Gong Cha Bubble Tea 贡茶

Gong Cha is another bubble tea player from Taiwan that has come to Singapore together with the likes of KOI, Happy Lemon and Share Tea. There used to be long queues at Gong Cha and KOI. Today, with so many branches being opened by both of them (Gong Cha & KOI) coupled with new players, consumers no longer have to queue. 

Different outlets (Clockwise from the left: Ang Mo Kio, Plaza Singapura, Novena)

Gong Cha's Menu

Gong Cha's Menu (i)

Gong Cha's Menu (ii)

Order at one side and collect at the other side. Like KOI, you can choose the sweetness level required. 

Earl Grey Milk Tea with 3Js $3.60

The Earl Grey Milk Tea with 3Js is my favourite Gong Cha drink. The 3Js stand for 3 type of jellies; Pudding, Herbal and Pearl. The Pudding Jelly and Herbal Jelly were soft and easily suck up the straw. Complement the drink well. However, the Pearl Jelly was hard. Aromatic and refreshing drink for the hot weather. You never know what jelly you will be sucking up. Before, you know it, you are likely to have finished the drink! 

Camellia Tea with Pudding Jelly $2.80

Camellia Tea; fragrant, light and refreshing drink with calming effects! A good option on a hot and lazy afternoon. 

Gong Cha currently has 40 outlets in Singapore! They have expanded rapidly. Whereas KOI, which was in Singapore much earlier has 8 outlets. This is good for consumers; we can now have our bubble tea fix ate all areas of Singapore! 

Gong Cha Bubble Tea 贡茶

Facebook

Ang Mo Kio Branch:

Jubilee Square #01-14
61 Ang Mo Kio Ave8
Tel: 64566476
Opening Hours: Daily 11am - 10pm

Plaza Singapura Branch:

Plaza Singapura #01-K1 (outside PS)
 68 Orchard Road
 Tel: 63664603
Opening Hours: Sun to Thurs 11am - 950p
                          Fri, Sat, eve of PH 11am - 1020pm

40 Outlets Location

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Hui Lau Shan 許留山 (Hong Kong)

Hui Lau Shan 許留山 is the most popular dessert chain in Hong Kong. It is known for its fresh fruits used in desserts especially Mango.

We visited the Hui Lau Shan outlet at Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal. As we were in a rush, we could not afford to order desserts. Instead, we did the next best thing which was to order its drinks.

Part of the Drinks Menu

Honeydew Melon Juice (cold)

This is the Honeydew Melon Juice (cold) HK$21 (S$3.50) from the menu 'C1: Honeydew Melon Juice from Aloe & Aloe Series'.

Mango Jelly (cold)

Mango Jelly (cold) HK$21 (S$3.50) from the menu 'B6: Mango Jelly from Mango & Coconut Series'.

Mango Jelly (cold)

Mango Jelly (cold) HK$22 (S$3.67) again, this time for the menu 'A1: Mango Jelly from Mango & Mango Juice Series'.

The drinks were very refreshing. However, drinking the cold drinks out in the cold at 10 Degree Celsius was no joke. Out of the three, the one that stood out was the B6: Mango Jelly with Coconut. The Coconut enhanced the fragrant of the drink.

Hui Lau Shan has many outlets in Hong Kong. Hence, there is no need to list down its location. Moreover, they have so many outlets that it is very easy to find the outlets. Ask any locals and they will be able to help direct you to the nearest outlet!

Location

View FoodieFC's Hong Kong & Macau Map in a larger map

Hotel Saravana Bhavan (Chennai, India)

Just back from Hong Kong. First to clear backlog from India. Stay tuned for food to eat in Hong Kong at later posts.

Hotel Saravana Bhavan is a restaurant chain based in Chennai serving South Indian vegetarian cuisine. In India, restaurants are called 'hotels'. Hotel Saravana Bhavan was found in 1981 in Chennai (of course). Today, it has 24 outlets in Chennai and multiple outlets all world wide including UAE, USA, UK, Canada, Malaysia, France..many more and even Singapore with 4 outlets. To be honest, I have never seen this restaurant in Singapore.

In Chennai, this hotel (restaurant) is very popular. In fact, my Singaporean friend based in Chennai told me that the coffee here is very good. Hence, since we were nearby, we had to try it.

Entrance

Cashier

This is where you pay.

This is where you make your orders and wait for the food as it is self-service.

Notice the round tables without chairs at the foreground? This is where people can just stand around and drink their coffee or tea. In the background, there are tables and chairs for patrons to eat their meals.

Menu

Look at the variety of items available! So many dishes.

Special Coffee

Special Pure Filter Coffee (INR 24 per cup)

Tata~! 3 cups of Special Pure Filter Coffee! There was another order for a cup of Special Tea. But let's start with the coffee first.

