We have not had the chance to try their original location in Richmond, but L’OTUS Cake Boutique in Burnaby is such a pleasant surprise for us. Yes, the price is a little higher, but it’s really worth the visit with all things considered. The atmosphere, service, and food quality are all at a superb level. We highly recommend L’OTUS Cake Boutique for anyone who hasn’t tried it.
The first thing I noticed was the droopy grass jelly covering the crushed ice. They are black and shiny like a mirror. It is the most jiggly grass jelly I have seen in Vancouver. When eating, the grass jelly has a noticeable herbal taste. The soft texture makes it the highlight of this dish. The crushed ice is course but not sharp. They are soft to the bite. Unlike Icy Bar’s Razor Sharp Ice, there is no unpleasant texture. There are condensed milk and brown sugar added to the crushed ice. I could taste a strong flavour of cane sugar, which is also quite pleasant. Taro Balls and Yam Balls are being called “TaroQ” and “YamQ” at BlackBall. To be honest, I am a little disappointed in these. The bite to them has no bounce. I understand this means that there is not much starch powder added, but it is not the texture I was looking for. Flavour-wise, they are not really sweet but has a good natural flavour of taro and yam. All these beans are perfectly cooked. Adzuki bean and Mung beans are cooked until their skin starts to peel. This made the interior very starchy. Sugar was added to the cooking process and very noticeable. The Kidney Beans are larger beans. The structure is more intact. I could still feel the pop when I bite into them.
The first layer is the ice cream with condensed milk drizzle. I enjoyed it with mango chunks and mango jam. The ice cream has a very rich taste. I dug deep to get the shaved ice beneath. The fluffy shaved ice combined…
