Taiwan Eats, Part VI: Drinks
Taiwan is all about the tea. Sure, there's a lot of coffeeshops, and those are popular and all that, and there are a lot of nice fruit drinks like papaya milk, but really, we're Chinese--we drink tea.
Now bubble tea, the combination of sweetened tea with fat tapioca balls, is uniquely Taiwanese. We had a decent amount of it during our time there. My favorite version of milk tea is not with tapioca, however, but with egg pudding instead.
One of the ways we enjoyed tea was at a fancy tea shop called Rose House. I got hooked onto English style tea from frequenting one branch of this cafe chain in high school with my friends for special occasions such as birthdays. The interior of the cafe was always decked out in flowery decor and frilly cushions. Of course pretty tea sets and cups are a must. We were not so lucky to cross paths with a separate store to dine in to enjoy the frilly splendor, so we instead parked at a Rose House booth in a high-end cafe/food court in a department store. Jess being British in a former life, I made this a must-taste destination during our trip.
They offer a variety of styles of tea: hot/cold, black/green/fruit, with/without milk. They also have some Western-style hot meals that you can get in set menus with a pot of tea included in the price.
And canned Ovaltine...
This phrase is pure gold, "but really, we're Chinese--we drink tea." As though nothing in the world could be more 'duh'.
ReplyDeleteTaiwan was a beverage paradise.
Oh! -People at work are still raving about the tea I brought back!
When one considers that the phrase "to drink tea" is used colloquially irregardless of the identity of the actual beverage consumed, you get the idea of how integral tea is to the culture. Similarly, the corresponding literal translation for "to eat a meal" is "to eat [cooked] rice": "Do you want to eat rice?" (= do you want to eat?) or "Have you eaten rice yet? (= have you eaten yet?).
ReplyDeleteMy favorite phrase of the post is "Jess being British in a former life..." Haha.
I love the name of the teahouse, "Rose House."
ReplyDeleteAnd the teapot and cup are beautiful. Two of my favorite things: tea and roses.
How fabulous those literal translations are! I'm glad to know them! The one you told me for 'hotel' was equally glorious, but, sadly, I can't remember it:(
ReplyDelete(My Mum wants that rose-covered tea set almost as bad as your Mom does).