I remember when The Alley opened their first location in downtown 1.5 years ago. They were the first bubble tea shop to offer soy milk alternative, so I really wanted to try it because I was missing out on the brown sugar milk craze.

There were crazy line ups so I was planning on trying it in a few months, but by then I found other bubble tea shops that started to offer non-dairy brown sugar milk drinks (such as Jenjudan, Chun Yang, Ding Tea, Dive In Dessert Bar if you also can’t drink milk!) and I forgot about The Alley. Since then, they have opened a second location in Richmond which is where I will be reviewing today!

After having lunch with Maki at Deer Garden in Continental Plaza, I was originally going to take her to Blackball Dessert just across the parking lot. However, after such a filling lunch, we both didn’t feel like eating dessert so we decided to get drinks for later from The Alley which was also in the same plaza.

Due to the pandemic, The Alley was not offering any dine-in and all the chairs and tables were gone. The cafe was pretty small but had very high ceilings so it didn’t feel that small. I’m a big fan of deer art, so I appreciated the big deer mural and deer paintings.

Brown sugar deerioca fever with soy milk: I went with the brown sugar drink! This was delicious. The brown sugar gave the drink a nice, smooth, caramel taste to it. Meanwhile, the brown sugar pearls were very fresh, soft and chewy. It was perfect.

Jasmine green milk tea: I ordered this for the fiance. He really enjoyed the drink. There was a strong jasmine flavour.

Trio milk tea: Maki ordered this for Nigiri and he enjoyed it! It is called the “trio” because it came with pearls and two types of jelly inside. The milk tea was rich and flavourful. Also, the quality of the large cups were great. The cup was very thick and sturdy and you could probably reuse it a few times.

Royal no. 9 milk tea: For herself, Maki ordered a different milk tea. She enjoyed hers as well. There was a hint of jasmine in the tea and she found the milk tea to be really smooth and delicious. Even at 70% sweetness, it was still sweet enough for her.

I’m glad that I finally tried The Alley and wish I came sooner! We all enjoyed our drinks and had no complaints about it. Everything was made with quality and the prices were reasonable too. I would definitely come back here to get my bubble tea fix.

Despite only one visit, they have quickly risen to one of my top recommendations for bubble tea.

The Brentwood area has gone under significant changes in the past few years. The Amazing Brentwood is nearing completion, and there are many trendy restaurants slated to open there soon. There is also a new option for bubble tea in The Amazing Brentwood, Presotea. I’ve been hearing about this place for a couple months so we finally went to go try it out.

We weren’t quite sure where Presotea was located in The Amazing Brentwood and there didn’t seem to be a map installed yet, so we walked around for a bit before we saw it. The best place to describe Presotea would be on the ground level, so you don’t have to walk up any stairs. It is closest to the corner of Lougheed and Willingdon. I hope these somewhat vague instructions can help someone, lol!

The menu was pretty expansive, spanning two pages. There were a lot of options for caffeinated and non-caffeinated drinks.

Watermelon slush with pearls: The watermelon slush was a seasonal drink, available in the summer and until watermelon goes out of season. The watermelon was fresh, and I found the drink to be really refreshing on a hot summer’s day (oops, I wrote this post back in August and didn’t publish until now).

The slush was blended well, with no ice chunks inside. In addition, the pearls were delightfully chewy and fresh!

Genmaicha milk tea with white pearls: The fiance ordered the genmaicha milk tea and enjoyed his drink as well. The drink had a stronger milk taste than tea. The tea could have been a bit stronger to give the drink more tea flavour, but it was still enjoyable.

He ordered white pearls with his drink. I’m not sure what the difference between the regular pearls and the white pearls were.

We left satisfied with Presotea and would come back if we were in the area, but it’s not a place I would purposely drive to because there are so many other bubble tea shops closer that I’d pick first.

However, it’s a great addition to the Brentwood area and the service was really friendly and nice.

I found myself in South Surrey again, but this time in the White Rock neighborhood! Latte and I decided to finally have our picnic day here and since Mr Chu was across the street from Emilio Finatti Pizza, it was the perfect time to stop by and grab a bubble tea to enjoy at the beach as well. I heard about this place before and read good reviews about it!

Mr Chu is a popular bubble tea shop located in White Rock. The shop was closed to customers due to the pandemic, with the cashier taking orders and payment at a table that blocked off the door.

We came a bit after they opened, and a line was already forming so I expect they do get quite busy. There aren’t many decent bubble tea shops in this area either.

Mango slush: After verifying that the mango slush was dairy free, I was good to go. The mango slush was delicious and really good quality. It was blended very well and smooth. Meanwhile, the mango tasted real or at least made with frozen mangoes instead of a syrup. I had the mango slush at Gong Cha recently and it did not compare, Mr Chu was better!

In addition, the pearls were sweet and had the perfect, chewy consistency. They tasted very fresh. It was the perfect mango slush and I would happily order it again.

Mango calpis slush: The fiance ordered a similar drink, a mango calpis slush. He found it delicious as well and had no complaints about it.

Roasted oolong milk tea: Latte has been here a few times and went with the roasted oolong milk tea. She had no complaints with her drink and enjoyed it as well.

Mr Chu is a delicious spot to get decent bubble tea in White Rock. There aren’t many good bubble tea shops in South Surrey compared to Vancouver, Burnaby, or Richmond for example. I wouldn’t purposely drive all the way here just for Mr Chu but it’s really good for the location. It would be comparable to other bubble tea shops in Vancouver.