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
the first koi is at marine parade! haha! had it since it first opened
yeap~ what charmain said!
i’ve seen i <3 taimei many times before but haven't tried! now that you've reviewed it……
LOL at your last paragraph! haha!! we'll see you there!~ :X
I guess I’ll be saying I love Taipei once I head there next year. Whee! (And I know what you mean about the grass being greener – feel the same way about Tokyo!)
I love I love taimei! The tofu fries with seaweed seasoning is superlicious! And I think their bubble tea is really more worth it than Koi’s. Their caramel milk tea with taro Q is the best!
Try the chicken skin! Super sinful, unhealthy and fattening but totally awesome!!
reminds me of the famous rap song which has the same title!
who doesnt like fried food, this looks awesome!
charmain: really? but so many people told me it’s chinatown! haha
drea: don’t let me catch you there! you are supposed to forget about this post, remember? hahahahaha
LFB: HAVE FUN IN TAIPEI!
Jor: oh yes my friend was raving about their tofu fries too. it’s really so good?
Celesta: you make it sound like a delicacy! haha
lotsofcravings: i know right, fries food is awesome
if you visit taipei, let me know la, i bring u eat spicy hot pot ^___________^
It’s crazy seeing the Q outside Koi when I was back earlier this year. Having stayed in Taipei for the past 14 years, I think I’ve had my fair share of bubble tea. I still remember the first bubble tea I had, it was in Ximending. My friend got me “por bah nai cha” it has SUPER huge pearls in it. I almost gagged!!
first koi outlet is in toa payoh. had it since it open in 2007. they used to have small pearls or jumbo pearls to choose from but sadly they made it standard size since they had gotten popular.
i love taimei was open since about october last year. (:
hmm i didnt have to wait that long for bubble tea at i love taimei as compared to koi, but i waited a whole hour for my chicken! they don’t seem very well prepared for business, and the slow service was quite disappointing… the cheese and seaweed flavours were unavailable during my visit as well… but do try the tofu fries, they are pretty interesting!
im currently on exchange prog in china and i totally hate reading your blog cuz i miss all the food in singapore so, so much
So cute! The names of the sets are taiwan stars..hehehe
Definitely gonna try this soon!
Yup agreed! First outlet for koi is at toa payoh. Then marine parade, chinatown, amk hub, illuma and now clementi. Miss the days when there was no craze over KOI so I get to have it without queuing.
Pigiangel: I WANNA GO TAIWAN NOW!!!
Zoe: The queue doesnt seem to be slowing. KOI and Gong Cha are opening up everywhere, and there’s always a long queue
tt: back in 2007? where have I been? The first time i heard of KOI is probably last year? Or is it this year? lol
kia: Oh yeah the bubble tea is quite fast, but they take quite a while to prepare the food. gonna try the tofu fries next time
zihwye: Make a list of the places you want to go, so that you can explore and check out all of them when you are home : )
LJ: YA! just for fun i guess
danghl: You go girl!
tude: OH? Chinatown opens later than Marine Parade? hahaha i think the queue at Chinatown is still relatively okay, the new KOI clementi has a super long queue
Cup walker taste nice too! =D
the bbq crisy chicken portion used to be bigger b4 the shop renovated!i am so sad about this:(
didnt i love taimei move to bugis junction? pls update thx.
you can also try Eskimo bubble tea opened by 2 taiwanese ladies. The 1st outlet is located at Ghoby Xchange. there is also 1 at Market Street Car park. Recently a new outlet just opened at tampines
I would say the quality of the tea is similar to KOI and the bubble are pretty good too. I do agreed KOI have the best bubble tea in singapore but Eskimo is not far behind either in terms of quality.
do try out their mango ice and strawberry ice (that is their initial biz start up)
small outlet but service with passion
I tried the bubble milk tea from I love taimei! It was really good! Thanks for blogging about it. I went to try it after I read your blog post.
Gosh, I went to try immediately after I read your post too! The descriptions and pictures almost made me drool, so I just had to buy it XD Toufu fries in spicy mexican is the <333
Oh my! Im going to try this tomorrow with my friend! I just touched down from TAipei today and I’m suffering from Taiwan-Withdrawal Syndrome!!
anyone know any cure for that??
YES. I so miss those days in Toa Payoh when no one buys KOI — no q — no waiting time! And i dnoe why suddenly theres a hype abt KOI. YES 2007~~ those days <3 <3. and omg so gonna try caramel milk tea w taro q from i <3 taimei. Can't wait!
you don’t get cheese fries in taiwan :\
Toa payoh was first koi outlet