Tea Shop 168

Tea Shop 168 is clean but showing a few signs of wear. Came here with a big group of friends on a Friday night. I appreciated that it was not terribly difficult to get seating for 20 people. Our table ordered various types of bubble teas including watermelon slush, taro milk tea, honeydew milk tea, and coffee slush. Hubby and I in our efforts to maintain a reduced sugar diet appreciated that non-​typical bubble tea choices were available such as honey chrysanthemum tea and peach oolong tea.
Although I generally still prefer places like Sharetea and Chatime for bubble tea, the bubble tea at TS168 fills that craving. Plus for certain types of drinks like taro slushes, TS168 probably does it better (if you prefer powdered taro over fresh taro flavour).
TS168 is good for snacks and small meals as well. We ordered crispy chicken on rice which was served with a simple iceberg lettuce salad, a boiled egg, a spring roll, and Taiwanese style popcorn chicken. For around $ 8 I would have hoped for a slightly larger portion of chicken but overall the flavour of the chicken was okay.
The wait staff, despite emphasizing that it was cash only, were courteous and efficient despite the numerous orders. I’d recommend TS168 for a centralized late night hangout and eatery suitable for groups.

I ordered cold passion fruit tea tonight ‘to go’. I got my tea within 5 mins and it was an old drink which was awfully bitter. I asked for a replacement and she told me to wait 20 mins since it was apparently busy for her. She didn’t think I was watching so she poured sugar syrup, resealed it and gave it back to me. I told her that I saw her doing that and she straight out denied and refused to give me a replacement. I insisted and a customer noticed the whole exercise and asked the server to serve the right ice tea rather than playing games, she rolled her eyes and finally got me a new one. This all happened under 5 mins. Apparently busy doesn’t take 20 mins!
Awfully rude server and I would never go back even if you paid me. Do yourself a favour and avoid this place.

Pretty bad experience with service there, Wednesday night, no on in there, tables were empty. 10 of us went inside to order bubble tea. We took our turn to order at the cashier, sat down and wait after the orders. After grabbing our drinks we were just chit chatting waiting for everyone to grab our drinks. As soon as everyone got it, we got asked to leave the shop because we didn’t order food, apparently we need to do that to stay. What I found astounding was that no one was even in the shop, not like we are taking up space to prevent the line up of people waiting to be seated.
Wish they would care more about their service with customer and we would consider to return, otherwise I much rather go to chatime up the street or Ten Ren’s next door.

Food was about a two. This place has become a bit rundown since the good old days. I ordered the ginger chicken with rice. It also came with a small salad and spring roll. Not bad for only $ 6.99.
A friend ordered the cookie monster. It looked interesting! In the photograph it looked like it was served with a funnel cake. But when it arrived it was on a waffle. They could have told my friend they were out of funnel cakes that day.
The thing I didn’t like was, we had come in a group of 7. Service charge is automatically added for groups 6+ (10%), which was absolutely fine. Right before the bill was paid, our friend had asked if tips was included. To which the waitress had said yes. After the bill was paid, the waitress said the company takes the 10% and we need to add MORE for tips. The way that was handled and communicated could’ve been better. I did not want to leave anything at all after that.
Never coming back. Lots of choices in the neighbourhood.

Used to be my go to hang out place with friends, there’s board games. The bubble tea is nice, but the crispy chicken is the best.

I usually don’t write reviews of bubble tea shops but I had a pretty disappointing experience today. Excited to finally work in an area that had loads of bubble tea places, I decided to go to Tea Shop 168 since I’ve been there previously.
I asked if they use Vicinity, which they did, so I provided my keychain card. That didn’t work so I then provided my regular card. That shut down the entire system. In the mean time, there was a lineup forming behind me. I finally gave them my phone number when the system started back up. I ordered a slush pomegranate bubble tea with tapioca. Instead, I got regular pomegranate bubble tea with tapioca. Which is NEVER worth $ 5 in my opinion ($ 5 for regular tea, really???). The cashier apologized and she was going to change it. However, there was a lineup of impatient customers behind me that I didn’t want to keep waiting. Instead, I took the drink because it was the one I technically paid for when she wrongly input it into the system.
I would have given this experience a ¹⁄₅ but I have been here previously and that time it was alright. Overall, I am just so sad I spent $ 5 on a drink I didn’t think was worth it. Probably won’t be drinking anymore bubble tea for the next while…
Edit: Found a piece of metal in my drink, I am NOT happy…

