Lazy Monkey

First time I’ve been here I’ve ordered a hot lychee milk tea without bubble. The taste it’s not like the lychee but durian.

Lazy Monkey, an small Taiwanese bubble tea joint across from Sir Winston Churchill High School and between what used to be a Mac’s and a Canadian Pizza Unlimited.
AMBIENCE/​SERVICE: Small restaurant with about 4 or 5 tables and limited seating. Most people tend to just order a bubble tea for takeout and the crowd is predominantly high school/​college aged Asians. Nothing special about the service, but it can be hard to get service as a sit-​down patron when they are constantly taking takeout bubble tea orders. 1.5÷2.5
FOOD/​DRINK: Good selection of bubble tea in terms of slushes, smoothies, and milk/​green teas. I’ve had the milk tea with pudding, taro smoothie, almond smoothie, and traditional milk tea and they’ve all been pretty good by Calgary’s standards but nothing to write home about. I tried the double Q once but the jellies were quite chewy. The food is more of a mixed bag. Their Taiwanese chicken is their speciality and probably best dish. Don’t expect too much when you order their mains. 1.5÷2.5

Ordered a Taro milk tea with pearls and had only a few gulps. It was too watery with no flavor. Told the waitress right away and she said I can choose another drink. I waited for her to come back but she never did. When I went up to the cash register to pay for the bill I asked if she had taken off the taro milk tea. She said she cannot because «they didn’t make a mistake on the drink». I believe the mistake was the drink was made terribly and I shouldn’t have paid for garbage. Never coming here again and I don’t recommend anyone to either.

Came here after a yummy lunch at a nearby restaurant. Was craving for something sweet to finish off the meal.
Wasn’t too sure what to expect from this restaurant, when we pulled up there was a crowd of people smoking outside. So it came off kinda shady… but when we entered, we found it to be chock full of asian high schoolers. The bf and I may have been the oldest customers in the crowd that afternoon…
Anywhos, we both weren’t sure what to expect, and when we try out new bbt places, we try to stick to the staples so we have a good benchmark.
I opted for a hot triple milk tea, and the bf got a «double q» milk tea. We loved the funky texture of the crystal jelly. It was a refreshing change from regular pearls. Will seek out a time to come back and try their hot food options.

Too bad they don’t Unilocal don’t have. Half star. As it should be 3.5 stars for the food. One of the best in turns of Taiwanese style snack places in the city. Plus you don’t get much Taiwanese food in this city great welcome in the NW.

This is the only place I like to go to for milk BBT when I’m in Calgary. I always get the Taiwanese Fried Chicken as well because it is quite good. The place is quite small however so it’s not really fit for large groups.

I like the Taiwanese Fried Chicken and Fried Squid Tentacles. But last week I went, my fried squid tentacles were not seasoned well, some of them were good, but some were lack of favour.
My husband and I do not like the hot spring noodle. The presentation was nice and unique, but the yee noodle soup had no taste and the meat balls that came with it just tasted like the ones we could buy from super market.
The Taiwanese Pork Rice with Tofu and egg was not bad, and I will try the casserole/​baked rice next time I go as I were told they are good.
Bubble tea is good, I like the High Mountain Oolong milk tea; but I do not like the pearls as they are too sweet for me, especially I only order ¼ sweetness for my drink.
Have to mention the food was hot! very nice!!! Because recently I found most of the food that was served by other places are not hot and I do not like thatl

The milk tea is always delicious, the Taiwanese fried chicken is awesome but every time I’ve ordered main course food… I’m always disappointed… it’s overly oily and unflavoured. So I must say, go for the apps and drinks and save the main for another spot!

Lazy Monkey — A series ofHaiku Reviews by Dale E:
Oh, where can I go?
I’m out of my neighbourhood
and I’m so hungry.
I’m also sleepy
is there a place with coffee?
I need caffeine soon.
I found a small spot
that is next to the high-​school,
I hope that it’s good!
They have bubble tea!
There are so many flavours!
Choosing one is hard.
«Like, he said she said…»
«Science sucks, like omg! «
…Don’t go at lunch break.
Quick! What has caffeine?
Lychee green tea, oh heck ya!
I’ll have one of those.
You have chicken too?
I’ll take the 4-​piece strips, please.
So hot and tasty!
Smokers by the door.
Don’t you have places to go?
Silly teenagers.
I went alone,
but it would be good for groups.
They have large tables.
This place is so cute
and it’s called «Lazy Monkey.»
What more do you want?
I thought it was great!
Chicken, Bubble Tea, Wifi.
I will like, be back.

