Gong Cha

They were very busy today with Santa's parade. Drinks were delicious, there was a bit of a wait upon opening, we were not in a hurry, more than happy to wait. Super friendly, gave good explanations about what they did and didn't have. As well gave great recommendations. Unfortunately a few others were less than patient. Also a great spot to watch the parade! Little guy thought his view was the best.

Follow my food blog on Instagram for restaurant reviews: @mimi.munches! . Other than tons of bubble tea options, they also have bubble waffles and ice cream! . I LOVE bubble tea I get it once a week, so I was super excited when Gong Cha opened up in Ottawa! I have tried quite a few drinks; the ones in these photos are as follows: . Creme Brulee Strawberry Latte Matcha Mango Kanten Jelly Peach Teaffogato Creme Brulee Brown Sugar Smoothie . My favourite was the Creme Brulee Strawberry Latte, as the fresh strawberries went really well with the creamy latte base. It's also a beautiful drink! My second favourite would be the Matcha Mango Kanten Jelly! . For the bubble waffles, I LOVE that each "bubble" is heart-shaped - SO CUTE! I tried the vanilla, matcha, and tea bases, and can say I would definitely get 100% matcha next time. It’s a dessert that is not too sweet!

I had the crème brûlée bubble tea with pearls, and got my friend a mango slush with pearl. Customer service is really good, they gave me the time to look at the menu, made some recommendations and were really efficient at getting my order done quickly. If not for the great service, there would be one less star. Our bubble teas were both ok, it’s unfortunate that pearls are extra for practically all their drinks. From my experience, pearls are included at most places now. I’ve ordered similar orders for around $5 less before. The creme brûlée was a little lacklustre about halfway through it was simply ice and pearls essentially. I tried mixing the cream and ice and letting the ice melt for about a half hour, but I still ended up drinking the cream and having just ice left. It’s a nice environment however and the mango was good according to my friend.

Bubble teas are my new found love and I seem to crave for one every couple of days! Gong cha is a Toronto based bubble tea joint and they have just one location here in Ottawa. The cafe itself can accommodate around 7 people and they have around 3 tables spaced well around the shop. I tried their Brown sugar oat milk tea Wouk Bobba and espresso Jelly and a green tea matcha based softy. Both were great! However they are a bit on the expensive side.

I was very excited to try Gongcha. I’ve been impatiently waiting for them to open! I got Strawberry Chocolate Milk Tea with pearls, and oreo cream cheese foam. I got it with no ice, but tea was warm when I received it - I would get ice next time to enjoy it cold. The drink itself was nice. I would try it again. However, the cream cheese foam on top was extremely salty.. as if you grab a handful of salt and eat it. I couldn’t finish the drink at the end, and it gave me bad stomachache soon after. + getting more tasty! I highly recommend the matcha mango drink to everybody + I ordered a Oreo Chocolate Smoothie with Pearl yesterday and received some Fruity Pearl instead.. It really didn’t pair well with the drink and actually ruined the taste of the drink. Please don’t substitute specified toppings with ‘similar’ ones. I wouldn’t have gotten the topping if I knew it was going be something else.

Drinks are typical gongcha fare. They have a good mix of milky bbt and fruity bbts. They do good bubble waffles. This location is very convenient being close to bus stops and Lansdowne. I would say this location is more suited for grab and go, there are maybe two or three areas to sit and chat. There's no real space to work here.

One of the best bubble tea spots in Ottawa. However the amount of times my order has been mixed up has been too many. Otherwise, great bubble tea

I tried the large milk tea with pearls. The tea did not have much flavour. The pearls were good. A large cost a whopping $7 including tax. But they do have a daily special at a better price.

I love the strong potent tea flavour in Gong Cha drinks. They were having a buy one get one free offer so I was able to snag 2 drinks for around $6. Got the 3J Earl Grey Milk Tea and the Wintermelon Milk Tea with Grass Jelly. I like that you can customize the sugar level. I went with 30% sweet for both of them and it was still a bit too sweet for me. They are really popular. It was busy, but the staff worked quickly and were pretty friendly and welcoming. Glad to have a bubble tea place in The Glebe.

Worth checking out to experience the young/old “uncle”working. He seems annoyed that customers show up to buy items. Quality of the mango smoothie was a B at the most. Not the best boba shop but not the worst either.