Location: 5193 Yonge Street, North York, ON M2N 5P7
Price: $$
Service: Okay
I’ve only visit this place once, since I was in the area. Tea Shop 168 is a hit or a miss. Their boba and tapioca taste is not consistent. It will be terrific at one location and terrible at another.
I usually order the original black milk tea or fruit slush with tapioca. The price is different at every location as well. Tea shop at commerce gate offers the original boba for $ 2.10(tax included) but other places don’t and the quality at other places aren’t good as well. Specifically at this location their tapioca was not sweet enough and a little hard. The original boba also tastes a little bit watered down as well.
Verdict: won’t be coming back

Great service, good food, delicious bubble tea! I heard this place was mediocre, but in my opinion it is great! It was also very clean! We had bubble tea, and hot tea, fried Vege dumplings, Vege spring rolls and curry chicken with rice. Food was hot and fresh. Drinks were delicious. The waitress was smiley and friendly. I’ll keep going back!

The location is great, close to North York station. We ordered two mango slush (mango specials as of this review) and two Takoyaki. The service is a little different with unclear expectations of whether the server comes to us or whether we go to the cash (I did the latter). The drinks came first and the mango chunks were nice and refreshing while the coconut juice was subtle. It comes in one size and on a sunny day, it was a great option. The Takoyaki came (we ordered one mild and one spicy (ie wasabi)) and it comes down to a taste preference but I liked the mild ones much better while the wasabi Takoyaki seemed to be getting soggy. Three stars instead of 4, not because of the food items, but because of the uncertainty of order placement protocols.

Worst bubble tea place EVER.
I’m surprised to see people in this restaurant whenever I walk by.
First time I had a takeout Avocado+mango slush which cost me close to 9 $. what? I can buy a meal with that price.
Second time I was craving taiwanese braised beef noodle soup at 12am so I reluctantly visited this place. Not surprisingly, soup was very unappetizing, with udon noodle, 5 small pieces of meat, barely no bokchoy and also minimal soup. I could probably make better soup than this. Not worth 8 $.
I’d give ²⁄₅ stars for the service. I saw my soup sitting at the counter for a good 5 minutes.

Nice BBT place, probably most crowded in this area though. There’s around 2 – 3 others in the same vicinity, this is the most popular one. Same price range as other 168s. They don’t allow you to play cards though, which is something other teashops are okay with.

Honestly I use to love Tea Shop 168 and I still do… the ones at any other location then this one. I decided to come here to get a bubble tea because I haven’t had one in a long time and it was closer to Chatime. Went inside to order a simple Original Milk Bubble Tea with Tapioca, was told that there was no tapioca available and it would be a 30mins wait for it. I’m sorry but what type of bubble tea shop has no tapioca available at any time. Then he suggested to me to the Original Milk Tea with Herbal Jelly, fine I’ll get that since I like herbal jelly. There was no one inside and it took him at least almost 10 mins just to make me one drink. When I got the drink, the jelly were big pieces not cut up nicely. I was so disappointed and this has made me not want to go back to this location ever again.

Usually I always come here for the Fresh Fruit Watermelon bubble tea with Lychee. It is an expensive drink which costs me $ 10 for a large size every single time I am craving it. However it is totally worth it because I love watermelon. If you like watermelon as much as I do… I suggest you splurge a little the next time you are here and get yourself a Fresh fruit watermelon bubble tea.
Service is quick and easy if you are ordering something to go. This place is busy on weekends so be prepared to wait if you decide to dine in.

I came here for bubble tea with some friends and I was disgusted with my experience. The venue smelled like sweat. It made me question the cleanliness of my beverage and I was uncomfortable drinking it.
I will never go back to this Tea House. It was an unpleasant experience.

