E Tea

As with most of my review of places, i came here on a whim and by the recomendation by a friend whom i happened to hang out with that night. We wanted bubble tea, and I also needed to eat dinner as i was preoccupied earlier in the evening. E-​Tea is located on Rupert and E 22^nd, inside a small plaza across the street from Oscars and little Caesars pizza. Parking is plenty and free.
I have not been to E-​tea in a very long time, to the point i dont remember when, but the last time i did come, i had a very good experience. The staff spoke Cantonese which was great, helped me make my order and questions easier. The menu was quite average, with typical taiwanese favourites like Beef noodle and popcorn chicken rice. The menu heavily favored HK style items such as mixed grill, baked rice, curry fishball, etc. For me, the bar for any type of BBT joint is the quality of their popcorn chicken rice, therefore, i ordered a serving and my friend ordered a curry fishball. As i expected, the chicken was GREAT, it was fresh from the fryer as it was still crispy and hot as heck. Served with a good portion of rice and pickled cabbage, peanuts, etc. The chicken was spiced very nicely, something i vividly remember from my last visit. And lets talk about that fishball, holy crap, it was spicy, and its the good kind of spicy. Lots of kick, lots of sauce, and good portion size for appy.
For drinks, I ordered a fresh mango slush, it was honestly pretty good. You could taste the fresh mango, the natural sweetness of the fruit instead of the syrup that some places put. i thought the pricing for everything was fair, and was a great way to end the night @ 12am. E-​Tea may be not as well known, but its a perfect, quiet location for those wanting decent food and drinks at an affordable price. Also does take out!
A surprising Four, out of Five.

This is a full café, however, I just ordered some bubble tea to go before seeing my mom and step dad. I got some bubble tea for my mom who isn’t doing too well. She didn’t seem thrilled on the pearls, therefore, on the second round got her a pearlless bubble tea which I guess really isn’t bubble tea. Customer service was okay, tea was made quickly and the price was decent. This was a grab and go situation.

My favourite is Thai Chicken Fried Rice which comes with choice of hot or cold drink. I must caution you that drink can be really sweet so, make sure to ask them to make it less sweet.
They dont have good choice of hot sources. So, hot dishes are not really hot, that is bit of a drag though.
Staff are very friendly and attentive to your needs.

I went up to order my drinks and was met with a dull and emotionless cashier, who asked, «what do you want?» as if they didn’t want to be there and my business was not wanted. I ordered a lavender green milk tea and a honey oolong milk tea. She then slowly reached for the mouse and was just browsing through the drinks and then after a good 15 seconds she tells me 8.50. Zzzzz much, does it take that long to enter in 2 drinks? I took my two drinks home and tried the lavender milk tea first. As soon as it entered my mouth I cringed. There was definitely a hint of lavender but other than that it tasted like water. I thought maybe it was just me and I asked my girlfriend to try it and saw her cringe after trying it. Well, I bought 2 hopefully one of them would be okay, but nope. First thing that hit my taste buds was honey, sugar, honey, and sugar. So I call the restaurant to complain and guess who answered? Miss. Idunwannaf***ingbehere. First thing I asked was are you open? (was 12:15am) I was met with a prompt «no». I look up their hours on Unilocal,11am-​1am. Obviously she doesn’t want to work there. I then tell her about my drinks and perhaps maybe she put the sugar into the honey oolong tea instead of the lavender green milk tea and then she angrily replies, «THERE IS NO SUGAR IN THE HONEY OOLONG MILK TEA». Customer service = 0. At least a simple sorry would suffice. I had to combine the two milk teas for them to be edible. (picture) I usually wouldn’t bother wasting my time with writing a review, but the service is just terrible. I will not be returning for bubble tea anymore and recommend people to stay away.

I will never eat here again! Rude service!
Found hair in my rice and after showing it to the manager he didn’t seem shocked about it at all.
When we were gonna get the bill I asked to not get charged and he went up to the table and said I’ll give you half off and walked away.
I asked if that’s the discount people get when they find hair in their food! He said in a rude and sarcastic way «yeah sometimes»
I was absolutely appalled. We didn’t even eat half the rice!
In the end he didn’t charge us but why be completely rude about it!

Came in for a quick lunch, and sat down. I also had to wave down to the waiters to ask for a menu and for ordering which becomes unpleasant after awhile. However, the staff are friendly. I ordered a Coconut Milk Tea with Pudding and Thai Chicken Fried Rice. My drink came in five minutes later, and it tasted just like Milk Tea. I didn’t taste any Coconut in my drink. I let that slide by since I came in to eat. My fried rice came in and it’s pretty good. It wasn’t that oily, and has less salt. Their pricing wasn’t that expensive, my total came up to around $ 14.00. Wouldn’t come here, unless hanging out with my friends or something.

