When you start walking around Melbourne you really start to notice how many Asian Bubble Tea places there are and other Asian eateries. One place that is on the corner of Swanston and Little Burke St always has a line and so many Asian students come here to have a drink or a bite to eat. Hot Star and Gong Cha have some kind of association with each other and you can get a combo deal which is if you order a piece of chicken you get discounted bubble tea.
Hot Star Fried Chicken
When you order a piece of chicken it takes around 12 minutes to cook and they ask you to either order a bubble tea or go for a 10 minute walk. When you order you also get a plastic bag. At first I did not understand what it is for but after I waited 12 minutes to get my chicken it made sense as that is where you can put your fried chicken once it is cooked. When the Fried Chicken is given to you it is half wrapped in a paper bag. However, it is so hot to hold that the plastic bag you get makes it easier to hold while you are waiting for your chicken to cool down. Also while you are ordering you can decide what flavourings you want on your chicken, I went for chilli of course. So when I received my chicken. It was huge. It was larger than my hand. It is basically a whole chicken breast flattened and then cooked. It took over 5 minutes for my chicken to cool down in the Melbourne heat and my mouth was watering just wanting to attack it. My will power was not strong enough and I manage to burn my mouth. However, the chicken was nicely cooked and very moist. The crust was crispy and well seasoned. A dam good piece of chicken that you just buy on the street.
Website; Hot Star Fried Chicken
Gong Cha Tea
When I am in Melbourne this is the place I go for Bubble Tea. There are a few reasons why
- They have great flavours.
- You get to decide how much ice you want.
- You also get to decide how much sugar you want in you drink.
- You can decide what kind of jelly you want.
On a hot Melbourne day I go for full amount of ice, which fills about half of the cup. A good thing is they have one of those machines that fully seal the drink so you can shack the hell out of the drink to dissolve the ice.
I only go for one flavour when it comes to bubble tea and that is Taro. I just love it and Gong Cha do a great one. Also a bonus is they put bits of taro in the tea, that add an extra texture to the drink. They have also just introduce a Taro and coconut flavour which I think is my new flavour. I also add tapioca balls to my drinks. Overall a good bubble tea shop that makes my asian palette happy.
Website; Gong Cha Tea
Trencherman's Travels 