5, 2019

I like the decoration very much. It’s clean and looks like a bookstore. What a perfect place to take someone you admire. you might be perceived as clean and well-read. I don’t understand the $6.59 price tag. The drink is worth that price tag, but I would prefer a clean number like $6.50 or $6.75. I highly recommend Hanlin Tea House. The bubble tea tastes really good here, no wonder bubble tea become so popular around the world.

Good Food Lekoufu Steak with black pepper on Rice

Good Food Lekoufu (樂口福) at Parker place Richmond

September 3, 2019

I admit it doesn’t look very appealing, but they actually taste pretty good. The only complain I have about the taste is the flavour only comes from the sauce. I ordered the steak with black pepper on rice. The chef covered the plate of rice with two large thin pieces of steak on top. Then the front staff opens a pre-mixed black pepper sauce and gave me 3 scoops. Good Food Lekoufu is a Cantonese Cafe style restaurant. These restaurants are known for their massive portion of carbohydrates and minimal protein. For $12, I got a small cold drink and the meat I got are a lot more than what I get from a $15 Cantonese Cafe. They have pretty bad presentation, and I don’t know how long the sauce have been in the big pot, but the food taste okay with it. It’s pretty much you get what you paid for. It’s not the best food here, but I have seen a lot worse. So, I can comfortably recommend this food stand for people who are looking for cheap eat.

Pokérrito Poke Bowl

August 30, 2019

Pokérrito is an acceptable poke restaurant. Think of it as an Asian fast food restaurant. The counter has the staff side and the customer side. Trading money for a bowl of poke is your only interaction. After the trade, you can either take your food to go or enjoy it at the space provided. The dining area seating is limited and modernly uninviting, so don’t stay here for too long. For $12.50, I got a bowl of poke that is high-average but not above average. I’d say it’s equivalent to A&W, so $9.50 – $12 for a combo should be fair. Not recommended if you enjoy no-stress ordering experience. I did not enjoy the ordering ritual at Pokérrito. I noticed most of the Poké places operated by Korean will limit the number of sides you can ask for with your bowl. Pokérrito limits the number of side dish to 2. They also institute extra cost for certain popular sides such as avocado. This was my first time at Pokérrito so I only noticed the extra cost item when I picked them. When the server asked me “this cost 50 cents extra, is that okay?” What was I supposed to say? It is understandable to charge extra for wild salmon, but these petty charges on the sides just feel a cheap shot. I agreed on the extra charge and left paid with a bad aftertaste in my mouth. It would be appreciated if I can have a more relaxing ordering experience.

Chase Tea, John 4:14

August 28, 2019

On the outside of the original milk tea, I see a failed attempt to mimic the trendy brown sugar pearl milk tea. The exterior streaks are crude for marbling. The milk tea tastes quite watery. There is not much taste for either tea or milk. The pearls have acceptable chewiness. Some pearls are stuck together but separate with a light shake. I was disappointed that they used taro powder instead of the fresh stuff. In my defense, the taro milk tea’s location on the menu was a little misleading. It was below Earl Grey Milk Tea, and above Fresh Milk Tea. I didn’t think they would use “Earl Grey” powder or “Fresh” powder, so I assumed “Taro” is also not powder. To be honest, it’s probably my own fault for the assumption.

Freshslice Pizza

August 27, 2019

I ordered two slices of pizza for $4.90, one “basic”, one “feast”. The serving speed was instant. I even received a smile from the staff. The topping are not overly generous, but acceptable. Nothing taste out of the ordinary. we can see the crust rise evenly, an indication of a yeast with grease premixed dough. The texture is consistent. Nothing too hard to bite. The bottom crust has good structure. I was able to pick up the pizza by the crust without much dipping down. The bottom is not soggy. This is a decent pizza for its price.

Bubble Waffle Cafe Hainanese Chicken Overall

Bubble Waffle Cafe, Cantonese Food Stand

August 21, 2019

The first bubble waffle cafe I tried was the one in Landsdowne Mall. I considered it a high-school kids operated food station at the time. Their bubble waffle are too awful to call themselves the “Bubble Waffle Cafe”. Obviously, their business model took off with all the people whose only consideration for food is the price. Bubble Waffle Cafe can now be found in most malls in the lower mainland. Bubble Waffle Cafe calls themselves “Hong Kong and Taiwanese Cuisine”. I can tell you right now that Bubble Waffle Cafe may give their food Taiwanese names, but their food are not Taiwanese cuisine. Their food has lots of carbs. It is similar to Cantonese Style Cafe food, so I guess it is Hong Kong Cuisine.

Hokkaido Butter

August 20, 2019

Hokkaido Butter is really not in the leagues of other famous pre-packaged frozen desserts. The $9.99 package contain 4 ice cream cones inside, so they are $2.50 each. That is pretty expensive. I believe the careless temperature control during transportation ruined my first bite and the waffle texture. I cannot recommend something that is expensive and has low quality.

Grab n Go

Weekend Tea, a bubble tea shop in Burnaby

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Chatime, The bubble tea franchise that started it all

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Hanlin Tea House, oldest bubble tea franchise

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Good Food Lekoufu (樂口福) at Parker place Richmond

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Pokérrito Poke Bowl

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Chase Tea, John 4:14

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Freshslice Pizza

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Bubble Waffle Cafe, Cantonese Food Stand

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Hokkaido Butter

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