Bubble World - Richmond, BC

Through my own time mismanagement, Mr. Piglet and I now have only 40 min to order, eat and pay for a lunch.  Argh.  I hate it when I lose track of time!  We have to find a place that's serves food fast without being fast food in Richmond.  Where to????  A cafe is our best bet and Mr. and I have already been to the South Surrey and Marpole locations of Bubble World and it wasn't bad.  The Richmond location of Bubble World has ample parking (so we don't have to hunt for a spot) and there's tons of other restaurants around it so there might be the possibility of not having to wait (score!).  As we pull up, I see that they're advertising a new food menu (score! x 2).  Here we go!

Lots of parking and we get seated right away - the clock is ticking but BW is not letting me down!  The ambiance is nice in here as it's clean, there's comfortable seating and the stereo is playing songs in Mandarin that I don't understand.  Bubble World is a Taiwanese cafe that serves a smorgasbord of bubble teas (as the name suggests) and Taiwanese fare such as beef noodle soup, assorted marinated animal parts and my beloved chicken nuggets (YUM!).  Mr. Piglet and I quickly peruse through both the drink and food menus and order...

Milky Mocha Oreo Slush - $4.95

A tad on the pricey side but we knew it would be epic.  And it was.  It's massive and packed with mocha flavor and crushed Oreos.  Mr. Piglet and I both really like it but know that we're coming out of this meal with diabetes.  It's super sweet so if you're looking for something with a little less than probably 400 g of sugar per serving that this monstrosity packs, then I would suggest picking a fruit tea...

Passion Fruit Green Tea - $3.95

Sweet and tart and perfect for a sunny day (even though we're indoors, it reminds me of summer...).  It has tonnes of sugar as well but at least you can ask for half sweet with the red/green tea series.  I forgot to get an add-on to my drink this time but for all those people who hate the tapioca balls (aka pearls), there's a whackload of other options available to add to your drink - grape jelly, red beans, green beans, lychee jelly, aloe vera and much much more.  My fave is the mango stars but beware the choking hazard!

Salty Peppery Chicken Nuggets - $5.25

I L-O-V-E these little deep-fried morsels so every time the Piglets hit up a Taiwanese place, I have to order these.  The version here is not bad and it's a good portion for the price.  The pieces of real chicken meat are dipped in corn starch and deep-fried to molten hot lava crispiness and then sprinkled with salt and pepper.  BW's nuggets are missing the deep-fried basil that usually comes with and it honestly makes a difference when there is that bit of basil to bite into.  Other than the missing basil, these are on the greasy side but still crunchy.  Not bad.

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup - $8.95

I think BW thinks spicy means "dump a bunch of oil in" because when this bowl arrives, there's a thick layer of orange oil floating atop and around.  We mix it in as best we can but still...  the oil is still in there, it hasn't evaporated and we're still consuming it.  Oh well, ignorance is bliss.  This is one of those other Taiwanese favorites and how does BW fare?  This one doesn't have that deep beef flavor but instead has a more pronounced tart and sour taste from the marinated veggies.  It's a nice balance of spicy to tart but I think I would prefer a richer beef broth.  Mr. Piglet says the beef, although not plentiful, has a good fat to meat ratio and is quite tender.  I'd show you but Mr. ate it all before I snap a pic.  That's his thing - eat all the meat, then the noodles, then the veggies and then a bit of soup.  In this case, however, Mr. didn't really drink a lot of the soup due to the oil spill.

 

Kimchi Fried Rice - $7.25

I frankly chose this dish because a) I was in a hurry to order and b) it looked good in the picture.  It arrives at the table and it looks good but does it taste good?  Well, for some reason there's a few pieces of cabbage that are super salty and I'm not sure what the mystery grey meat is but the overall taste is still good.  Spicy, salty and a bit sweet all stir fried into one dish.  Packed full of msg but still tasty.  Again, there's enough oil to power a small vegan vehicle and it sits right in your gut but at least it tasted good going down.


Not the best Taiwanese cafe we've been to but certainly not the worst.  The bubble teas are chock-full of sugary goodness and the food is not bad to pretty good.  Overall, Mr. Piglet and I would probably come back, if not for the sugar high but all that delicious food that the Taiwanese culture can offer.  Bon appetite!


Pros:

• Fast and efficient service
• Free parking - one of the better lots in Richmond
• Take-out available with the phone order option
• Wide drink menu available
• Food is not bad to pretty good

Cons:

• Food is greasy
• Prepare for a wait of at least 10-20 min during peak hours