Tea Shop 168

I like that they’re open super late. The place isn’t bad but it’s a huge shame they renovated. I don’t understand why they’d close down for more than a month to demolish the separating wall that defined this location throughout the years and added a sense of coziness once you were inside. They also took down the booths and made almost the whole, empty restaurant tables only. Stupid move in my opinion, the booths were great. The teas are okay, I had many problems with this particular location because I usually just pop in to get the take out special (black milk tea with tapioca for $ 1.99) and they insisted that they never do that, but I get it all the time at other locations. The food we usually get also tastes a bit funny here, and not in a good way. I definitely go out of my way to avoid this location unfortunately…

The crispy chicken here is a good choice of snack while studying. Love the environment!

Good place to get bubble tea!
Lots of variety and the panda bubbles are the best
BUT The food isn’t the greatest.
Good place to study though!

Right on the border of Toronto and not-​Toronto, this is one of many locations of the 168 chain. Prices are about what you’d expect, that is to say, wildly overpriced. Some of their drinks use real fruit, but the vast majority rely on chalky flavour powders — try and stay away from those if you can. They recently introduced a mango menu, featuring drinks with actual diced mango — these are consistently good, if not especially innovative. Showing a student card when getting take-​out nets you a 10% discount.

I give it a two because the drinks from 168 are all pretty consistent. But if I could I would give it a one for customer service. Service is terrible. Even the to-​go, the server ignores you for 10minutes serving other customers before coming to you to take your order. They talk in a very rude manner and give you cut-​eye while they are waiting for you to pay. I think this is also due to the fact that there was only one server and she wanted to attend to other customers waiting. and also apparently the manager isn’t even there.

First time I went to this location had a pretty good time. Second time was terrible first of all the service is so slow I waited 20 minutes before I was greeted. So I ordered the ‘Sundae’ which was very pathetic it was basically a scoop of freezer burnt ice cream with a bit of caramel and a dusting of peanuts the presentation was nice as you can see in the picture but the ice cream was terrible. My girlfriend got the crêpe she got a crêpe with dark chocolate chips but the chips were not dark chocolate.
Further frustrating the experience I received my sundae a full 10 minutes before my girlfriend received her crêpe when I got the sundae I took a few bites and returned it the staff was nice which is why I’m giving this location 2 stars instead of one. All of this being said I will likely not return to this restaurant.

Our groups go-​to uptown bubble tea location. Tons of parking spots (which is important since we all drive to meet up) and super easy to get to. They’ve got a ton of tables of all sizes and have never had a problem seating our group of 8 at peak times. Service is always quick and they never pester you to leave, which i like at a tea shop.
They’ve got a table with some cards and board games, but most (nearly all) are missing pieces or cards, so bring your own if you’re into that sort of thing. They have a policy where everyone has to order something if you’re loitering, but it’s never been enforced with us. A couple TV’s play random stations (usually sports games if they’re on). Sound is always k-​pop or random top-​40.
They’re a dessert shop, not a restaurant so don’t expect much from their food. We’ve tried their «real» food a few times and it’s been pretty meh! The desserts we’ve tried have all been huge portions and delicious, although definitely loaded with sugar.
The drink quality is pretty average to be honest; it tastes the same as all bubble tea places i’ve been to (how different can powder+water/milk taste anyways?). Their drinks are consistent, and if you’ve been to a 168 you know exactly what you’re getting.

Frankly, Tea Shop 168 is one of my least favourite bubble tea joints in Toronto, using cheap powders that taste like the ones you can purchase from T&T. Further, the tapioca is never cooked properly (either over or under) and is either too sweet or not sweet enough. I am confident that those who have tried bubble tea from Taipei would similarly denounce Tea Shop 168 ‘s beverages.

We came in when there was still 20 min left until closing, but they had already turned off the lights and were closing. At first they told us they were sorry and were turning us away, but then when we mentioned that we called them earlier to make sure they closed at 2am they gave us free smoothies! I thought what they did was professional, and I will be coming back because they had done that.

