With being close to work near Hwy 7, I always frequent the areas around Commerce Gate. I noticed this new place called "The Alley during their construction phase and noted that I shall revisit again. Fast-forward a few weeks, my work colleague was craving bubble tea and found out his favourite go to place "Go For Tea" was gone.  My colleague called me up for consultation and we were open to trying a new place for his drinking habit. Off we went to "The Alley"!

Drink Rating: 4/5

Service: 3/5

This small stop is located a few doors from Chatime. Small shop with limited seats  (10-15 seats) with seating along the windows.  This bubble tea shop is very different from other  bubble tea cafes. The space is filled with exposed brick and lots of wood.  You see themes of the elk around on the wall and décor items. It has a relaxing, cozy atmosphere.

We went around late afternoon time. The service was very busy and had to wait on average 10-15 minutes for the drinks to come! Definitely the worst compared to the other 4 bubble tea shops in the Commerce Gate plaza.  I had requested no tapioca and they still charged me … They gave my colleague the stamp card but they didn't give one to me unless I requested it … very inconsistent service …

They really offer unique Taiwanese bubble tea drinks. The drink and sugar options are very similar to Coco and Chatime. I believe it is 4 different levels for sugar and ice options.  It is a shame that some of the drink names don't clearly distinguish what is exactly in the drink. "Iron Goddess Fresh Milk Tea" => what does that mean? For this adventure, I ordered the Royal No.9 Fresh Milk tea. My take is that it is traditional milk bubble tea with hint flavors of blueberries. It's an interesting flavour combination … You would either love it or hate it… The pricing for the bubble teas is above the average in comparison to what you find at Coco and Chatime.

Here is the scan version of the Drinks Menu

Since the drinks have very vague names on the menu, this is my decoder ring for the drinks:

Royal No. 9  - milk tea with hints of blueberry tea

Apple of the Eye - fixed type of drink with apple cider (sweet and sour) and a lot of ice
Garden Milk Tea - Milk tea with crumble of Orea on top layer with mint leave on top (looks like a garden...)
Polka Deer - fresh milk green tea and served with black sesame deerioca
Penguin on the Ice - comes with milk at the bottom and grass jelly concentrate juice at top, shake before drinking
Snowberry  - thick, rich smoothie shake is resplendent with milk, strawberry jam, whipped cream, and strawberry deerioca - similar to DQ Blizzard
Citron Soda - A mix of soda and pomelo skin
Sweet Dew Oolong - Oolong tea with ice + sugar

Would I come back? Probably once in a while