During my three weeks vacation, The Alley became one of the biggest hype! From the photos posted on the windows outside, this place is also in Hong Kong. Their selling point is they make their own tapioca and it comes in different kind of flavours such as Black Sesame. So when I returned to Canada, I had to visit this place! I had been here twice already in a span of a week and I think i'm ready to write a review.
Tried their Royal No.9 Milk Tea (since they ran out of tapioca the fist time i came) on my first visit, and tried their signature Polka Deer (Black Sesame tapioca) on my second visit. The Royal No.9 milk tea was interesting because it had a blueberry aftertaste but wasn't too overly impressive.
The Polka Deer was a total disappointment. How can you not allow customers to add Black Sesame tapioca in other drinks? Anyways, thanks to this restriction, I had to try their signature Polka Deer. The tea itself was very tasteless (I rather have the Royal No.9) and their Black Sesame tapioca just tasted like black Sesame pudding cut into small pieces. It has absolutely no texture, not even chewy like the regular tapioca. I literally drank half of it and didn't want to finish it.
Decor is very hipster but very limited seating with only two 2 person table and one 4 person table. With the amount of people lining up, sitting here does not feel comfortable at all.
Overall 3 stars for bringing more competition into the bbtea market in Toronto. Royal No.9 milk tea was surprising with an interesting aftertaste and it did taste decent.