Hubby and I decided to try some Taiwanese cuisine for a light lunch since I’d been making empanadas and juggling with musical commitments this past week.
The good: my honey lemon green/​black tea was the best tea I’ve had in a long time.
Nom, nom… the Taiwanese fried chicken was absolutely delicious! Wonderfully spiced and not overbattered, it’s served with a bit of fried Thai basil and garlic. The fried calamari (fairly large tentacles) was also done perfectly – nicely seasoned with just the right amount of crunch and soft on the inside. Our server also recommended that we try the tomato and beef noodle soup. It came in a steaming hot bowl with melt-​in-​your-​mouth pieces of beef in a flavorful broth.

The bad: I found everything a bit pricey. When we ordered the Taiwanese fried chicken and the fried calamari ($ 8.95 and $ 9.95), they combined both orders into one serving basket (compare our photo with the photo of Linda C.‘s fried chicken which fills an entire basket). The tomato and beef noodle soup was $ 14.50; I was expecting a bigger portion size.
There are a limited number of tables in this restaurant (most customers usually order takeout) and the ambiance outside the front entrance is less than desirable. There were half a dozen teenagers smoking and distributing their cigarettes to minors.

The Taiwanese fried chicken is as good as everyone says it is! I was super impressed with it, as well as the curry casserole I ordered. Large portion, so it was a good value for the price.
Their teas were excellent as well. I would definitely go back!

mom and pop shop.
Taiwainese.
Come for their Taiwainese fried chicken. That’s it!

This is one of my favorite place to get bubble tea in calgary. I would give a 4.5÷5 for their milk teas. They have a very good collection of tea and jelly. I love their lychee jelly with non authentic tea (try it with mango it goes very well).
The place is well decorated and have a friendly good vibe to it. But, when it comes to food be really careful on what do you order. Fried chicken and tofu are good. But, their take on other dishes and casseroles are not inspiring and upto the standards. There in which they loose points.
If you live in the neighborhood a good place to go have munchies and bobo on weekend night after 10.00.
I will recommend you to stick with traditional milk teas and taiwanese appetizers.

Lazy Monkey? What a name!
The story goes like this. I was craving bbtea near my bandmate’s place, and so we decided to go here since it was the closest.
The prices at Lazy Monkey are super reasonable, and you can definitely get some great value here.
We ordered the dumplings (fried) and also the chicken gizzards.
What is a chicken gizzard you might ask? It’s just something super chewy and tasty. However, $ 3.75 for a singe stick was way too high for what I got. Meh, probably won’t order that one again.
As for the bubbletea, it is all right but nothing that amazing. I would still rank Bubblemania higher than Lazy Monkey.
3 stars.

Probably my favourite place in Calgary for a good milk tea! Finally a decent bubble tea store that is NOT downtown! Their Taiwanese fried chicken and their chicken strips here are delicious. The Taiwanese fried chicken looked like a popular choice amongst many of the people here.
I think the pricing is reasonable, especially compared to some other bubble tea stores in Calgary. The service is quick and efficient, and I like that there are tons of parking outside.
I wish there were more seats. Also, I wish that they would make more pearls, especially for weekends. They always seem to run out at around 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays when they close at 1am!

The passion fruit green tea was pretty delicious. I can’t say I enjoyed the food a whole lot (except the yam fries), though the only time I have eaten here is at an event where I didn’t get to choose the dishes and they were predominantly deep fried dishes. My friends enjoyed many of the dishes though – I think it might be personal preference.

The Taiwanese fried chicken here is the best in town! They also have a lot of other Taiwanese cuisine like pulled chicken with braised pork on rice, deep fried corn, and chicken leg bento (a chicken leg with rice and vegetables). For the adventurous, they also have chicken hearts on a stick. (Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!)
I wish they used good pudding instead of powder pudding but I’ve liked all the bubble tea I’ve gotten here. They have other choices besides tapioca like coffee jelly and grass jelly. This is where I go when I crave some Taiwanese food. Their original milk tea is the best! My favorite bubbletea place besides Try Again.

This is the epitome of a mom and pop shop. It appears to be run by an Asian family. However, my first experience here the other day was an unfortunate one.
I ordered a mocha and they only had one cup size left, being large. I wanted a small so the dude was going to do his best to make a small in a large cup. Then he realized he was out of ingredients and actually ran out the door to purchase them at the neighboring Mac’s store. By the time I actually got my beverage, it was a long wait. Upon drinking it, I realized it was mostly foam and a tiny bit of espresso. I literally could count on less than ten fingers how many sips of mocha I had before it was gone. Rip off. I also was told they couldn’t issue me a receipt for cash purchases, which didn’t impress me either. I won’t go back.
On a positive note, this café is well decorated and kind of unique. The tables and chairs are nearly bar height and are the style that one would actually put in a dining room, so they are large and heavy. This business mostly caters to students I presume (it’s across from a high school), so flimsy furniture wouldn’t last long.
There is a small hot and cold food menu that includes grilled cheese sandwiches. If I ever did go back, it likely would just be for bubble tea.
April Challenge: The Underdog ⁶⁄₁₀