Royal Tea House — Restaurant in Calgary

🧋 Boba:

One of the BEST boba tea places we’ve had the chance to enjoy! They nailed it with it being “not too sweet”, which is a HUGE compliment for boba, tea, and anything with desserts.

We got the House Milk Tea with Pearls and also the Taro Milk with Pearls - both 50% sugar and less ice. The House Milk Tea is the best tasting milk tea of all the boba places I’ve tried.

It was great to still be able to taste the tea with the milk! You can tell they do not water down their tea which is wonderful. I know taste is subjective – I personally really like a balance of tea and milk versus too much milk. The pearls/boba had a great texture and were fun to chew without putting too much work on your jaw haha.

Refreshing, delicious, and comforting! Can’t beat the price either - you get a large cup. They have a lot of drink options so I’m excited to go back and try even more.

👥 People:

The folks working here were friendly and warm. Enjoyed getting their recommendations and they were kind in answering our questions!

🖼️ Environment:

Lots of seating. There’s a piano here too so I’m curious if they have live music nights which would be cool to enjoy one day. Cute and quaint spot to chill out at during shopping.

🚙 Parking:

We parked on the street but there’s also parking garages near the Dragon City Mall.

⭐️ TL;DR:

HIGHLY recommend Royal Tea House for your boba cravings. If you love boba, then add this to your must visit list in Calgary! Much better than...

I have to say - I've tried lots of Bubble Tea places, especially from the big ones like Gong Cha. None of them were good. For the longest time, I really don't know what the hype is, especially when there's a lineup outside of Center Street downtown Chinatown in Calgary a couple of years ago for Gong Cha. I was so disappointed.

Now in 2021, I got my first few tastes of the bubble teas and bubble fruit drinks at the Royal Tea House and I'm totally impressed! The regular bubble tea was tasty, the best I've had. I had the Peach Passion Fruit bubble and the Lychee Jelly versions as well. Wow, it was nice - not too sweet as it is natural flavors. My daughter had the Strawberry Bubble Tea and she said it was really nice with real strawberries. I also had the opportunity to try the Cheese Matcha with Red Beans. My God, that was so delicious!

If it wasn't for the location of where this store is in the heart of Chinatown and in Dragon City Mall, I would be going there frequently. This pandemic definitely make it hard to go to the Royal Tea House since I'm working from home most days. I had a chance to talk to the owners and they're super nice and receptive to suggestions to improve. From the drinks I've had thus far, the Royal Tea House beats all the other bubble tea houses in Calgary! I really recommend anyone to try...

Had my eye on this new bbt place inside Dragon City Mall for a while but wanted to wait until they were settled in before I tried it. They aren't a franchise and are locally owned and something I noticed and applaud them for is that they changed their menu and actually decreased some prices for certain drinks based on feedback provided to them by customers. I really wanted to try the fruit tea but at $8 before tax and topping, its pretty steep. I understand they use fresh fruit but $8 for a drink is still pretty expensive in my opinion. Most of their other drinks are on par with other bubble tea places! The interior is bright and theres plenty of seating with booths on one side and chairs on the other.

There's a huge variety of drinks on the menu, but I decided to go for the Brown Sugar Milk Tea ($5.50 for a regular size). The brown sugar pearls are only available after 1:30pm as it takes 4 hours to make them! They were the perfect sweetness and were soft yet chewy. What I loved is the option to have the brown sugar pearls in a milk tea base rather than just milk - many places I've tried only have the option of doing fresh milk! Id like to come back and try their fruit tea and maybe their cheese drinks, as I'm curious about...