Tip: The sparkling fruit drinks are amazing…read more Last month, after work, I drove directly from my workplace to CF Markville for dinner. I was craving my usual from Bourbon St. Grill and hit the food court. While heading downstairs after walking through mall entrance 3, I saw this Chicha San Chen store. I flagged it for a visit. After having a satisfying, casual meal at the food court, I returned to the second floor and walked over here to check out the drinks. It was almost as if this store knew that I like fruit and sparkling drinks. I saw a sign that said I could get two sparkling fruit drinks for $10. Three words: Sign me up! I got Kinson at the ordering area. He was great stepping me through everything. I let him know that this promotion interested me. He asked if I wanted one of each fruit flavour. Yes! My order consisted of the following: - Sparkling orange - Sparkling peach Each drink contains fruit, sparkling water, and konjac. I paid with a credit card. I tapped and I was done. He let me know that it wouldn't take long for my drinks to be made. The wait time wasn't much. The seating area had just cleared, so I could take photos of the branded throw pillows, various decorated bear figures holding tea cups in slings, and a wall celebrating a hundred years of tea love. It's my kind of tea joint. I stood next to looseleaf teas in mini containers. I smelled a number of them as I waited. They were so fragrant that I didn't want to leave! I love smelling these teas: - Cassia black - Dong ding oolong - Green - Black - Osmanthus oolong - High mountain pouchong My drinks came in one size. It seemed to be the case for all drinks on the menu. I like that you can customize your drink. There's a menu that steps you through it, from the type of tea that you want brewed, to the flavours and toppings that you want in it. If you find this method to be too complicated, it does have popular teas that are already configured, so you don't have to. I liked that I didn't have to fuss with my order. It was exactly what I wanted. My receipt had a number on it. Their system has an automated voice that calls out your order number. it was a nice change of pace. I could clearly hear my order number called out. I'm sure staff were happy to save their vocal cords, too. My drinks were on the counter. You can help yourself to a tray, which I did. My drinks looked good. What I should have done was sipped both before walking to my car. This place was so generous with the pour that my drinks were topped to the brim. One of my drinks did spill out a bit as I was about to go through the doors. Oops. I stopped to sip both of them. I was good! I got to my car and safely put my drinks down in my caddy. Just from sipping them, I loved the flavours so much. The orange one had slices of orange and chewy konjac. It was slightly sweet and fizzy. It was cheerful to drink. I had the orange slices, minus the peel, of course. Yum! The peach drink was equally as awesome. It was bubbly, with generous chunks of peach and konjac. It was fruity and chewy. So good! Both were so refreshing on a hot July evening. I'm glad that I got two drinks. I enjoyed my first two drinks from this tea place. I'll be back for more! (301)

First time coming to Chicha San Chen inside Markville Mall 2/F. The store was bright and clean, and…read morethe service was courteous and speedy. We saw that they just launched the NEW Pineapple menu and decided to try the caffeine-free, Creamy Pineapple Tart drink (sugar and ice level is fixed) - it was surprisingly tasty the mousse, fresh milk, pineapple bits, and topped with a pie crust crumble(?) on top.

I rarely use "hidden gem" to describe a restaurant or store, but I think Now Tea is a true hidden…read moregem for bubble tea and coffee. Commerce Gate is famous for being packed with countless bubble tea shops. Most are famous franchises, such as Chatime, CoCo, Tiger Sugar, Yoyo , etc. Now Tea seems so different among them. I had never seen this store before visiting Commerce Gate. After Googling it, I found that it is also a franchise, but it operates only in Ontario, with three stores in total. Being low-profile alone does not qualify it as a hidden gem. That just means it does not spend much on marketing. What really impressed me was the flavour of its bubble tea. We tried the Milk Green Tea and Milk TieGuanYin, both with bubbles. The tea flavour was strong and full of the unique aromas of green and oolong tea, but it was also smooth going down. The bubbles had been boiled for the perfect amount of time: not so briefly that they had hard centres and not so long that they became too soft. They were very chewy, among the best bubbles I have ever had. The inside of the tea shop is spacious and has plenty of tables and seats. The lighting is bright, and I always see customers working or studying there. Other tea shops usually have very few seats and dim lighting; basically, they do not want to give you a Starbucks vibe and let you sit for too long. Another interesting fact: if you come to Commerce Gate early in the morning, before 11:00, Now Tea is the only tea shop that is open because it also serves coffee. The drinks are also less expensive than those at more famous brands. I guess they save a lot of money on marketing: lower prices and higher quality. I tried this store for the first time this week, and we have already been here three times. As a tea lover, I ask everyone reading this review: you must come here and try their drinks!

