Dessert Garden — Restaurant in Northbridge

First time here. Went here because our group had 2 young children with us and they wanted some ice desserts and we happened to be nearby. Ordered 3 desserts. Score is 3 out of 10. We were struggling to finish our desserts as taste were not that good. Customer service is also terrible. The staff and owner told us more than once that no food or drink from outside. When we came in, the owner noticed we already bought bubble tea from Utopia (a great place for bubble tea, btw). She told us to put them in a plastic bag because her place also sells bubble tea. So what? If she can't cope with competitors, she should open her business in Uluru where there is no bubble tea yet.

While we were eating, my sister came in with her take aways. She sat down, ate the ice dessert, and soon the owner approached and grabbed the take away bag without permission (note: nobody in our group ate what's inside the take away bag). She tried to tie the bag shut while saying the take away smells too strong and it's bothering the staff and other customers (i didnt notice there was any customer complaining while we were there and the shop was almost empty). Fyi, inside the bag is fried chicken with only salt and pepper as seasonings and the plastic bag was not tied shut because the chicken will get soggy otherwise.

Below average food + bad service = goodbye.

Later on, the owner apologised for the way she treated us. While she apologised, she was still trying to justify the way she treated us. Someone in our group actually got fed up and went outside and stood outside with the take away bag while the rest of us tried to finish our desserts. This is a horrible experience for us. Why does she bother to apologise?? Dont treat customer rudely in first place if you're going to apologise later on. The fact that she apologised shows that she knew she was being too much in reinforcing her "policy" or she worried about bad review. Damage has been done. It wasnt a nice experience we had while we have young children with us as we had to explain to them whats going on. But at least i can show the kids an example of bad service, bad product, and also how not to...

Dessert Garden is a Taiwanese dessert cafe in Northbridge with an impressive range of vegan options on their menu! I tried out their summer special: Lychee Tea Crushed Ice and Grape Tea Crushed Ice. Both are served with lychee jelly and your choice of fresh fruit (watermelon, strawberries or mango). You can also ask for complimentary sugar syrup on the side if you prefer it sweeter, however I found the sweetness level of these to be perfect 👌🏻 Both of these were really delicious and refreshing on a hot day! The lychee flavour has a slightly stronger tea flavour than the grape one, but the tea flavour is definitely not overwhelming, and my kids enjoyed eating these just as much as I did!

Also tried one of the vegan traditional Taiwanese desserts on their menu - Strawberry Purple Rice: coconut milk purple rice with crystal jelly, brown sugar jelly and fresh strawberries. This one can be served cold, room temperature or hot, I chose to have it cold which means it is served with crushed ice on top. You can also request a brown sugar syrup to drizzle over for extra sweetness. I really enjoyed this, it reminded me of coconut rice pudding, and I loved the different textures and flavours of the jellies and strawberries with it. I also couldn’t resist trying out their fresh watermelon slushy and brown sugar boba with soy milk, both were excellent! It’s great to see a huge range of vegan drinks on their menu and soy milk is an option for all of their fresh...

I'm so happy that finally a Taiwanese dessert shop has opened in Northbridge! It is still new so there are a few things they can improve on. I ordered the tofu pudding.

Pros: The pudding tasted good. There's not too much sugar in the syrup. The handmade mini taro balls were delicious! Service was very friendly. Beautiful interior.

Cons: When the store first opened, desserts were $8... then $8.50... now they're $9.50 each. I understand that they were sorting out their pricing, being new, but $9.50 for a bowl of tofu pudding means that that I won't be a regular here. I asked for it to be served hot but unfortunately the tofu must have been stored in the fridge because it was really cold, and maybe the syrup was served hot but it was immediately cooled down by the tofu and ultimately lukewarm. That was really disappointing. One of the spoons was a bit dirty so I didn't use it.

My verdict is that while I'm happy this store exists in such a great location, at the moment you will still find much better value at Dessert Inn in Carousel ($6.50 for same dish and...