From CoCo Bubble Tea to Taiwanese Fusion — A Chinese Canadian's Weekend Food Diary

CoCo Bubble Tea

Let me be upfront — I am neither a bubble tea expert nor a Taiwanese food authority. I'm a Chinese Canadian born in Hong Kong who simply loves East Asian food across the board. Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean — I love it all.

My family of four has a standing routine of going out for dinner twice a week. At least one of those meals is East Asian, and we rotate who chooses. Without fail, every month we eat Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese food at least once — those are the most accessible options where we live in the Greater Toronto Area. There's a Malaysian/Singaporean restaurant I genuinely love, but it's an hour away, so it's more of a special occasion.

And it's not just East Asian food. I love South Asian food too — mainly Indian and Hakka cuisine. My kids haven't fully come around to those flavours yet, so we eat it less often. But a good biryani or fresh naan with spicy dipping sauces? That hits every time.

I say all this upfront because the food I write about comes from a place of genuine enthusiasm rather than expertise. And this past weekend gave me two good stories.

Saturday — The 370Z Bubble Tea Run

Favourites at CoCo Bubble Tea

Bubble tea — also known as boba — was invented in Taiwan, which makes it a fitting start to a post that ends with Taiwanese food.

My older daughter is a dedicated CoCo Bubble Tea fan. On Saturday, when I decided to take my Nissan 370Z out for a morning drive, she immediately made her request: could I pick up bubble tea on the way back? This is a fairly regular arrangement. When I go for a drive and she reminds me, I say yes.

So I planned my route accordingly — making sure to get enough driving in while looping back near a CoCo location at the end. Her usual order is the Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea. Mine is either that or the Mango Passion Fruit Green Tea with sago and coconut jelly. My wife drinks something similar. I picked up the order and brought it home.

The funny part is that the night before, at a boys night out, I'd been talking about bubble tea with one of my oldest friends. His wife is a Chatime regular but has apparently switched to Kung Fu Tea — which I still haven't tried. I told him I go to Chatime specifically for the Honeydew Milk Tea, which is hard to find elsewhere, but that CoCo does the Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea better than anyone.

We've been friends since high school — back when bubble tea was just starting to appear in Toronto. And as it turns out, he also picks up bubble tea for his wife after drives.

In his Dodge Challenger Scat Pack. Manual transmission, of course 😂

Two car guys. Two performance cars. Both doing bubble tea runs for their families on a Saturday morning. That felt very on brand.

Sunday — An Accidental Taiwanese Food Discovery

Minced pork and fried sausage over rice - Taiwanese dish

The next day, my wife and I had a rare lunch to ourselves — no kids. We couldn't decide what to eat and ended up defaulting to Korean food at Owl of Minerva. We drove to the plaza, found a parking spot — and right next to where we parked was a Taiwanese restaurant we'd never noticed before.

We looked at the menu posted outside. Glanced at each other. And decided — why not try something new?

Taiwanese food isn't something we eat regularly, and it's honestly easier to try new cuisines without the kids in tow. Less negotiation required.

Inside, the menu immediately reminded me of a Hong Kong Cha Chaan Teng — that classic HK cafe style that blends Western and Chinese influences into something uniquely its own. Taiwanese food has a similar spirit. The menu had straightforward dishes alongside fusion items that felt very familiar: spaghetti with steak and pork in black pepper sauce topped with a fried egg, cheese mushroom chicken in a baked bun, minced pork with fried sausages over rice.

We ordered all three, just to cover ground. Some dishes landed better than others — which is completely fine when you're exploring somewhere new for the first time.

Leaving the restaurant, I had one thought: I wish I had known what to order. But then again — that might be exactly the point. The best food discoveries rarely come with a roadmap. I didn't arrive at budae jjigae as one of my favourite Korean dishes on the first try. It started with bibimbap, moved to fried chicken, and slowly — through the right dishes at the right restaurants — found its way to something I genuinely love. Food taste develops through experience, not instruction.

Final Thought

Whether it's finding your favourite bubble tea order or discovering what to eat at a new restaurant, the process of exploration is half the enjoyment. There's still so much to try — and the food landscape keeps changing. New shops, new fusions, new dishes finding their way into the rotation.

I'm not interested in expensive restaurants for their own sake. What I care about is taste first and the cultural experience that comes with it.

That combination never gets old.

What's your go-to bubble tea order? And have you tried Taiwanese food? Drop your recommendations below — always looking for what to try next.