Noticed how the Special Pure Filter Coffee was served. Here's how you are supposed to drink it. Pour the coffee into the metal container holding the metal cup. (Be careful, it is hot as the container is made of metal.) Then pour the coffee from the metal container back into the metal cup. Do it as many times as required to cool it down. Reminds me of Teh Tarik. I just did it once and then tried it. The coffee was very     aromatic. Shiok! You got to try it if you are in India. I certainty want to try the coffee served by the hotel in Singapore. Moreover, it provided a fun experience too!

Foreground: Special Tea (INR 24 per cup)

The Special Tea arrived much later. Did not try it. Looks normal. I am glad I tried the coffee instead.

I got to check out it's outlets in Singapore one day and see if they serve such a coffee here. Good coffee with fun experience! Who knows, the food might be fantastic too.

Outlets in Singapore

Outlets in Chennai

Hotel Saravana Bhavan (Chennai, India)
Website 

View FoodieFC's India Map in a larger map

Share Tea 歇脚亭 (North Point)

Another new bubble tea player in Singapore. We already have Koi, Gong Cha, Happy Lemon. This time, we have Share Tea 歇脚亭 that sells bubble tea. Share Tea is from Taiwan and has over 90 outlets there. It has been in the bubble industry for 19 years. Its speciality is in natural fruit tea, freshly squeezed and frozen to -40 degrees!

Its first outlet opened in Wisma Atria (Orchard) followed by Parkway Parade and North Point (Yishun). More details on location at the end of the post. Recently, they have also opened more outlets in Bugis Juction, International Plaza, United Square and Nex (Serangoon). They will be opening an outlet at AnchorPoint Mall soon.

When Share Tea first opened in Wisma Atria, it attracted a long queue daily. Now, the queue is considerably shorter which is similar for most other bubble tea players (Koi, Gong Cha, Happy Lemon). At Northpoint, there is virtually no queue, which is good for me.

Share Tea Menu

Share Tea Menu and the extra cost for adding toppings. 

Sweetness Level (sorry for unclear picture)

QQ Happy Family Milk Tea

As this is our first time buying from Share Tea, we had a hard time deciding what to drink. So many choices on its menu. We were undecided. Then we saw this ‘QQ Happy Family Milk Tea’. On its menu it wrote ‘Can’t decide? Try All-in-one!‘. Hence, this was what we ordered.

As there was no queue, we got our drink in less than a minute. You get to choose the sweetness level. Was told by the staff that 80% would be better as I chose 50%. But, we stuck with 50%.

QQ Happy Family Milk Tea (Large) $5

The QQ Happy Family Milk Tea, was basically milk tea with grass jelly, pudding, pearl and red bean in it. The pearl was quite small and easy to suck up the straw. It was soft and spongy; quite a nice. The pudding and grass jelly were of course soft and taste similar to Gong Cha and Koi. The red bean somehow spoiled the experience as it was hard to suck it up the straw. As a result, most were left at the bottom of the cup. As for the taste of the Milk Tea? It did not really suit our taste bud as there was a weird after taste. And it was too sweet even at 50% sugar level. 

Milk Tea with Home-Made Pudding (Medium) $3.50

On the second visit, we ordered Milk Tea with Home-Made Pudding. The pudding was good, similar to the likes of Gong Cha and Koi. However, the milk tea seems to leave an after taste. Did not quite like it.

Yam Flavoured Ice Blended with Pudding (Large) $5.70

On the third Occasion, I ordered the Yam Flavoured Ice Blended With Pudding. I quite like yam and thought that this drink was quite refreshing and delicious. It was creamy and yammy, certainty a drink for fans of yam.

Passion Fruit Tea (Medium) $2.90 

On the other hand, she ordered Passion Fruit Tea. It was way too sour and the fruit bits seems to spoil the texture of the drink. We both agreed that the Yam Flavoured Ice Blended With Pudding was better.

Will order other choices to try next time. Maybe their speciality. If you know what is nice, do let me know. Oh yes, on all 3 occasions, there was no long queue. You can get your drink within minutes. 

Share Tea 歇脚亭  Outlets:
Website
Facebook

1) Northpoint Branch
930 Yishun Ave 2
#B1-04 Northpoint Shopping Centre
Tel: 6257 1512
Opening Hours: Daily 1030am to 1030pm

2) Wisma Atria Branch
#B1-45 Wisma Atria
435 Orchard Road
Tel: 6733 7507
Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm

3) Parkway Parade Branch
#B1-21 Parkway Parade
80 Marine Parade Road
Tel: 6346 6010
Opening Hours: 11am to 10pm

4) Bugis Junction 
200 Victoria Street
#B1-K21 Bugis Junction

5) International Plaza
#01-04

6) United Square 

#B1-40

7) Nex @ Serangoon Central
#03-K19

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Tao's Restaurant (PoMo)

This is my 3rd visit to Tao's Restaurant. First visited this place 3 years ago in 2008. Recently, we went back to again on a Saturday afternoon. I was quite surprised to find that the layout of the place and even price has not changed. In terms of the menu, some of the items on the menu has changed.

