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.

Food/Drinks: My husband and I were walking by the street while we visited Toronto for the first…read moretime and saw this location and decided to give it a try. We truly loved our bubble tea. It was tasty and very filling, and I would go back if I can. Location: The location is very casual, and it's a great place to maybe grab and go or take a quick seat. They do have really nice indoor decorations and even some chair swings, which I thought was a beautiful touch to the location. Perfect for a casual date or just to grab bubble tea with friends. We were walking within our hotel distance, so I'm not really sure how parking works within this location. Service: The service was quick and efficient. They don't have servers; you just grab from the counter and take a seat wherever you please. The workers were really nice and grabbed our order in a timely manner.

AMAZING SERVICE. One of the best bubble tea shops in the Downtown Toronto area. Every time I come…read moreto Baroness I'm met with a warm welcome and friendly staff. This Taiwanese bubble tea chain serves high quality and unique choices. They have the regular bbt drinks but additionally some fun options like purple yam , purple rice , and many cheese foam options. The seating area is also really great for customers. Definitely some good photo spots here - they have cute swing sets and neat LED displays. It's a great place to come study (because they have OUTLETS!!) or just hang out with friends

4.5 STARS Stumbled…read moreupon Yi fang on a hot day of walking and mr. Tran wanted something to drink. We saw Yifang and decided to give it a go. We ordered two large fruit tea with 70% sugar. Order was made very quickly and was done within minutes of waiting. Took my first sip, and it was beautiful. So good, so refreshing, and couldn't get enough! I don't know what took us so long to try this place!!

I searched for 30 minutes trying to find this place based on the reviews. It doesn't even exist…read more It's closed down.

White dew lotus slush was pretty good!…read more I've never had anything like it before and I'd order it again. The service here is also pretty fast. The only reason I gave it a 4-star was because we were sitting at the back and it had a funky smell in the area.

Got the roasted chestnut milk tea and it had a nice spread of chestnut paste around the cup. The…read moremilk tea itself was a bit basic and not too strong. The tapioca was a good texture and consistency. Will be back to try their other tea bases.

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 never even knew there was a bubble tea shop in this plaza next to Domino's. There are plenty of…read moreparking spots available. A friend recommended me to try the drinks here so I stopped by on a weekday. I got a brown sugar milk tea, tea was on point, very rich in flavor. Would definitely come by again to try out their other drinks.

Green Isle is currently having their anniversary, today is their last day for their 50% off…read morepromotion on select drink. So definitely go check them out if you have time. I got the klint orange, probiotic and Nanjing Osmanthis rice latte with 30% sugar. The orange is very refreshing and not sour at all. The osmanthis also has a good tea flavor. Both of the drinks were really good, I love bubble tea so i'm glad there is a boba spot in the plaza now. There was only one person working when I went but they were very nice and super fast when making our drinks. The shop is small with around 3 tables but it's a cute spot.

Molly Tea is hands down one of my favourite bubble tea spots! I love that their drinks have a…read morestrong tea flavour and aren't overly sweet. They also offer a great variety of teas, so there's always something new to try. The only downside is that the lines can sometimes be extremely long, but honestly, the drinks are worth the wait. Definitely one of my go-to places whenever I'm craving good milk tea.

Addicted to their new da hong pao tea series!! It's very light and I get the milk tea version with…read moreminimal sugar. The non milk version with apple is very refreshing too! Love how they have an app as well for preordering and counting points. New registrations give you two coupons! Usually is a line but it moves fast!

I am glad that they opened a few stores in Canada. I tried their drinks in China a few years ago, I…read moreloved it and always wanted to try it again. The interior is simple, clean and busy. You can actually download their app and order online to save some time. We ordered Crisp Grape Boom and Cheese Cloud Mango. They were perfect and fresh, exactly like what I had in a few years ago. If you like cheese foam, they have the best one.

Heytea is one of the best place for fruit drinks, matcha drinks and high quality bubble tea in the…read morearea. The staff was friendly and tried to help me solve an issue with their online ordering app. My favourite drink is the Triple Supreme Matcha Latte for a rich, creamy matcha drink. Parking might be an issue as there are not that many parking spots and will need to wait for a spot during peak dinner times and on the weekend. Also, there are no seats inside so its not the best place to hang out with friends and people usually cluster outside to enjoy the drinks.