Half & Half Tea Express 伴伴堂 - Rowland Heights, CA

Quickie post on a different kind of boba place. It's called Half & Half Tea House. They use brown sugar instead of white sugar in their drinks. They also include different Asian flavored add-ins in addition to regular boba and their drink cups are a wider shape.

Boba, Grass Jelly, Pudding (Flan)

Pictured are three different types of drinks. Starting from bottom left to right....regular boba, boba with grass jelly, and boba with pudding. Pudding is like flan, but Asians call it pudding. Not to be confused with Jell-o pudding. To drink one alone is like having a very large meal as it's very milky and filling. Two people sharing one drink is probably perfect. One regular size is just too big. I do like the brown sugar...I can taste it and like it!

Line out the door

But remember...don't get the large as it's only a bit bigger than the regular. (There are lots of demos on Youtube about this.) The line can also get crazy. This picture is only of the outside...but it's about double the length of this inside. This was from a while ago...not sure if the lines are any shorter nowadays. Standing in line for so long for just a drink may not really be worth it to some people. I'm glad I've tried it and now I know if the lines are short, I'll be there.

Half & Half

Rowland Heights (626) 810-8778

Monterey Park (626) 872-0200

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Half-Half-Tea-House-%E4%BC%B4%E4%BC%B4%E5%A0%82/116561625051332?sk=wall

Cosi - Costa Mesa, CA : TBM Melt

Going through Metro Pointe, we usually stop by Boudin to have a quick meal. This time however, we wanted to eat during the peak lunch hour and ran into tons of people, with no place to sit. So we decided to try something new...Cosi.

TBM Melt with carrots

The tomato, basil, mozzarella sandwich looked good on the menu. It came on wheat bread as well and you can have it warm or cold. Warm = melt. Cold = sandwich. You can either have chips or carrots on the side.

TBM on Wheat Bread

In this close-up you can see some grains in the bread...I guess that's considered wheat. I was thinking more whole wheat...but I guess some wheat equals wheat bread. It's still a white color! =( The melt itself was ok...nothing great though. I would rate this below Corner Bakery. The Meat-Eater didn't care for his salad and sandwich too much either. He got the side of chips and he didn't even want to eat them. I tried one and thought the chips were too salty.

Salt Granules on Wheat Bread

Sometimes tasting a bunch of salt in my sandwich, I took a closer look and found tons of salt granules on my bread. This picture was taken after I tried to brush as much of it off as I could. But you can still see some stuck on the bread. We will probably not be coming back here. The food was mediocre at best and not very healthy. It looked like they were trying to be healthier...but I think it's a mask. Not a good place to eat in my opinion. =P

Cosi

http://www.getcosi.com/index.html

901 S Coast Dr.

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

(714)957-6191

Irvine Farmers Market at University Town Center

For the past two weekends I've been visiting the Irvine Farmers Market at University Town Center. It's located on the corner of Campus and Bridge and runs from about 8am to noon...but usually goes past noon since there's tons of people.

Irvine Farmers Market on Saturdays

I'm hooked! I'm going back every week for my goodies! There's lots to choose from and most items are fresh. Now you do have to look around and ask around. Not everything is organic. Others don't spray pesticides or chemicals, but their fertilizer isn't organic...so you don't know what's in that. The certified organic products are definitely organic though, so those are a safe choice. Prices are comparable to Whole Foods...or less...but these items are generally fresher. Here are some pics of my haul.

Organic Baby Chinese Veggie

These were from a stand with lots of Taiwanese veggies...all organic! I think they're the only ones I've found. They don't have this stuff anywhere! Now, the price isn't cheap, but they usually count downwards. For example, if it comes out to $2.15, they say it's $2 even.

Brussels Sprouts

These are not organic...just no pesticides or chemicals. Their fertilizer isn't organic. They're quite tasty though...slightly sweet.

Organic Snow Peas

These are sweet too..yum. Plus, I can't find these organic in the markets either!

Organic Strawberries

I kept smelling sweet strawberries and I had to have some. Though they're not as sweet as anticipated...I think I'll wait a few weeks to get another batch since they're just coming into season.

There were many items I purchased not listed above...so many things to get. I'll have to update when I get them again since I didn't snap pictures of it all. Also, many stands I've been to discount the items. When they weigh the goodies, they'll round it down to the closest dollar. Pretty cool! Can't do that at a conventional market.

Irvine Farmers Market at University Town Center

Campus & Bridge

(Next to the the In & Out)

Saturdays from 8am to noon.

Get there early because parking gets tough!