Bambu Dessert Drinks — Restaurant in Vancouver

I'm not one to leave one star reviews, especially at a neighborhood place but enough is enough and I am tired of wasting money here with inconsistent drinks and poor service.

I come here a few times a month or get a drink via ubereats because I try support neighbourhood businesses. Unfortunately, more times than not, I usually receive a drink that is overly sweet, no matter what modifications I specify. There has only been a few times where what I ask for has been honoured but I get the general idea, they arnt really following a recipe which is causing the inconsistencies. I have in the past asked how I need to order the drink to get the results I want and I have noted them.

I came in today and ordered a Passion fruit green tea, like I always do, with no toppings and less sugar. The lady hands me the drink and immediately goes back behind the curtain. I can see right away, the drink has fruit and basil seeds in it but I ordered no toppings. I take a sip and it's just so ridiculously sweet.

I have to open the door to get the bell to ring to get her to come back to the front and I explain that my drink is too sweet and I ordered no toppings. She says the passion fruit syrup is sweet and that fruit tea comes with toppings, both things I already know since I come here a few times a month. I tell her that I know but everytime I order the drink it comes different and no toppings has meant absolutley no toppings when I ordered in the past.

I ask her how I am supposed to order the drink since previously this was how I was told to order it. She offers to scoop out the toppings and I explain that the fruit adds to the sweetness, that its too sweet and ask her to remake the drink. She refuses to remake the $8 drink that I have already purchased and tells me I have to order it different next time. I literally ordered it the way the last counter person told me to order it.

At this point I don't have the mental energy to argue with her and drinking this sugary drink would have made me feel ill. I put the drink on the counter and said fine then, I just won't be back because they are too inconsistent and left. Honestly is it worth it to lose a customer over $1 of product? It would have been so simple to just remake the drink.

Please learn to be consistent with your drinks, some people can't consume or are watching their sugar...

I am a long time customer and this is the first time I had horrible customer service experience from Bambu. This is the second time I ordered from them through Skip The Dishes due to the current pandemic. As I received my order, I opened the bag and realized all 3 drinks are in the small size. I called Bambu and asked why we had received small sizes rather than large sizes, as the first time I ordered through Skip The Dishes I had paid for the same amount for the exact same drinks but I received large for all 3 drinks the first time. The first worker I spoke to said "you ordered a regular size" and I had informed them that the site does not even let you choose a size. He immediately responded with "yes it does, I am on the site", when in fact it does not. I informed this is the second time I ordered, paid the same amount, same drinks, yet a small size this time. I ended up speaking to the manager and had to repeat the story and she did not have much to say other than that is what you ordered. Unfortunately even the manager was listening to respond rather than listening to understand. My daughter and I had to walk to the store as unfortunately they did not respond in any way other than the concept of "it is what it is". As we arrive to the store, we had to explain for the THIRD time the situation as they stood there. Basically repeating what they said on the phone. I asked why we got large sizes the first time we ordered through Skip but today we received small sizes. I even took a video of the process of ordering through skip to show them that it does not let you choose a size nor inform of what size you will be receiving. Basically did not respond with anything about answering my questions, but just stared at us. A by stander recommended that they exchange our drinks for a large and they did not respond so she recommended we speak to the store manager and so thats what happened. Yet explaining the situation for the FOURTH time. Store manager was very nice and apologized. I had never had an experience of witnessing a manager on duty listening to respond rather listening to understand. Yet I never had complained to a worker about an issue before so I am unsure if this is common. Sadly this will not be my local "go to" bubble tea...

A friend and I decided to try out Bambu on Kingsway for dessert. Bambu serves a lot of Che, which is a Vietnamese word that refers to dessert drinks or puddings. My friend ordered the Bambu Favourite and I ordered the Fruit Addict.

The Che desserts remind me of the Filipino dessert Halo Halo (which Bambu does have on their menu). Growing up, I very often drank red bean soup for dessert in Chinese restaurants. I was never really a fan of it, and to this day I'm still not too crazy about it. My experience with red bean soup being what they were, I would have never guessed that I could ever learn to like any kind of dessert with beans in it. In more recent years however, I've learned to appreciate Asian style desserts with beans in them. Red Bean soup...still not my cup of tea. However, desserts that involve crushed or shaved ice mixed with beans, jelly...etc. Those kinds of desserts I seem to do better with.

Fruit Addict: (Lychee, longan, red tapioca, jackfruit, palm seed, jello, pandan jelly, coconut, and coconut milk) This dessert exceeded my expectations. There's something about the combination of ice mixed with all those other ingredients and sweetness that just makes it so refreshing. I enjoyed how the various ingredients offered up different textures for me to chew on. By the time I got to the end of the cup I was so full and yet part of me wanted to head back to Bambu so I could order another one right away!

Service: Good Parking: Free parking lot, shared with other businesses in the same plaza. Location: On Kingsway, halfway between Metrotown and...