Always good experience.
Laksa Noodle Soup
Thai Chicken Fried Rice
Green Tea Bubble Tea with Pearls
By the way, their green and oolong teas taste like the one I had in taipei.

I feel like the only reason why I come here is because it’s literally a four minute drive from my house… The bubble tea is often watered down and the soups are not amazing. I’ve had much better food and bubble tea elsewhere. However, I do like the thai chicken fried rice which is a big enough portion to eat half for dinner and half for lunch the next day. Also, if you order betwen 11am — 9pm, you get a free drink depending on what you order, but it’s only a small selection of teas that are free (oolong, milk tea, etc). The prices are reasonable for what you get and it’s open late which is convenient… but If I had to tell you my idea of an actual bbt place that’s REALLY worth the money, this place wouldn’t make the cut.

DIY Noodles? Check.
Bubble Tea? Check.
Open late night? Check.
Adequate parking? Check.
E Tea is one of those places that has the qualities and potential to succeed, but can’t seem to put it all together into a good enough package to earn more than 3 stars. Their food isn’t bad and their bubble tea is pretty good. On top of that, they do a good job of complying with what the customers ask for (e.g., less sugar, less salt, etc.).
Their pricing, while not expensive, I would say is a bit on the high end for the portions they serve. It’s also a hassle to wave down the servers when you need something. They don’t have their heads up, so getting their attention becomes a chore (they’re pleasant and friendly though, just not as alert or aware).
E Tea is a good place to hang out with friends on a late night or get your bubble tea fix. But if you’re looking for the best bang for your buck, you should probably look elsewhere.

I’m automatically a fan of places with DIY soups — where you get to pick your broth, noodles, toppings, and sometimes a free drink! Unfortunately, E Tea only includes the free drink between 11am-​9pm, but I wasn’t too bothered. I ordered satay soup with beef brisket, black fungus, wontons and thick vermicelli (i think they gave me the wrong noodles but whatever). The noodles were a bit overcooked but other than that, it was really good and HUGE. I think the serving was enough for 2 people.
I also ordered a milky green tea, but it tasted extremely watered down. The server was very nice about it and handled my complaint very well. He brought out a new drink within a few minutes, and this time it was good. Nothing amazing, but good. A+ for service! I’ll be back!

My group ordered:
— pork chop baked rice
— seafood fried udon
— diy noodle combo, creamy broth, noodles, and chicken breast
(medium drinks are free, large for $ 1, or you can order drinks off their speciality menu (bbt, slush, etc) for 40% off regular with the purchase of a meal.)
— mango milk tea + coconut
— fresh blueberry milk tea
— red bean ice
* pork chop baked rice was my favourite item of the day! tomato sauce, cheese, eggs, decent pork portions! would recommend it for sure! doesn’t take very long either in fact it came before everything else.
* seafood fried udon was good, comes with shrimp, fish, assorted veggies, and squid!
* didn’t try the noodles in soup but the chicken was VERY good! it is slightly spicy but the perfect amount & grilled perfectly :)
* mango milk tea w/​coconut was syrupy. good, but the coconut they use is over sweetened, not what I’m used to. if you really want coconut ask for the ½ order coconut jelly, it’s cheaper & would be enough. I’d recommend pearls tho.
* blubbery milk tea was very good, they use a lot of fresh blueberries in it
* didn’t try the red bean ice
bill came to $ 40 after tips & tax for 4! Might come here again but wouldn’t go out of my way for it. I prefer going to oscar across the street
THEY HAVE FREE WIFI INSIDE!
and quick tip THEY CHARGE YOU FOR TAKEOUT BOXES!!! (25 cents each.) I have literally never heard of any restaurant ever charging for takeout so yeah take that into consideration!

This is by far the worst restaurant I’ve been to. Service was inferior. All foods are over priced and low in quality. I’ve never written a bad review for any restaurants, this is my first.

good location for the locals who don’t want to drive to Rmd for the rest of the bbt action. It’s got a comfortable ambience yet won’t match the loudness of a True’stea or Tea works.
a dozen or so parking spots.
some booth seating.
pretty much what you expect w/​powder bbt ;) good prices, reflective of the area.

Very tasty baked pork chop on rice with loads of scrambled egg in the rice. Chicken nuggets with dan dan noodle combo also very good value. But… drinks are a bit bland, and the service hit and miss. The girl was always in a rush to clear away the plates even though we weren’t quite finished, and the other young waiter needs to learn how to provide audible responses to acknowledge customers’ requests instead of staring and walking away.

just came here not long ago for a late night dinner.
Not bad of a place to be at. Food is decent. Just service is kinda crappy. they take your order quickly and get you your food asap but just when it comes to wanting to pay they take a while. Hard to get their attention too.
But they do have free internet, just a bit slow.
Good thing is at least they are open up late. I believe they close at 1 tonight.