Tao's Restaurant concept is to serve 6-7 course meal at an affordable price.

Lunch, it is 6 course meal at $19.80 ($23.30 nett)
Dinner, it is 7 course set meal at $29.80 ($35.07 nett)

What's the difference between lunch and dinner other than price? Well, for dinner there is an addition dish which is the Grilled King Oyster Mushroom & Sorbet. So far, have not eaten during dinner before so can't comment about this dish.

Now let's start with the lunch - 6 course set meal.

Menu (a)

Starter - Bacon & Mushroom Gratin

Bread (2 pieces for each person)

Course 1: Starter - Bacon & Mushroom Gratin with soft toasted bread.  It was baked in with mushroom, bacon and cheese. Using it as a spread for the bread, the Bacon & Mushroom Gratin was delicious although it was slightly on the salty end. You can ask for more serving of bread, I asked for 1 more to accompany this heavenly starter.

Salads - Top Shell Salad with Cold Japanese Noodle

Course 2: Salads - Top Shell Salad with Cold Japanese Noodle. This dish was served cold. The top shell was served with chop chilli, peanuts, Japanese noodles and a dressing that seems similar to Thai dressing. This dish did not suit my taste bud as it was on the sour side.

Salads - Prawn Roll with Pork Floss

Course 2: Salads - Prawn Roll with Pork Floss. This dish is so much better than the Top Shell Salad. It was light, refreshing and sweet, the taste of this dish complement the ingredients well.

Soups - Cream of Mushroom

Course 3: Soups - Cream of Mushroom. This dish is my favourite1 As mushroom is one of my favourite ingredient, this might be biased! This bowl of soup is 100 % mushroom! So many chunks of mushrooms between each flavour and the whole soup has a strong flavour/essence of mushroom (that I was wondering if my nose will start bleeding from being too heaty =P) Definitely home-made and totally different from the ones outside or the ones you find in cans. The only issue I had was why the bowl was not even half filled!

Soups - Cream of Pumpkin

Course 3: Soups - Cream of Pumpkin. Ordinary, I prefer mushroom soup. 

Menu (b)

Main Entrees - Tao's Grilled Chicken Jumbo Leg

Course 4: Main Entrees - Tao's Grilled Chicken Jumbo Leg. Surprisingly, there was a layer of chilli oil and giving it a spicy flavour which did not suit the sauce. Otherwise, the chicken leg was well cooked and well marinated. Moreover, it was very tender.

Main Entrees - Tao's Oven Roasted Steak

Course 4: Main Entrees - Tao's Oven Roasted Steak. The steak was huge considering that this was our 4th dish. Moreover, it was well marinated and well cooked. It was tender, soft and tasty. I have no idea why the 2 dishes use the same sauce.But the mushroom sauce really spoilt the dish, does not compliment the steak. What about the sides (mashed sweet potato, yam chip and boiled broccoli)It was delicious!

Desserts - Creme Brule

Course 5: Desserts - Creme Brule. After my previous 2 visit, I knew that the Creme Brule was a must order. But this time, I was disappointed. There was a very strong eggy flavour which even overwhelmed the flavour of the charred caramelised sugar. 

Desserts - Tiramisu

Course 5: Main Entrees - Tiramisu. This was good! 

Menu (c)

The 2 cup size are different!

Beverages - Lavender Tea

Course 6: Beverages - Lavender Tea. Too strong a flavour. Taste like medicine to me. 

Beverages - Iced Rose Apple Tea

Course 6: Beverages - Iced Rose Apple Tea. Inside, there was pieces of apple and also rose bud. This was very refreshing and light. The fork at the side is used for the apples inside. Certainly something to try.


Overall, Tao's restaurant's lunch set is quite value for money. What I look forward to over here is Bacon & Mushroom Gratin, Mushroom Soup, Tiramisu and Iced Rose Apple Tea. If you noticed, the main course was not something I look forward to. As they were average or should I say below average. The service was good and prompt. I will definitely be back for some of the items here during lunch.

*restaurant has moved to Central #04-86 (Clarke Quay)*

Tao's Restaurant (PoMo)
1 Selegie Road
#B1-19 PoMo
Tel: 6339 8858
Opening Hours: Daily 1130am - 10pm
Website