Reviewing 2oz of Coffee (located inside Now Tea)…read more This coffee counter is known for doubling up their espresso shots in their lattes, so get ready to be well caffeinated. I arrived right when they opened, and there were already a few people waiting in line. The menu is small & curated, focusing more on the coffee than specialty flavours. However, they do have a good selection of flavoured lattes. I wasn't able to see which beans they used for the espresso, but overall, their roast seems to be a bit darker/stronger, which balances out a sweeter latte well. I tried the iced biscoff and pistachio lattes. The biscoff is slightly sweeter and nuttier - definitely my fave of the two. The pistachio latte, in contrast, was disappointing. It was $1 more than the biscoff latte, looked nothing like the photo on the counter, and didn't taste much of pistachio at all. Although it looks like a separate counter, I realized that you can order drinks from either "shop" from their one main counter. I also found it a bit confusing to figure out the hours of operation, as Google said 2oz of Coffee opens at 11am, but the Now Tea shop isn't open until 12pm.

Chinese bubble tea place that has really good drinks!…read more Their milk teas have a nice balance of milk vs tea flavour. I've tried their no 2 and no 3 best sellers and both were really good! Highly recommend no 3, their toppings is made from the sweet fermented rice drink I love eating growing up. Service is fast and lots of seating available.

I visited this spot with my friend for the first time to try fun, unique matcha drinks…read more I ordered a plain matcha with oat milk, no sugar. My friend ordered a blueberry matcha. The matcha wasn't the best i've tried, but it was definitely unique. I took a sip of the blueberry one, it was a good, subtle taste. Not too sweet, or bitter, just the right balance. The server was kind and they served us our drinks very quickly. The seating is very cute. The ambiance is calming and cozy, with a touch of modernism. It was a great spot to study, which is exactly what we spent the next few hours doing since it was empty.

Yo this place is a such a mood--I vibe with this place so hard…read more Their decor is *chef's kiss* and their drinks are also fantastic! Delicious drinks and very instagramable--props to their design team for the concept. Their prices are also pretty reasonable too. However, I would defiantly go for a non-plain drink. I think their tea isn't quite their strong suit, so it's not going to be comparable to bubble tea shops with great tea as their drink base. My only wish for this place is that we can sit in the ball pit!

Recently, my friend treated me to bubble tea at Deer Mango in Mississauga. The drinks were…read moreexcellent. I noticed that the bubble tea cups had stickers covering whatever was under them. I peeled off one of them and noticed Song Tea. Interesting. My quest was to find a Song Tea and see what the difference was between the drinks at the two places. I wasn't interested in why the name was covered up. It's not really my business, but it did spark my curiosity to try Song Tea. I did a search and found that this location in Richmond Hill was the closest to me. After running a number of errands a couple of Saturdays ago, I placed an order through Uber Eats for pickup. I ordered the following drinks: - Blue Curacao soda - Pink peach soda I had the former drink at Deer Mango, so I would do the comparison between stores with it. I love carbonated drinks, so I had to get the other one that was available. My order was ready well before I got to the store. Due to the lockdown, it wasn't busy at Times Square. For years, I avoided this area like the plague because it was busy and parking was chaotic. It was the complete opposite when I got there. There was a lone car parked in front of the store. I parked next to it and walked in. The store is cute. I would think that it was much cuter before the pandemic. There was a little whirlpool that was empty. I looked at older photos and it had colour balls and plushies. It looks like the mascot is either a llama or alpaca, which made my day! I talked to the woman behind the counter. She was so friendly. I indicated that I had an Uber Eats order. She pointed at the bag in front of her and said that it was mine. I was thrilled. I thanked her and left with my goodies. I had the drinks when I got home. Let's talk about packaging. So much care went into it. Both my drinks were in a crate in the paper bag with a cool camouflage motif. At this store, I was able to specify that I didn't want any sugar in my drinks. I didn't have that option at Deer Mango. The lowest sugar option was 30%. The small pineapple chunks in the blue curacao drink were yummy. I love this drink so much. It wasn't sweet. It had carbonation. It was pretty. It tasted great! I then had the pink peach drink. It was so good with the small strawberries. The peach flavour worked well with the strawberry bits. I loved the fizziness. It also made me feel like it was summer drinking this beverage. I am a huge fan. I haven't dropped by in over a week and have withdrawal symptoms. I will return. (238)

This location is located on Weldrick and Bayview. Inside has lots of seats including a nice cabinet…read morefull of pins/crochet/keychains made by local small businesses. Absolutely a nice plus to look at while waiting for your order. Today unfortunately they did not have Tapioca which is just so sad and they also said they didn't have coconut so we couldn't order the kumquat coconut drink. This is my first time here and only time any Kung Fu Tea had no tapioca. Anyways place is pretty quick when you order your food. It wasn't a long line up or anything. I would come here again in hopes it would have Tapioca at the very least.