They accommodated our party of ten by the window.
The people who brought us here said «it’s not the best, but it’s convenient». Thanks…
But I have to agree.
Size for price: 5
Variety: 4
Spaghetti Bolognaise: 2. The spaghetti was overcooked, and the sauce tasted like it came out of a cheap can. At least it was on the value menu… They never thought to give me a fork (though I guess could have asked), so I ate it with chopsticks.
Noodle Soup: 3. Both Tom Yum (or was it Kah?) soup and Laksa soup were really good. The Noodle (we both picked the regular) seemed like it was overcooked, but, fortunately (?), it was one of those cheap ones that don’t get any worse with time. We got the «choose 3 toppings» ones, and I think about four pieces each of wonton, prawn, fish balls is a fair amount.
They have specials on some teas (plain, milk, lemon) with the order of soup noodle, fried rice and some other entrees. The milk green tea was great for counteracting my spicy Laksa, but would have been too sweet on its own.
One thing worth mentioning is that they accept Debit/​Credit.
Parking wasn’t hard to find when the bakery and beauty parlour were closed, but really hard when they were open.

So it turns out there is actually a decent bbt joint in the Rupert + 22^nd area.
Parking isn’t too bad as the restaurant is part of a strip mall, with 10 or so spots. Be sure not to park in front of 7 – 11 though, as bad things will happen to you and your family if you do.
Service was pretty slow, because there were only 2 people on the floor.
I didn’t try any drinks today, but I tried a couple of dishes. The waitress recommended the Signature noodle dish. This was freaking GOOD. Yes you can totally taste the MSG in the soup, but that didn’t stop me from polishing it off. The cilantro adds a nice balance to the soup. The noodles were fresh, and unlike most places, were not mushy at all.
For toppings, I received a tray of 3 things.
Pickled turnip + carrots — I like this wherever I go. Awesome.
Spicy green beans — a little bit tough, but edible.
Bean sprouts with ham — I dunno, this one tasted a bit strange.
My friend had the $ 7.50 combo (pick 1 item, 1 noodle, 1 soup). The grilled pork was hot and crispy. His soup (tom yum) was pretty spicy and sour, and reminded me a little bit of Thailand.
So why only 4 stars? There was 1 major problem: they gave us dirty spoons. Twice. See photos for proof. The good news is that they swapped out the spoons immediately.
I will be sure to come by more often. Recommended.

This is your «middle of the road» bubble tea joint that is located in East Van, where no other place is really open that also serves a good selection of food. Right next to the 7 – 11 at Rupert and 22^nd Avenue, the place is a fair size, not a bad looking place once you enter. Just remember, if your in a pack of 4 coming to this place, you may want to take the table with the seperate chairs, as the booths are small!
They have your standard bubble tea mixes with various teas, some fresh fruit drinks, but what they have here is also food, not just snacks, but meals. Not your average, put in the mini-​oven, or microwave it and serve it, but this place does have a full kitchen. I have not been here in years, and now I have been here twice in one week, once for a late night stop off place to chat, another time for some morning grub.
This place is not expensive at all, cheap, since it is East Vancouver, the drinks are a very resonable price, and the food is cheap too. They have breakfast specials, before 11:30 AM daily, so you can have combo meals with a drink. You can have your A + B combo, with a drink, with selection that you will not see at night, from congee, to eggs and meat (spam, bacon, sausage, etc), and many more that you would usually see in an HK Café.
The parking situation is good, as it is a big lot, and they have a tv that is usually on ‘the score’ so you can get you sports updates. In this neck of the woods there are far and few of these places, so it is a change.

From the previous reviews I’m glad I didn’t get pearls or much food.
Our drinks where were actually overly sweetened and almost felt like drinking simple syrup straight up.
Free wifi, just gotta get the password from them. I think it’s the address or phone number.
Friendly staff.

Mushy pearls and some funky tasting almond milk tea — I could taste corn? MK’s watermelon slush was watery, under-​sweetened and looked like crushed ice, when we protested they made a slightly-​less-​crappy-​but-​still-​crappy watermelon slush. I didn’t say anything about my almond milk tea as I didn’t think my chances were any better.
Unfortunate really — good location and some comfortable chairs with a huge selection of Asian magazines. Seems like a oddly popular joint with a lot of regulars — I knew this because when I walked through the tea bar to go to the washroom, everyone stared at me like I just walked into their living room. I’m used to having a lot of eyes on me — I am a hot piece of man — but that was weird.
E Tea — go home.