As the saying goes, “Things are not beautiful because they last.” This is the very unfortunate fact to take in as we bid farewell to our beloved Gong Cha.

With LiHO now proving to be a game changer in the bubble tea industry—having taken over all 84 Gong Cha outlets islandwide—an answer that we are all curious to find out is if LiHO is really better than Gong Cha.

Is their highly acclaimed Cheese Tea really that out of this world? Or would we still want Gong Cha back? Read on to find out our honest opinion.

The arrival of Gong Cha in 2009 revived the bubble tea craze in Singapore. Even till today, we still see daily queues at (the better) bubble tea kiosk.

To be fair, LiHO’s offerings are similar to Gong Cha’s, with the addition of new-to-market cheese teas that come in various flavours. But just what on Earth is cheese tea?

Cheese tea is basically tea that is topped with a layer of frothy whipped cheese and milk.

None of us is avid bubble tea aficionados but we can honestly say that the difference is pretty straightforward.

Taste

If we talk about the taste in an overview, we actually very much prefer LiHO’s innovative creations despite the menu being more streamlined.

The Cheese Ovaltine Smoothie (S$6.90) that we tried was simply amazing. Although it was super indulgent and filling, we must admit that it was delicious. The savoury foam goes surprisingly well with the sweetness of the Ovaltine.

Imagine having a baked cheese tart but in liquid form—rich, decadent and probably not that good for your waistline but who cares?

And there is the classic Cheese Guan Yin (S$4.10) that we are now addicted to. A smooth creamy foam tops aromatic Guan Yin tea, and you either sip the cheese form before enjoying the smooth tea or you mix them all up for a savoury-earthy drink.

Verdict: LiHO Wins

Customisation Options

We think both LiHO and Gong Cha faired pretty similarly in this area.

Both brands offer more than 10 varieties of toppings and add-ons to pimp up your tea—ranging from Oreo bits to coconut jelly, Pudding jelly to Aloe Vera cubes.

Verdict: Draw

Price

Where price is concerned, Gong Cha is most definitely the cheaper option.

A cup of standard Milk Tea at Gong Cha is priced at S$2.20, whereas at LiHO, the same beverage goes for S$2.80 for medium size and S$3.80 for large size.

Verdict: Gong Cha Wins

Calorie Count

The thing we miss most about Gong Cha is the fact that they displayed how many calories each item on the menu contained (Including their toppings). Having the calorie count clearly stated for each beverage gave us a better idea of what we should order because while indulging in bubble tea is badass and we know it, we also need to keep our waistlines in check!

Verdict: Gong Cha Wins

LiHO vs Gong Cha, Who’s The Winner?

With a 2 – 1 win over LiHO, there is no doubt that our beloved Gong Cha is still our favourite bubble tea option. It is sorely missed.

As attractive as the hype about LiHo is (for now), there is nothing we would rather have more than Gong Cha.

When I started this Singapore Food Blog, I would have never expected it to become what it is today, for that I’m extremely grateful for all the opportunities that I have been given. Even up till now, I’m still amazed that there are people who actually want to read about how hungry I am every day.

In the past twelve months, I travelled quite a bit. I made new friends, and lost some. I learned many new lessons, and grew up a little. My new mantra in life is to experience all the new things in this world. What’s there to lose when I don’t have anything?

To summarise everything that I ate and blogged in the past year, I’ll like to share with you the top 10 most popular posts on ladyironchef for 2010.

It is actually quite interesting to see the search terms that people used to find my blog. Instead of ladyironchef, there are some who typed ironladyironchef.

10. Japanese Restaurants in Singapore

I’m not surprised to see my list of the Best Japanese Restaurants in Singapore as the tenth most-read pages on my food blog. Japanese cuisine has always been very popular in Singapore, and I know a lot of my friends can eat Japanese food everyday without being sick of it. I think I’m starting to appreciate this popular cuisine.

9. Guide to Dempsey Hill Restaurants

This year, I started a few guides to introduce some of the well-known dining destinations in Singapore like Holland Village, Rochester Park, Greenwood Avenue. Among the Singapore restaurant guides, Dempsey Hill was by far the most popular. Many people know of the atas restaurants at Dempsey road even though some of them have never been there before. Whenever people want a nice restaurant with ambience for dinner, I’m sure Dempsey road restaurants are definitely among their consideration.

8. Melt the World Cafe Buffet at Mandarin Oriental Singapore

I am not exactly sure how to approach this topic, so I am going straight to the point – Melt the World Cafe at Mandarin Oriental is the best buffet in Singapore.

My opening paragraph for Melt the World Cafe sums up everything you need to know. The prices are not cheap, but it is definitely a top-quality buffet restaurant.

