The bubble tea scene in the greater Vancouver region has really taken off. There are at least 30 new bubble tea shop opened this year alone. This brings us to talk about the pioneers who were brave enough to open a bubble tea shop when putting solids in drinks was considered “funky”. If you mentioned bubble tea near Richmond Centre to your friend 10 years ago. Everyone would understand you are talking about Peanut’s Bubble Tea. Luckily, they are still in business. What’s even better, is they are still working hard to keep their costs down. Fast forward to today in 2019, Peanut’s bubble tea is the only place where you can get a cup of decent large drink with pearls for less than $3.50.
Strength: Decent bubble tea for less than $3.50.
Weakness: Inconveniently located within Richmond Public Market
Other Bubble Tea From Food Court
- Chatime (4.5 Stars)
- Little Bean Tea Station (1.5 Stars)
- Bubble Waffle Cafe (4.5 Stars)
Peanut’s Bubble Tea Shop is not a franchise
Peanuts Bubble Tea is not a franchise. The owner seems to be very determined. He picked a niche and stuck to it for two decades straight. You can see family members taking care of different aspects of the store. Peanut’s Bubble Tea shop is a no-fluff tea station strive to provide value to their customers. They adapt to the test of time by updating their drink menus. It really intrigued me is that after all these years Peanut’s Bubble Tea still doesn’t have a website. Even their google profile was completed by their customers.
Located on the Upper Floor of Richmond Public Market
Peanut’s Bubble Tea is located at the edge of Richmond Public Market’s second floor food court. They are not the type of food court stand where you walks by and thought “I might as well get this when I’m here”. All these years, patrons have to get out of their ways to get to Peanut’s. Well, we still do that after 20 years because they’re worth the effort.
Che Lung Bing is their secondary business
When the Taiwanese food scene was considered archaic years back, there wasn’t much choice. Peanut’s introduced a traditional Taiwanese dessert Che Lung Bing. This “Wheel Cake” is probably a dessert evolved from Japan. Over the years their flavour grew from 4 types to now 9 types.
I still remember the times me and my Taiwanese friend coming here to get a bubble tea and their wheel cake. This was pretty much the only place you could enjoy drink with a snack for under $5.
Passion Fruit Green Tea for Cheap
I need to apologize for the poor picture quality because I started drinking as soon as I received my drink. This is totally not my fault though. My drink was ready in merely 20 seconds after I order. By this time, I was still taking photos of the menu without drawing too much attention from the owner.
My passion fruit green tea has perfectly balanced flavour. The drink is cold and has a very crisp flavour profile. Passion fruit syrup masked the tea’s flavour so I could not taste any bitterness from green tea. The pearls are smaller than most, but staff made up to it with quantity. Texture-wise, they are reasonably chewy. It takes about two bites to cut pearls through. Be careful on your straw’s position. You are going to suck up a mouthful of pearls if your straws are all the way down at the bottom.
604 Food Critic Assessment
Peanut’s Bubble Tea holds a lot of history and memories for many. Emotions asides and focusing on the assessment point of view, this bubble tea stand provides lots of value. True that my passion fruit green tea was made of syrup, but the $3.25 with pearl drink is still unbeatable. Getting the just right without modification is another feat where many others fail. When one cup of bubble tea elsewhere can buy you two cups of drinks at Peanut’s, I have to recommend it.
Menu
How to get in touch
- Phone: (604) 278-9372
- Address: 8260 Westminster Hwy, Richmond
- Hours: 10:30 am – 8:00 pm, Closed on Tuesday
