Those who know me will know that my favourite summer drink is not a slurpee or slushie of any kind. Rather, my all time to die for favourite is bubble tea, or boba, a Taiwanese tea-based drink which is commonly made using black or green tea, milk, and either fresh fruit or powder for flavour. Bubble tea usually comes with “pearls” in the beverage, that is, tapioca balls or sometimes jelly cubes are used instead. While to some this may sound a little weird, bubble tea is actually quite similar to a slurpee, in that it is served cold and has the same slushy consistency. Bubble tea comes in a variety of fruity and delicious flavours, including popular favourites such as mango, strawberry, honeydew and more. While the “pearls” may seem a little daunting to some, most of my friends who I’ve compelled to try boba end up liking them in the end. However, if you’re still not convinced, you can always ask to have them left out.
My absolute all time favourite place to get bubble tea, and believe me I will come all the way to Chinatown from the south solely for this purpose, is a place in Chinatown’s Dragon City Mall called Pearl House. Located on the main floor right next to the staircase, Pearl House has been my first choice for bubble tea since I first tried theirs in Grade 8 (thats going on five years now). Even after having bubble tea at countless cafes, vendors and Vietnamese restaurants over the years (I
went through a phase where I had bubble tea at least once a week!) Pearl House remains my all time favourite. I swear they have virtually hundreds of choices, and when I first bring a friend to Pearl House they usually just stare at the menu, mouth agape, while I go up and order my all time favourite combination- taro and coconut, which until recently I had only ever come by at Pearl House. Pearl House’s selection is phenomenal, as is the quality of the product they serve. As a seasoned bubble tea enthusiast, I have experienced an assortment of mediocre bubble tea; drinks that were too milky, had too much powder, too little powder, had hard, stale pearls, pearls that had been
soaked in honey or sugar (too sweet, bleh!), and even one time pearls that had been soaked in coffee (I’ll never forget this bubble tea, I got it in West Ed; the pearls made the entire drink taste faintly of coffee. I like coffee, just not in my bubble tea!). Every time I have been to Pearl House, my drink has had a lovely, smooth sweet taste, with ice blended to the right consistency (no large chunks) and fresh, chewy pearls, unflavoured and unobtrusive, hail: the perfect bubble tea!
I recommend the bubble tea at 3:30 Teatime Bubble! (It’s right by the intersection between Centre Street SW and 3rd Ave SW in Chinatown). Though some of their drinks may be a little more expensive than Pearl House, they have a point system where you can get a free drink if you’ve bought a certain number of cups. I also find the tapioca pearls to be more firm and closer to what you would find in Taiwan; at Pearl House, the consistency varies from time to time when I bought mine there. And if anyone is wondering, the “traditional” bubble tea in Taiwan is actually just milk tea with pearls (it’s less common that anyone sells or buys flavoured ones). A lot of bubble tea stores have a watered-down version of this, which I personally dislike, but the Signature Bubble Tea at 3:30 Teatime Bubble is probably the one I tried closest to what I had in Taiwan, despite the extra whipped cream and chocolate chip topping. Anyway, I just want to say this is a great article and those reading this should definitely treat yourself to some bubble tea!
Interestingly there’s a bubble tea store right behind Pearl House that I would recommend. Outside the back of Dragon City, to a mall right beside it, there’s a little store that leads underground to bubble tea made mostly by real fruit rather than powder. They have daily specials that are cheaper than other bubble tea’s on their menu, in addition to it always being made with real fruit. I’m not really specific about fruit flavour of bubble tea which is one reason why I like there. Obviously their bubble tea’s taste is great above all. In my years, not many stores have been able to match it.
never tried this one, might have to get some then. always been going to the place that john mentioned – it’s called try again and i usually end up getting fresh watermelon bubble tea which is pretty good