Sunday, March 22, 2009

Dude, Bubble Tea



VT's Bubble Cup recently opened on Bardstown Road, and I can't emphasize how excited I am that I will no longer have to drive to the outer fringes of the city to indulge in this tasty treat (sorry Vietnam Kitchen, your food is awesome, I will always love you, but you only carry one flavor of bubble tea!). Bubble tea, for the unenlightened, is a delicious union of iced tea, milk, and your flavor of choice. Black tapioca pearls sit at the bottom of the cup, which one is able to suck up through a specially designed large neon straw. The drink originated in Taiwan, I think, spread throughout Asia, and then eventually to the US via Chinatown communities in California and New York. There are many flavors -- too many to list here -- but my favorites thus far have been mango (not too sweet, not too fruity), lavender (very subtle), and taro root. Fun! During my spring break, I single-handedly kept this place in business by my frequent visitations, eager to try every flavor. Now that my time is a little more limited, I implore you to stop by so that I can continue to enjoy my beloved bubble tea. Admittedly, that's a little selfish, but I have been drinking this concoction on both coasts for years now, anxiously awaiting the day this trend would infiltrate the midwest. Now that it has, I am not letting it go without a fight. Globalization, for once, I salute you!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008


Yeah, I realize this is a forum for restaurant reviews, but mama's poor right now, so today she'll be blogging about Annie Chun's Hot & Sour soup bowl mix instead. If you've never tried this line before, basically, you pour hot water over the noodles, combine it with the soup mix and toppings, and stick everything into the microwave for two minutes. The envelope containing the soup mix advises you to "add to taste," and being fairly conservative, I only added half the packet.

See, I've been recovering from a mild cold for the past couple of days; sensing this soup might have been the perfect cure for my ailment, I eagerly retrieved it from the microwave, stirred together all the ingredients, took a spoonful...and was totally bummed. First of all, the broth was lacking any discernible flavor; however, to its credit, after squeezing every last drop of what was left of the soup mix packet into the soup, I did notice a slight tang in the back of my mouth after each sip. Also, I'd like for you to take a look at the picture above and notice the abundance of shiitake mushrooms depicted. Well, Annie Chun is a deceitful wench. I saw one shiitake in my entire bowl of soup, sunk to the bottom, a paltry, thinly-sliced indistinguishible apparition of its former self.

I ate it all, primarily because the price is so absurd. I mean, $3? Do you know what I can get at Maido during their daily happy hour for $3? A squid salad. OR a tuna roll. OR a vegetable tempura. All of which are exponentially better than this prepackaged sodium bomb.

-Amanda

Tuesday, October 21, 2008