. "2012-05-29T00:00:00"^^ . . "***1/2 stars\n\n31 Kitchen is mostly a place to indulge in sweets! But like most bubble tea joints, it seeks to diversify in to the savory side of things so that they can still attract customers during regular meal times.\n\nThe ominous glow of green inside the restaurant reminds me of a poor TVB portrayal of what hell looks like. The d\u00E9cor is simple, but overall a clean presentation.\n\nThis place is like a Demetres, Destiny Tea Cafe & Hung Fook Tong all rolled in to one. The only thing we missed was the lack of cakes on their menu.\n\nWe opted for the House Special Milk Pudding ($4.95) and the Black Sesame Pudding ($4.95). Of the two, the black sesame definitely had more flavour with coconut milk providing a rich and creamy texture. The milk pudding had very subtle flavours and was sprinkled with some crumbled wafers. Both were refreshing.\n\nThe Mango Pudding ($4.95) came in its usual heart-shaped molded form (which you will have seen frequently at dim sum restaurants) topped with evaporated milk. To their credit, this was not just all powdered flavouring + gelatin, but had actual chunks of mango in it.\n\nThe Strawberry + Blueberry Crepe with Ice Cream ($8.95) was pretty standard.\n\nThe Chinese have many \"old wives tales\" when it comes to beauty secrets. Cue papaya, which is rumoured to enhance the size of your breasts (though I think I'm way past puberty for that to have any effect) and egg whites which is supposed to make your skin smooth. With those promises, the Steamed Whole Papaya + Milk Pudding ($7.95) is a staple in most Chinese dessert places with variations including egg white or egg custard in place of milk pudding. The use of smaller, individual-sized papayas does away with the usual bitterness that is found in larger papayas and the milk pudding is steamed to a nice and creamy custard consistency. Beauty scams aside, I always enjoy this dish.\n\nV E R D I C T\n\nThe service at 31 Kitchen is stellar. You are served cups of hot Chrysanthemum tea and we got refills frequently. We didn't have to do a monkey dance to get the attention of the staff.\n\nThe food and drinks is pretty standard of your usual bubble tea or dessert shop. I think I have found my newest spot for my weekly catch-up session with my girl Andrea. Thank God we don't ever have to go back to Go For Tea or Destiny. The damage at the end of the day was $11 per person including tax and tip. CASH ONLY."^^ . "1"^^ . "4"^^ . . "0"^^ . "0"^^ .