This week, I visited Kung Fu Tea at 1167 Bank Street in Old Ottawa South, a spot I’d passed by numerous times and finally decided to try. I went with my family so I got to try a few different flavours.

 Kung Fu Tea specialises in authentic Taiwanese-style bubble tea. It offers a rotating daily special with all of the drinks being customisable and also has an interesting selection of instant ramen available.

We tried three different flavours:

The chocolate was very tasty; it had a very distinct flavour of cocoa and wasn't at all too sweet. My kids weren't a big fan of the tapioca balls in the bottom, but that might have been because it was their first time. I enjoyed that it had crushed ice and it was very refreshing on a warm day. 

The Mango yoghurt was more of a smoothie and again not too sweet at all, it had a fantastic mango taste that was bringt, fresh and reviving.  The honey sweetener at the bottom was a nice touch. 

The Jasmine green tea was my favourite, it was a nice strong tea flavour that was well balanced with the sweetness, I enjoyed the sago pearls at the bottom although next time I would get a few less which is no problem as all of the drinks are fully customisable with options for size, sweetness, amount of ice and toppings.

Overall it was a very pleasant experience and the restaurant itself is a great community space, with plenty of cool plants and Taiwanese décor and seats for about 15 people inside as well as a few patio seats.  In the past it has held salsa dancing nights as well as paint nights and is open until 10pm weekdays and 11pm on weekends.

There is an art to making good tea and at Kung Fu Tea they have taken that to heart.

BSB

 Little Victories Coffee is a boutique, independent roastery in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, run by two experienced coffee professionals—a roaster and a barista. The company is committed to enhancing Ottawa's coffee culture and enriching the vibrant Canadian coffee community. 

 I visited the cozy location at 801 Bank Street for a flat white around 10:30am on a Thursday morning.  They have 2 other locations, one on Elgin street and one on Queen street.  For coffee reviews, I will be starting off with a flat white as a standard order, just to keep things consistent.

The coffee was smooth and creamy, with excellent micro-foam that blended beautifully with the espresso. There was no bitter aftertaste at all. The temperature of the coffee was spot on—hot enough to enjoy, but no danger of a burned tongue. The presentation of the coffee was good, and the café itself has a very clean and simple style. Little Victories is clearly a bustling community hub with shared tables and diverse customers.

 

Overall, the coffee was fantastic and definitely lived up to the hype.  I would definitely recommend a visit if you are a fan of espresso style coffee and I cant wait to try the other locations.

If you are after more information, they have a great website with lots more information about how they source and roast their beans as well as information on the other two locations. 

https://www.lvcoffee.ca/

Thanks for reading, I will try a new coffee place shortly to contrast and compare.

BSB