You Don't have to go Uptown for Good Food: Bubble Republic (Updated)

I've updated this post with the prices and also new food! 
After a quick vacation back to Taiwan, I started craving Taiwanese food again. One night, in hopes of finding a good tea place for midnight snacks, I stumbled upon Bubble Republic in Mississauga. The online reviews for this place were fairly good and a friend of mine who lives in Mississauga also recommended it. I visited this place on the weekend of Halloween and found it pretty cool that they had decorations. The washroom was so spooky I was scared to go in a second time!

古早味焢肉飯 Traditional Marinated Meat on Rice  (Meal: $6.99)

Not knowing whether the restaurant was 100% authentic or not, my friends and I still decided to go for the Taiwanese dishes along with the Bubble Tea. They offer combos that include a meal and drinks from a certain category. If you want fancier or other drinks, then you have to pay separate prices for the different food items.

筍乾爌肉飯  Marinated Bamboo Shoots and Meat on Rice  (Meal:$7.50)

Being Taiwanese, I was very excited when we saw a dish on the menu that had marinated dry bamboo. When my roommate ordered her dish, the waitress even explicitly warned her that the bamboo had a really strong smell and wanted to make sure that she was up for it. When the dish came, indeed the smell was very strong, but I thought it smelled extra delicious.
My friend ordered the meal combo so she had the original milk tea with tapioca along with her rice. At Bubble Republic they also let you choose the level of ice and sweetness, which is always a good bonus. I had a sip of the original milk tea and thought it tasted pretty good. The sweetness was just right, and the texture of the tapioca was perfect - not too chewy but not too hard.

Assam Black Milk Tea with Coffee Jelly
阿薩姆奶茶加咖啡凍  $4.39

I myself ordered the milk tea with coffee jelly (pictured to the left) and the Taiwanese style tomato beef noodles (pictured below).
My drink did not fall under the default category for drinks with combos, so I had to pay full price for both items. Nonetheless I thought it was worth it. I've always preferred coffee jelly over tapioca, but not every bubble tea place in North America has it. I opted for half sweet for my milk tea and thought the level of sweetness was perfect, even with the coffee jelly that has a hint of bitterness to it.
I really enjoyed the beef noodles although I didn't taste any tomato at all. It felt like it was probably the same soup base as the normal beef noodles on the menu.

台式茄汁紅燒牛肉麵 Taiwanese Style Tomato Beef Stew Noodles  $7.25

UPDATED:

As promised, I went back to Bubble Republic a few weeks after my first visit. 

Instead of getting the same food and drinks, I decided to try something new, mainly because then I would have more blog material. Starting with the drinks, I was happy to find that they offered mini tapioca pearls. Pictured on the left are Black Milk Tea with Mini Tapioca pearls and Green Milk Tea with Grass Jelly, both priced $4.39.  

For food, I ordered Fried Pork Chop on Rice (pictured below). At first, I was a little disappointed since I thought it would come with some vegetables (it's all about a balanced diet, right?). Nonetheless, I decided to start with the pork. I have to say, it was extremely delicious. There wasn't too much fried batter on the outside and the meat was tender and juicy.

Fried Pork Chop On Rice 炸排骨飯  (Meal: $6.99)

As I was eating my pork chop, I discovered a surprise! While I thought there were no vegetables, there was actually a whole lot of them hidden under the giant pork chop! And even better, there was variety to the vegetables too! The only thing that might have deducted 1% from this wonderful dish was that the veggies were a bit too oily.

 

I don't know if this place is owned by Taiwanese, but the food would definitely pass as authentic to me.  Although Bubble Republic is a bit out of the way, especially if you don't have a car, it is worthwhile if you're craving Taiwanese food. I would for sure recommend it over Go For Tea.

Bubble Republic

4040 Creditview Road, Unit 24

Mississauga, ON

Taste: ★★★★★
Environment: ★★★☆☆

Service: ★★★★☆
Price: $

P.S. Photo credits to Jozo Chou and her awesome camera! :)