This bubble tea shop is quite pretty inside. It isn't the typical long and narrow rectangular shop…read morebut closer to a square. The decorations are quite nice. They had two Feb 2023 specials, with red as the primary colour for Valentine's Day. We chose the Strawberry Ice Tea with Agar Bubbles ($5.20). We rarely get egg waffles at a bubble tea store but my son wanted one so we got the Chocolate Egg Waffle ($5.00). The drink was delicious. The egg waffle was too dry; I told the manager and he thanked me for the feedback. Service was courteous with a smile. At first, the Kung Fu sign lights inside were not turned on, but once they saw we were serious about photography, they turned it on. There is free WiFi. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible. There is one gender-neutral washroom which is also wheelchair accessible. There is free parking in the shopping mall. Review 2023-028

Tips: - There aren't any humans taking orders when you walk…read morein. You must use the kiosk. - This place is on Fantuan, but doesn't offer the full drink menu that you see in the store. - Most drinks are regular in size. Only a handful are large. Last Monday, after work, I was in downtown Markham. I was driving up Birchmount Avenue, just before Highway 7. I pulled into a parking spot on the street. It was my first time parking here. I thought that I'd check out the businesses and remembered Machi Machi. You can also park in the plaza. Machi Machi is across from Panera Bread. There's lot of parking. It was the last bubble tea store in downtown Markham that I had yet to visit. It was time. The store has a couple of steps to get to the door that faces Birchmount Avenue. It also has a ramp. I took the steps going in. There is no hand rail. I left using the ramp, which seemed spacious enough for a wheelchair. I entered the store. There were two folks ahead of me at the kiosk to place orders. No one was behind the counter taking orders, so your kiosk is your best bet. There was a group of four folks waiting for their orders next to us. I also saw seating off to the right and left. They are limited. You get three seats on either side of the order area. I was order number 29 with these items: - Fizzy plum green tea (fixed sugar and ice) - Coconut lime strawberry smoothie (light sugar and fixed ice) Both were regular in size. There are few drinks that are large. Customizations aren't as flexible as other bubble tea places. They are my reasons why this place doesn't get a five-star review. It was such a nice day outside that due to demand for cold drinks here, it took long to get my drinks. The woman in front of me decided to go outside. It was weird to me. If I had a drink waiting for me and I'm a party of one, I'd be inside the store, waiting for my number to be called. Sure enough, order number 28 was called. I said that I was number 29 when the woman looked at me. I was standing by the glass window. It's all glass, which was nice seeing the sunshine come in, but it also heated up the place. I lightly tapped on the glass. Number 28 heard me. I pointed to her to come inside. She did. This woman was extremely introverted. She got to the counter and didn't say a thing. I went around and got the attention of a nice female staffer. I said that 28 was here. She nodded and got 28's drink. 28 was happy. Both thanked me. It was my good deed of the day. My order was ready. My good deed helped. The female staffer asked if I wanted a bag. I said yes. I got it for free. I thanked her and left with my bag of drinks and straws. I immediately had the fizzy plum green tea. I love fizzy drinks. This one was awesome. The plum flavour was excellent with the green tea. It was refreshing, fizzy, and perfect. I drank it as I drove to fetch some takeout before heading home. I had the coconut lime strawberry smoothie after dinner. It tasted tropical and delicious. The flavours were so good. Excellent! I'd get both drinks again. I'd also love to try more items on the menu. I had a wonderful first experience here. (166)

So cool this place I feel like in Asia with absolutely gorgeous flavors ! I highly recommend thisread more

Visited this bubble tea on Friday Feb 14 on Valentine's Day just after dinner…read more The server was so unhappy and unwilling. I asked for grass jelly and server say "we ran out" ok fine Then after the drink was ready I asked for a tray to carry the 2 drinks and she was like "we ran out" but I saw a folded tray inside one of the glass display and I asked can I get that tray...she was so unwilling and hand it over didn't even help assemble so we can place the drink Terrible service and attitude. If this place keeps this server no one will return !!!!

I was in the mood for bubble tea and happened to be in this plaza. Since Starbucks is now out of…read morechestnut praline lattes, I was craving something chestnut. I'm also a complete chestnut fanatic so when I saw that they had a chestnut bliss drink - I immediately jumped on it. I ordered it through Uber Eats because it was freezing outside and I didn't want to wait in the store. By the time I went inside to pick up, it was ready. I wouldn't say the service was the most friendly, but it was efficient. The drink itself is as pictured on the poster however, it really didn't meet expectations. I had ordered a large with Taro balls. They make it with Oreo crumble on the top and honestly that's all you taste. It taste more like a cookie and cream drink with no sign of chestnut whatsoever. There are some broken pieces of chestnut at the bottom, but they taste it almost waxy. Similar to what others have said this place is a little bit more expensive and using Uber eats make it even more expensive. It was almost $11 for one drink probably won't be coming back.

Cute little place in a plaza with so many boba shops! Came here because I was craving matcha and…read morethis place had a matcha drink. Ended up ordering the Deerioca Matcha. I had asked to adjust the ice level on the drink but they told me it was fixed which I thought was a little odd. Other than that, ordering was super easy and straightforward. The drink tasted amazing and I could really taste the matcha. The boba was flavorful but was slightly hard in the middle. The drink looks small but it was just enough for me.

I had such a long day today!! I definitely needed some BBT to recharge myself. I ordered Royal No…read more 9 and my friend ordered something with Strawberry (sorry forgot the name). Both drinks were good, love the hint of blueberry in the Royal No. 9.