I really like it here! Only one thing missing is that I kind I assumed the would serve Chinese desserts for some reason. No sure why bc typically bubble tea places don’t do that.
But they totally made up for it for allowing us to play SETTLERS on a Saturday night. It was quiet and empty. Only a handful of tables including some kids playing cards.
Bubble tea was good but really sweet. The staff was nice and didn’t bug us too much, actually at all !
Looking for a place to gather? This is great! Also free wifi.

The location is great, that little corner on Steeles really needed something new to counter balance the boringness of the whole plaza or should I say the whole area?
The teas here are great, smooth and milky for me please. I also love that they offer more food items than other similar establishments. Having a waffle with fresh fruits at 1 am after 4 hours of movies, washing it down with warm green milk tea and perfectly cooked tapioca, am I in heaven?
The décor is funky white and limy green and the music is always top40, which keeps everyone chatty and energized, wifi is a definite plus.
And although it certainly was not a real French waffle (I would not want you to expect it to be so), the fact that it wasn’t breakfast time and that I was not in France made my taste buds oblivious to the reality, hence 5 stars.

This place only gets 5 stars because it’s the best Tea Shop 168 location, not because it’s better than some of the independent tea/​coffee shops I’ve reviewed. It might be because it’s a newer location, but this location is a lot less crowded than the other ones. It’s very clean and the service was great/​friendly all three times I’ve been so far. They also have free Wi-​fi, which is pretty awesome, though I really wouldn’t recommend studying here, the music is way too loud for that. Their bubble teas are good, and their presentation for ice cream was wow-​ing. This location also serves hot tea in a clear pot (the fruit tea is really sweet but yummy), cakes, crepes, waffles, funnel cakes, condensed milk toast (in several flavors ex: green tea, taro, etc.), burgers and fries with different toppings. Yes, I said burgers and fries at Tea Shop 168, although I haven’t tried it yet.
Updated March 10 2011:
I decided to give this place 5 stars instead of 4 because I found myself coming back to this location several times after I wrote my initial review. The service was very impressive every time I went back *thumbs up*. The fact that they’re open until 2AM even on Mondays is amazing. Oh and unlike certain larger bubble tea places in Richmond Hill (won’t name any names) where the employees look like annoyed zombies, the employees here were still energetic, friendly, and fully alert at 2 in the morning. Lastly, If you’re trying to stay up to study/​work, I highly recommend the Peach Black Tea (which also happens to be one of the cheapest item on the menu, double win!).

The service was terrible. Being lactose intolerent and having friends that aren’t, I asked for my ice cream on the side when I ordered my funnel cake. Didn’t happen. She forgot the drink orders that my friends made as well as one of the food orders, so their stuff came late. She got one of the drink orders wrong and instead of getting my friend the chocolate crêpe, she got the waffle. The only order she didn’t get wrong/​forget was the water. There weren’t even that many people there that night. Overall, not impressed and wouldn’t recommend it.

Ever wanted a funnel cake in the dead of winter, and knew you weren’t going to satisfy that craving till next summer when Wonderland opens up or the next fair rolls into town?
Probably you have because everyone loves funnel cake. Moist fried dough covered in rich creamy ice cream drizzled with fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce…
Imagine my delight when I discovered Tea Shop 168 /​Dessert 168. It’s a new brand of the 168 franchise that offers bubble tea along with various desserts. I was there for bubble tea originally and found out that they also had funnel cakes on the menu. Initially I wanted to order one right away, where else could you get one in November? I then thought, «Ok, why is there funnel cake at a tea shop, how good could it be»? Despite this, I ordered a funnel cake with vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce. They have other fruits you can choose but I think funnel cakes with strawberries are the best combo.
My funnel cake comes out, I check the batter, it’s fluffy and golden… perfect. I can’t stand burnt or dark brown. Its even better then Wonderland’s version. It’s not oily which funnel cakes can be at times, it’s more cakey and not overly sweet which is a good thing. The ice cream that came with it went well with the funnel cake, the strawberry sauce was too sweet for my liking but still was ok as long as you didn’t get a lot on your fork. Now I can have funnel cake whenever I like, but I don’t have to pay park admission to get it.