7. Afternoon High Tea Places in Singapore

I need to blog less on Afternoon High Tea Places and desserts in Singapore, otherwise people will always assume that I’m a tai-tai in her mid 30s who has afternoon tea every day.

6. Gong Cha Bubble Tea

Gong Cha has been extremely busy this year. From their original outlets at City Square & Novena Square, they have added many new branches within a short period of time. Their strategy is slightly different from KOI Cafe. Most of the KOI outlets are in the heartlands area, while Gong Cha has been opening in shopping malls like Plaza Singapura, Vivocity, Raffles City, Orchard Central, Bedok Point & The Central.

5. The Singapore Food Blogger Saga

Everything you need to know about truth of this Singapore Food Blog has already been said. I learned valuable lessons from this incident, and at the same time, it showed me who are my real friends.

4. Dim Sum Restaurants in Singapore

When I blogged the list of Dim Sum in Singapore back in January, my original intention was just to use it as a reminder post. I hope that the list is useful whenever you need to satisfy your dim sum craving.

3. Brunch Places in Singapore

It is heartening to see that the All Day Breakfast trend is picking up in Singapore this year. With new breakfast restaurants like Wild Honey, Hatched & Strictly Pancakes — we have more options for breakfast food during anytime of the day.

2. Buffet Restaurants in Singapore

To be honest with you, I was expecting my list of Buffet Restaurants in Singapore to be the most-read post on my food blog. After all, it is a fact that Singaporeans love their buffet.

What is the #1 post on ladyironchef for 2010?

1. KOI Bubble Tea

Is KOI the best bubble tea in Singapore? It’s very subjective, but there’s one thing I can tell you for sure, KOI Cafe is the #1 search page on ladyironchef for 2010.

* * *

So many things have happened this year, and I’m thankful for the help and support from my blogging partners: Mr Gadget, Dweam, Monoxious and all the nuffies from Nuffnang.

Most importantly, I’m very grateful to all my readers – without you guys, I’m nothing. It is a joy to be able to do something that I really like, and it has been a fantastic year for my food blog. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything, and have a great 2011!

With the never-ending queues at KOI and Gong Cha bubble tea, my guess is that the bubble tea craze in Singapore will be here to stay for a little longer. Just that day, I was asking on twitter which is the first KOI outlet in Singapore, but no one was sure about the answer. Most people replied that Chinatown is the first KOI branch and apparently they have been there for a couple of years.

It’s funny how most people only come to know about it in the past two years. The same goes for I love Taimei, a small Taiwanese cafe located at 52 Queen Street at Bugis Village that sells Taiwanese street food in Singapore.

Even though I always pass by the area, I didn’t notice the place until recently. I heard that they are opened for a year (or maybe slightly longer), and they are getting popular with the crowd at Bugis Village.

A regular bubble tea is $2, while most of the Taiwanese street food like the fried chicken, burger, mee sua are around $3-4. A set meal consisting of a main, side and drink will cost around $6-7.

Interestingly, I love Taimei is just around the corner from KOI at Iluma. I am no expert when it comes to bubble tea, but I had I love Taimei’s bubble tea on a few occasions, and I definitely don’t think that it will lose out to KOI. As much as I enjoyed the KOI bubble tea, I still have no idea why people will queue up half an hour just for a cup of bubble tea.

On the first occasion, I had the BBQ Crispy Chicken ($3.90). It was crispy and drizzled with the spicy-sweet BBQ sauce. Obviously, this isn’t going to be as fantastic as the Ji Pa (deep-fried chicken) that you had in Taiwan. The grass will always be greener on the other side, and Taiwanese street food will definitely taste better when you have them at the Taiwanese night markets. Wake up people, we are in Singapore (not Taiwan), and we just have to make do with what we have. The portion of the chicken was considerably small for four dollars, but when craving call, you know there’s nothing you can do. I also had the cheese fries ($2), which was pretty decent. Coated with a layer of cheesy texture, it’s the ideal snack to munch the afternoon away.

It was raining heavily during my second trip there, and the Oyster Mee Sua ($3) was the perfect companion in the sleepy weather. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a strong hint of vinegar within the sticky and soupy mee sua, which had bits and pieces of tiny little oysters. It was very comforting to stand by the road side, and scoop the mee sua from a bowl. Suddenly, I felt that I was in Taiwan again.

* * *

Other than the Oasis and Gold Leaf Taiwanese porridge restaurants, Peng Lai Ge at Joo Chiat, Shin Yeh Taiwanese restaurant at Liang Court and the newly opened Ximending at Vivo city, there aren’t that many options for Taiwanese food in Singapore. Since I chanced upon I Love Taimei, I’m always tempted to order a snack whenever I am in the Bugis area.