On this nice holiday Monday a friend and I decided to take a walk down Yonge street. I was in the mood for Bubble tea when my friend was in the mood for some food. As we walked by Tea168 and looked at the menu from the outside we both figured this was the best of both worlds for what we wanted. All the other tea shops on Yonge we passed was classified as a tea and desert place.
I decided to order the traditional green tea peach flavour with tapioca balls. My friend order the strawberry smoothie with the Taiwanese style pork over rice. I could not believe the size of the drinks when they came. they were bigger than my head. My friend enjoyed his meal very much, said it was tasty. I ate the spring roll and too thought it had a unique twist.
While sitting and relaxing I noticed on the magazine rack their were games. a nice added touch to have. Would have grabbed one to play while enjoying the tea. Maybe next time.
I was a little disappointed at the lack of service, took a while to place the order (had to flag down the waitress) then when we were ready to leave took an even longer while to get the bill. We eventually went up to the cash at paid their.
All in all a nice place to go when in the mood for some Bubble Tea

Good relaxing atmosphere to hang out late, average bubble teas and foods. Like moat bubble tea places, drinks made from the powder stuff. Usually able to accommodate groups. A lot of young people.

We were attracted to this tea shop by their human-​sized Italian Gelato sign on the door and wondered if this asian buble tea chain actually carried Italian Gelato. Not to our surprise, we found out that they didn’t really have a very good selection of gelato flavors. In fact, they only carried ONE flavor, which the staff called it — «yogurt flavor». After much confusion about the false advertisement on gelato, we contemplated on leaving but decided to sit down and get something else. Bad decision.
We ordered a «Not Just Vanilla» funnel cake and only towards the end of our plate did we find a dead bee in the sauce. When I brought it to the waitress’ attention, she stood there for a min looking dumbfounded and visibly undertrained in dealing with customer resolution and finally asked us to wait while she talks to the owner. 10 mins later she came back to offered a pathetic 10% discount on the «Not Just Vanilla» funnel cake. We were surprised by her generous offer, told her this was a pretty serious health concern, demanded a «free-​bee» and left.
Will we ever go back again after this horrendous experience? Not a chance.
******* Please see attached photo of the bee swimming in our «Not Just Vanilla» funnel cake.

Dear lord, people invent the most horribly mouth-​watering foods in an effort to get you fat. (and then they look at you weird when you eat the whole thing by yourself. back off. i like my calories.)
Specifically…funnel cakes, crepes, and waffles, topped with a nice round scoop of ice cream, sprinkled with chocolate chips, drizzled with syrup, and accompanied with one more topping (strawberries, cookies, brownie bits, etc). I’ve had both the funnel cake and the waffle, and they are amazing.
sugary greatness.
(as with previous reviewers, the funnel cakes are on the crispier side. i like my funnel cakes crispy. if you want something softer and chewy, get the waffle. see, options are a girl’s best friend!!!)
As for their new «authentic gelato», it tastes like cold yogurt. avoid.
get the waffle/​funnel cakes instead.

I love Wonderland… huh?
Sorry! Wrong business listing…
oh… no this is the right one… Tea Shop 168… I didn’t mess up again?!
I love Wonderland’s funnel cake way way better than what Tea Shop 168 served up! Maybe Wonderland one does not have all these fancy names that are really the same thing…
Red and White? ($ 8.50) Strawberries with Vanilla ice cream
— The cake itself was crispy… I don’t like my funnel cake crispy… it tasted more like chips… dry and crispy…
Why I keep thinking about Wonderland when I am Tea 168?
I just go to Wonderland and have that funnel cake soft served ice cream… mmmmm… doughy, creamy and delicious… well worth the calories!

Mmmmm funnel cakes. Tea Shop 168 now offers a range of funnel cakes. You don’t have to go all the way to Wonderland anymore to enjoy one. The funnel cakes on offer are a bit different from the ones at Wonderland. They’re priced similar although you get a lot more in terms of toppings. However they’re decidedly smaller. An Asian aesthetic? Small, beautiful versus shovel it on and keep it coming? The Tea Shop 168 funnel cake is crispier and less doughy.
All ‘n’ all, I think I still enjoy Wonderland’s funnel cake. At $ 8.50 not sure I’d try the funnel cake again. Service remains quite nice at this place.
** DON’T FORGET TO ASK FOR A STAMP CARD **