Momo Tea House

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Meadowlands. Maybe my behaviour is now different after not having a company car =). But thanks to a good friend, I’ve paid a visit to this place by recommendation – Momo Tea House. There’s obviously a couple branches, Birkenhead and Mt Albert.

This one at Meadowlands is a former KFC I believe, and it’s got a defunct drive-thru. Parking is easy and free, and environment of the place is great. Maybe it was good old furniture from KFC?

Anyway, I sampled some dishes, see below:

Fried Black Pepper Chicken Chop and Eel on Rice ($12).

Spicy Wonton Noodle Soup ($6).

Deep Fried Salty Chicken ($7).

Taro Pearl Milk Tea ($6).

Overall, food’s taste is great, no disappointment at all. The prices are very reasonable. There is a variety of food and drink (I think there’s a Malaysian section). Also, the place opens very late, I am not sure what time, but from what I remember, after midnight!! So a great place for supper.

Rating = 9/10. Fantastic!

Taipei Kitchen

Taiper Kitchen is actually quite a familiar place – it was formerly Lai Lai Noodle House.  It looks like the owners changed hands, and first impression, the interior is much better. I was expecting to order the usual stuff (beef noodle soup or something), but it appears the menu’s have changed also.

Some samples below:

Pork Mince Rice with Meat Soup ($10).

Pork Chop on Rice ($9.50).

Atmosphere is much better, price is reasonable, food is quite good, however menu is partly translated into English (only drink items are translated and not food!). This new place also sells drinks such as milk tea, so it appears to do more than before. Perhaps to include more younger people.

My rating is 8.5/10. Not bad at all.

Neighbour’s Restaurant

Neighbour’s Restaurant is not affiliated to the Australian drama – but it’s quite a nice place to go to . I found this restaurant next to Pho Vietnamese Restaurant on Lorne St. They are located “underground” but have a menu just before you go in. The menu with pricing helps differentiate if it’s cheap or expensive compared to places nearby *ahem*. I have to say, it’s kinda cheap, $10 or less unlike some places. =)

A couple of dishes were sampled on a cold winter night:

Pork Chop on Rice.

Sesame Oil Chicken Noodle Soup.

The place serves Taiwanese cuisine and first impression, I like it. In terms of pricing, it’s cheap and flavour-wise, it’s on-par with another one of my favourites, T-Mark. The place is also clean and green (I mean literally).

My rating is a biased 9/10.

ATT Cafe

In between two highly-rated places (Mentatz and Pho Vietnamese) on Lorne Street is the ATT Cafe.  A quick glance at this cafe, it looks more like a canteen. I thought I’d give this place a try, no harm when you’re hungry and sick of going to the same old place. A couple of dishes were sampled as shown below:

Deep Fried Chicken Drumstick Noodle Soup.

Garlic Gravy Pork on Rice.

Both dishes cost $9.50, which is quite cheap. The noodle soup did taste a bit plain, I wish there some kinda sauce that could boost up the flavour. However, the rice wasn’t bad. I can’t really say much, because it was just a meal. Not gourmet or anything at all. Apparently, they do deliveries within the city.

A rating is hard to justify, but it’s average. Not bad but not good, 7/10.

Chalin Tea House

A quick post during Easter. Happy holidays everyone.

Chalin Tea House is on Dominion Road, formerly known as Easy Way. There’s always a Beamer outside the place – most likely the owner who also works there. Anyway, I hardly go to this place because it’s kinda far. I ordered the Honey Dew Milk Tea with Pearl for $5.90.

Honey Dew Pearl Milk Tea.

My rating is 7/10. It’s too powdery for me. No actual “tea” taste. But I know this place is quite a popular one, so didn’t get too biased.

Lai Lai Noodle Cafe

This place is kinda cool. Lai Lai Noodle Cafe is a tiny place hidden among the shops in Remuera. To be exact, it’s right inside Remuera Mall. If you know where the Remuera shops are, it’s on the right hand side coming from Newmarket. I guess the first mission is to find it.