Forget about everything that I just told you. Forget that you read this post on I love Taimei. I do not want to see any of you queuing up in front of me the next time I am there!

I <3 Taimei!

Taiwanese Food Review
I Love Taimei
52 Queen Street #ABFL-21 Singapore
Tel: +65 6336 5987

Oops I did it again.

For someone who have never drink bubble tea in Singapore only until recently, I have been trying KOI Cafe Bubble Tea, Sweet talk Bubble Tea, and now Each-A-Cup Bubble Tea.

Something must be wrong with me!

It’s even more ridiculous that I am actually sitting in front of the computer so early in the morning and blogging about — BUBBLE TEA! What’s wrong with me? Did I just get the bubble tea bug? Oh shit. Anyway, if you have been following me on twitter, you’d know that I’ve mentioned I couldn’t taste the difference between Each A Cup and KOI bubble tea. Well, you can’t really blame me, it was a hot day and I started gulping down the milk tea – before I knew it, everything including the black pearls were gone! But I did realize something, and let me know if you agree with me.

Price:
Sweet Talk ($1.50) > Each A Cup ($1.90) > KOI Cafe ($2.50)

Come on, it’s almost an additional dollar for each cup of bubble tea! Sweet Talk win hands down when it comes to price. Why are you spending $2.50 for a drink when it can get you a packet of chicken rice?

Quality:
KOI Cafe > Each A Cup & Sweet Talk

There will be no debates on this since almost everyone I know says that KOI has better quality milk tea and more chewy black pearls. Considering that both Each-a-cup and Sweet Talk bubble tea come from a central kitchen while KOI bubble tea is produced on the spot, what else do we need to say?

Queuing Time:
Each A Cup & Sweet Talk > KOI Cafe

‘Are you crazy? You actually queued twenty minutes just for a bubble tea?’ Hold on a second, did you queue for the Hello Kitty dolls, and during the donut craze too?

* * *

It’s really hard to decide who’s better. I guess most people will probably insist that KOI cafe has the best bubble tea in Singapore. I like KOI cafe bubble tea, I like the fact that they prepared their bubble tea on the spot and gives us the option of choosing the sugar level. But like what I’ve mentioned before, I probably will not queue twenty to thirty minutes just for a cup of bubble tea. Okie dokie, it’s time to try Gong Cha bubble tea @ City Square Mall next!

Each A Cup Outlets in Singapore

Ang Mo Kio MRT @ Cheers
2450 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 #01-02

Ang Mo Kio Hub @ Cheers {closed}
53 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 #01-37 Ang Mo Kio Hub

Bedok North
204 Bedok North Street 1

Bishan @ Shop N Save
Blk 512 Bishan St 13 HDB Branch Office

Causeway Point @ Cold Storage
1 Woodlands Square #B1-31/32 Causeway Point

Chevron House
30 Raffles Place #B1-06A

City Square Mall
180 Kitchener road #B1-k6

Concorde Hotel
350 Orchard Road #05-06 Shaw House

CPF Building @ Cheers
79 Robinson Road

Eastpoint Mall
3 Simei Street 6 #02-49 Eastpoint Mall

Ion Orchard
2 Orchard Turn#B4-45 Ion Orchard

Holland Village
3 Lorong Liput #01-09

International Plaza
10 Anson road #01-06

Jurong Junior College
800 Corporation Road Jurong Junior College

Liang Court
177 River Valley Road #B1-14

Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard #02-223

Marine Parade Central
87 Marine Parade Central #01 kiosk

Nanyang Polytechnic
180 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 Blk P, S Nanyang Polytechnic

North Point @ Cold Storage
930 Yishun Avenue 2 #B1-11/16 North Point

Novena Square
10 Sinaran Drive #02-64 Novena Square

NTU
50 Nanyang Avenue Canteen B Nanyang Technological University

National Junior College
37 Hillcrest Road National Junior College

Ngee Ann Polytechnic
535 Clementi Road Ngee Ann Polytechnic

OUB Centre
1 Raffles Place #B1-03A OUB Centre

People’s Park Center
101 Upper Cross Street #01-26E

PoMo
1 Selegie Road #01-04/05 PoMo (formerly Paradiz Centre)

Singapore Changi Airport T3
65 Changi Boulevard B2 North #B2-12 T3

Suntec City
3 Temasek Boulevard #01-140E

Tampines One
10 Tampines Central 1 #B1-k8 Tampine One

Tanjong Katong Complex
845 Geylang Road #01-08 Tanjong Katong Complex

The Heeren
260 Orchard road #B1-12

Wilkie Edge
8 Wilkie Road #01-06 Wilkie Edge

Yishun Ring road
Blk 846 Yishun ring road #01-3657

313 @ Somerset
313 Orchard road #B3-42