Tea Moment

Walking into Tea Moment can be compared with the feeling of walking into a familiar afterschool hangout spot that you’d like to keep to yourself. Tea Moment is a small boba tea business located at 16 NW 18th St., in building 125. Tea Moment offers a variety of different types of teas and boba. From fruity teas, sweet teas and creamy teas, you can add in tapioca pearls, grass jelly, lychee jelly and more. From their variety of flavors, I ended up choosing the Matcha Strawberry with Tapioca pearls, which had a very unique taste. The original slight bitterness of Matcha paired well with the sweet syrupy strawberries drizzled on the bottom. Srinithi Reddy, a second year information systems major at the University of Florida says,

“My favorite is a passion fruit green tea with lychee ... It reminds me of this Indian mango drink called Maaza and I would say it’s nostalgic for me.“

W ith a soft chime, the door opens to a beautifully decorated cafe filled with warm colors and the smell of freshly baked bread. Sweet Buns is a Chinese-owned bakery with locations in Gainesville and Tampa, boasting a variety of delicious hand-baked Asian bread using traditional baking techniques. Gainesville’s Sweet Buns is located at 3102 SW 34th St, sitting next to Yummy House and Kung Fu Tea. When making their selections, customers are able to pick up a tray lined with parchment paper and put on a disposable glove while making their selection of baked goods. Daniel Kirk, a business student at the University of Florida, says,

“The atmosphere was warm and friendly, and the way they displayed the bakery made the food seem very appetizing.“

When I visited, I tried a variety of different types of sweets but the two that stuck out to me the most were the London Peach Cream Bun and the Pork Floss Roll. The two are a good example of how baked goods can range from sweet to savory. The London Peach Cream Bun is a sweet bread with cream and peaches sandwiched in the middle, giving it a light and airy texture with a sweet and rich creamy peach flavor.

The Pork Floss Roll was the opposite, offering a salty and savory taste to contrast the sweetness of the England Peach Cream Bun. With a flaky, golden brown exterior and fluffy pork floss cascading off the sides, it offered a burst of different flavors. Pork Floss, or rousong, originated from Hong Kong. It’s made from pork shoulder, and prepared by cooking the shoulder in soy sauce and sugar. From there, it’s shredded until it reaches a thin texture. Finally, it dries in the oven before drying it over a pan of wok, making the fine strands into fluffy strands. Sweet Buns has a wide range of baked goods to choose from, and due to their popularity, most items gradually sell out throughout the day. I suggest going in the morning or early afternoon for a wider selection. With its warm atmosphere and fresh baked goods, it’s always hard to stay away for too long.

Srinithi talked about how she prefers Tea Moment to others because of how close it is to the UF campus and how reasonable the prices are. Tapioca pearls are a staple in each bubble tea drink and is one of the most commonly known add-ons for the tea. They were first introduced to Taiwan in the 1980s, and from there it further increased in popularity. Now, there are fun twists to the tapioca pearls, like bursting boba, which is the same as tapioca, except fruit flavored and pops when bitten down on. With their wide range of tea flavors and fair prices, Tea Moment is the spot to head to after class.

Paris Banh Mi

Bustling atmosphere, warm lights, and soft chatter fills the room when walking into Paris Bánh Mì, a Vietnamese restaurant offering a bursting amount of cultural variety. Located on 50 NW 13th St, Paris Bánh Mì serves a plethora of different types of food; Vietnamese bánh mì sandwiches, Korean corn dogs, bubble tea, pho noodle, ramen noodle and offers an extensive French Patisserie bakery as well. Choosing from the extensive menu isn’t easy, but whichever one you end up choosing, it won’t disappoint. Out of all the choices they offered, I ended up selecting the shredded chicken bánh mì, or also known as Bánh Mì Pate Gà Xé and hot cheeto Korean corn dogs stuffed with mozzarella cheese. The chicken bánh mì was crunchy, fresh and warm, and the hot Cheeto corn dog offered a spicier alternative flavor, pairing nicely with the cheese in the middle.

Bánh mì sandwiches were invented in the late 1950’s, around the mid19th century when Vietnam fell under French colonial rule. It’s a twist on the famous Parisian baguette, with popular Vietnamese ingredients inside such as: dried shredded chicken, jalapeños, pepper, mayonnaise, cucumber, pickled daikon, carrot, and cilantro. Korean corn dogs are like regular corn dogs, but with a twist. They have the option to do one stuffed full with sausage, cheese or half sausage half cheese. Along with that, Paris Bánh Mì gives you the options to coat it in hot Cheeto dust, topped with potato cubes, or topped with crispy ramen pieces. The original corn dog arrived in Korea in the 1980’s, but the twists began in late 2016, and is credited to Myungrang Hot Dog, a Korean hot dog chain in Busan, South Korea. With all different types of food from different cultures available, it’ll keep making you want to visit and try more!