I’ve been to Lai Lai Noodle Cafe many times, often for lunch. It’s quite a refreshing place, especially the noodle soups. Apparently, it’s an establishment, as it is owned by the same person for 11 years (I read this somewhere). So, it’s got history, plus I think the owner is some martial arts expert!

On this particular review, there were two dishes we tried as seen below.

Minced Pork on Noodle.

Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Both dishes were affordable and delicious. I couldn’t remember the exact price but I think the Hainanese Chicken Rice was $9 and the noodle was $7. However, the thing that bugs me is that they have no Eftpos – so you need to bring cash. Also, they close on one of the days during the weekend, which sucks as well.

They also offer other dishes like fried chicken with noodle soup, beef noodle soup etc, as well as side dishes. For a small place, it’s pretty outstanding and I think the reason why it’s still there for 11 years. Personally, I recommend the noodle soup. If you’re on a diet, stay away from the fried dishes.

My rating for this place, a cool 8.5/10. You gotta find the place first though. Good luck!

Momo Tea

Normally this isn’t a place I would go to. But a couple of friends dropped by in Auckland and wanted to meet there. Obviously this place is quite a popular hangout, as it was pretty full when we dropped in at around 11pm on Friday. Momo Tea has three branches in Auckland (that I know of), one in the CBD, North Shore and Mt Albert. This particular review is held in Mt Albert.

In my head, I knew how the milk tea would taste like – frothy and milky. And lo and behold, it is. We ordered the “hot” taro pearl milk tea and cold original pearl milk tea. And to fight the midnight hunger, we ordered the chicken, beef and lamb sticks. Have a look at the pictures below.

Taro Pearl Milk Tea (Warm).

Original Pearl Milk Tea (Cold).

Chicken, Beef and Lamb Sticks.

The milk teas were reasonably priced at $5. You don’t expect to pay more than $6 for the mik tea. But I’m not a big fan of the frothy milky taste (thus recommending Easyway if you prefer less milky and more tea taste). The meat sticks were quite delicious, especially the chicken and beef sticks.  The lamb sticks had quite a bit of fat on it, so I avoided that with a vengeance. For $1 a stick, it’s very reasonable. They had other sticks, like chicken heart, liver etc.

Personally, my milk tea taste is of a unique standard (not too milky) so I wouldn’t drink it here. But the meat dishes is a good recommendation from me. However, for that particular night, there was an ‘aggressive’ waitress and she didn’t really talk politely (bad day perhaps?).

So with all that taken into consideration, I’ll rate the place 6.5/10. Their meat sticks saved them! So, if you’re into kebabs, satay sticks etc, come to Momo Tea.

Easyway

Now, now, now….

Easyway, what can I say, a fantastic place to get the traditional Asian drink – bubble milk tea. I don’t know what the history is and I only started drinking lots of it thanks to my girlfriend. There are so many places out there that sell these drinks. Some notable ones are Momo Tea in Mt Albert and Northcote, Hulu Cat Tea House on Anzac ave, Quickly in the Atrium food court etc. There’s too many and they all vary!

Anyway, bubble tea is just a milk tea (brewed or powder) with the option of having pearl (tapioca balls?), coffee jelly, green tea jelly, coconut jelly etc. Furthermore, the milk tea can be flavoured, for example taro, honey melon, mango etc, or just stick to original.

In comparison, of all the places, Easyway on Hobson Street (next to the Pizza Hut) is absolutely perfect. Let’s compare it to Momo Tea. It is one of the most popular places in Mt Albert, but the powdery thick milk is just not natural tasting and it’s fatty! Next is Hulu Cat Tea House, their milk tea is too creamy and feels like a meal. Quickly is too sweet (urgh!). Easyway on Hobson street just got it right, good tasting tea, not too powdery, pearls are perfect and for the zillion of times I’ve been there – they’ve never got it wrong. Only at times, they ran out of pearls. This means they’re good and they do it right – not for profit!

Original milk tea with pearl.

I suggest going over to the place one night when you’re bored and order an original pearl milk tea. It’s only $4.90. If you’re feeling generous, go for a large, it’s only $5.50. If you buy 8, you get one free. I give this place a 9/10. Perfect drink.