BlackBall: Taiwanese desserts in Richmond
BlackBall is a dessert and bubble tea restaurant with locations across the Lower Mainland. We were invited to their flagship location in Richmond to check out some of their Taiwanese dessert offerings. This review is based on an in-dining experience.
Interior
The interior of the Richmond location is very cute. They have a cute mural wall and lots of seating. We chose a table near the window and it had a pretty view of the Autumn leaves in the courtyard/parking lot.
Food
Agar grass jelly ($10) and a Watermelon and aiyu jelly drink ($8)
Out of the grass jelly series, we tried the agar grass jelly. Agar grass jelly is a plant-based jelly and has a dark colour to it. By itself, it can be slightly bitter but generally it is a refreshing and non-sweet dessert component. On top of all this grass jelly, we have green beans, taro balls, and Konjac jelly. These items add a bit of sweetness to the dish but it is nowhere as sweet as a donut or ice cream.
I really like the texture of agar grass jelly even though it can be tricky to get some on your spoon. It slides off because of how smooth it is. Out of all the toppings, I liked the Konjac jelly the most even though it is also a jelly component, it still adds a different type of texture to the dish.
This portion was enough for 2 adults.
The watermelon drink had a strong watermelon flavour and the aiyu jelly inside made it fun to drink. The jelly are in bigger pieces than pearls so the texture is a little different, but it had a nice fruity taste.
Strawberry soft serve
We brought our dog to enter a Halloween contest and was gifted this additional ice cream/soft-serve. They had different fruit flavours like blueberry, raspberry, but we chose strawberry. The ice cream soft-serve is quite milky but I mostly enjoyed the freeze-dried (or dehydrated?) strawberries they added.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: โญโญโญ
We were invited to try out these desserts so everything was free, but we enjoyed all of our desserts from BlackBall. If you have Asian parents like me, you’ll know the best compliment for a dessert is probably along the lines of “Oh! This is not too sweet” and I think Taiwanese desserts like these are really what fit the bill. The grass jelly is refreshing and light, a nice way to end a meal.
They also have a really wide selection of drinks and bubble teas, so you are sure to find something that suits your bubble tea craving.
Sincerely, Loewe