True'sTea 生活小品

I didn't realize Estea has turned into True'sTea until I saw them featured on TastyGo. I used to go there with my friends to hang out and study, but every time the place looked shabbier and dirtier until we finally decided to go somewhere else. Now that the entire restaurant has been renovated, the decor is a lot nicer, but why are the chair covers still hopelessly stained? They should have stuck with wooden chairs, because I think it's really gross when I have to sit and put my purse on splatters of dried food sauces and stains from who-knows-what. But anyway I'm glad they still have the soya pudding ($3.95) drink. I got it with sweet assorted beans ($0.75), so it was more like a tasty dessert.

The food was better than the Estea days. The fish with sour vegetables in chili sauce hot pot (秘製酸菜魚鍋) ($8.95) was very savoury and spicy, but I found the soup too salty for my taste. The side dishes were pitifully small, though that wasn't much of a problem since the hot pot was a decent portion and the bowl of rice was huge.

The lemon chicken with rice (檸檬雞飯) ($7.95) was tasty, and I especially enjoyed the sweet and sour lemon sauce. This meal also came with a bowl of my favourite green bean sweet soup. Too bad it was served lukewarm, otherwise it would have tasted a lot better.

The marinated tofu (滷豆腐) ($4.50) was the strangest dish I've had in a while. Who the heck makes marinated tofu with soft tofu?! Usually firm tofu is used so that the marinade could be absorbed into the spongy texture, and the tofu is often lightly fried or grilled first. This marinated tofu was basically cooked soft tofu cubes thrown into some soy sauce before serving. The inside was still completely white and flavourless, and the mushy texture tasted weird with the marinade.

The shredded pork in chili and garlic sauce with rice omelette (魚香肉絲蛋包飯) ($8.50) was savoury just like the hot pot, but it wasn't as spicy. Rice omelettes were originally invented by the Japanese, but they're pretty popular in Taiwan as well. Inside the thin layer of egg was ketchup fried rice, and the whole thing was topped with shredded pork, various vegetables and a lot of sauce. The taste was not bad, but it got boring after a few bites due to the monotonous flavour. After a while, all I could taste was the sauce because it was so strong that it overpowered everything else.

I have to say, the service was much better compared to the Estea days. It still wasn't spectacular, but it was a big improvement. I wasn't particularly impressed by this meal, but I would still consider coming back since the location is pretty convenient for me.