Remember the OG Real Fruit Bubble Tea shop from the good ol' Pacific Mall days? Growing up, I remember frequenting the small, bustling establishment situated in prime territory on the second floor of Pmall. Well, business seems to have boomed since the early 2000s as Real Fruit has now expanded to over 40 locations in the GTA. Their addition at Eaton Centre in the heart of downtown Toronto is one of the newest. It's been open for around 6 months now, and I noticed it was busy every time I walked by. Yesterday, I finally decided to brave the lineup.
The queue to order did move quickly, but it took a few minutes longer than I expected to receive my drink. I noticed that the design of the store didn't seem to anticipate how busy it would be, as there is no clear demarcation of where to stand in line to order vs. where to wait for pickup -- resulting in the staff having to yell and wave over customers. Orders were not ready in chronological order, so people who thought their orders would be called soon based on # stood near the pickup spot and clogged the path for foot traffic. The amount of required seating was also apparently underestimated, as there are only a handful of seats available. Though the benches are aesthetically designed, many seats were occupied by mall customers who were not Real Fruit patrons.
In terms of drink quality, I'm pleased that my durian smoothie tasted exactly as I expected. This is truly the best durian smoothie, in my view, that money can buy in the GTA (beating solid competitors from Vietnamese restaurants). The smell is especially pungent, reflecting the strong flavour of real durian mixed with just the right amount of milk.
I ended up paying $8.46 (tax included) for my large smoothie, which is a very fair price. I like that I wasn't charged a premium for durian -- all smoothies are priced by size only. The price point is higher than I recall at the Pmall location, but totally understandable given they have a higher overhead at this location in terms of rent and staff (approx 3x as many staff at this location).
All in all, I am super happy that my favourite durian smoothie from uptown is now available downtown. I'll be coming here a lot when the weather warms up! read more