We took a 10-minute walk to Chun Shui Tang, the creator of bubble tea, after exploring Shenji New Village.
The story of Chun Shui Tang 春水堂
Chun Shui Tang is a teahouse chain originating from Taichung. It has outlets all over Taiwan, as well as in Hong Kong and Japan. They also own TP Tea, a bubble tea chain, which has outlets at Suntec City and Changi Airport T3 in Singapore.
The company was established in 1983 as Yanghsien Tea Shop and is one of two Taiwanese chains that claim to have invented bubble milk tea, with the other being Hanlin Tea Room.
Chun Shui Tang specialises in bubble tea, as well as a wide range of other tea beverages, and offer various types of Taiwanese cuisine, including gaifan (rice sets), noodles (dry or soup), luwei (braised dishes), steamed and fried bites, mochi, taro balls, and more.
The original store of Chun Shui Tang can be found on No. 30 Siwei Street in Taichung.
The outlet we visited was the Gongyi Branch, which is only a 2-minute walk from Park Lane by CMP, the pickup location for our tour to Rainbow Village and Gaomei Wetlands in the afternoon.
Here’s what we ordered during our visit:
Pearl Milk Tea 珍珠奶茶
Of course, we had to go for the Pearl Milk Tea, haha. It was a well-balanced mixture and not overly sweet, allowing us to taste the tea’s aroma. The pearls used were smaller than normal, but still soft and chewy. For a classic bubble tea, Chun Shui Tang does do a legit version of it.
According to Chun Shui Tang’s website, their tapioca balls are made using a low-temperature process with no preservatives, and the tea is made with a creamer free of saturated fats.
Kung-Fu Noodles 功夫麵
Consisting of noodles topped with a special minced pork sauce with mushrooms. The noodles were cooked perfectly and had a springy texture that was enjoyable to chew with every bite. The sauce was flavourful, but not too salty or overpowering, making the dish light yet delicious.
Braised Beancurd & Rice Cake 招牌滷味豆干米血
This is one of Chun Shui Tang’s signature dishes, featuring glutinous rice cakes made with pig’s blood, hence the colour.
The sauce was the standout aspect of the dish, enhancing the flavours of the braised beancurd and blood rice cakes. The sauce had a robust, savoury flavor, with hints of sesame paste, chilli bean sauce, spring onions, coriander and ginger. This would make a great accompaniment to white rice.
Braised Cabbage with Green Tea 茶香高麗菜
The cabbage had a light tea aroma and still had a crunchy texture.
Deep Fried Chicken 黃金香酥鷄
The chicken chunks (made with chicken leg meat) were lightly battered and had a crispy exterior with a juicy, moist interior. The seasoning was a nicely balanced salt-pepper flavour. Delicious!
Final thoughts
After having a less-than-satisfactory meal at Din Tai Fung’s original outlet in Xinyi, we were initially hesitant about visiting Chun Shui Tang, as the restaurant claims to be the inventor of bubble tea. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and drinks we had. All the dishes we ordered, from the Pearl Milk Tea to the Deep Fried Chicken, were well-balanced in terms of flavours and taste, and the service was good despite the busy atmosphere of the restaurant. Overall, this dining experience exceeded our expectations, and we would definitely recommend Chun Shui Tang to anyone visiting Taichung. If we ever return to the city, we would like to try the original store on Siwei Street.
8.30am to 10.30pm Sat-Sun