Exploring more of the Taiwanese food invasion

Over the past several years, I've noticed a crop of fresh restaurants pop up across Puget Sound specializing in Taiwanese cuisine: Din Tai Fung, Boiling Point, 85C ... having grown up around Asian snacks and food, my radar for these new places is always on as I make a mental note to check each one out eventually. Since then, I've been to all of them, peeking into the room where the prep cooks are rolling out dumplings and trying out a few "woks in a box" with some friends. I was also at the grand opening of Seattle's first 85C in the Southcenter Mall last year and have the commemorative red mug to prove it! Were it not for my sister to come along with me, I probably would not have gone. Nevermind that we waited for around 3 hours in line during the winter, but I digress.

Tonight, I'll focus on this one place I had always driven by, a place that was not on my radar but has been in Edmonds for several years: Tapioca Express. I thought TE just offered bubble tea and that it was a high school/college hangout, therefore always crowded, so I would purposely avoid stopping in because I admit, I was being a snob, and I hate crowds unless the venue is super worthwhile, until it was the only choice for bubble tea one night after my family and I felt like having bubble tea for dessert, and Looking for Chai was closed for a staff vacation break. It was really crowded that Saturday night, but the drinks came out fast and reasonably priced. After coming in and seeing all their options, I decided to come in a few more times, each time ordering something new.

What I like about TE is that not only do they have a wide variety of dessert-type beverages ranging from good old bubble tea to yogurt drinks to "Frosti Milks," they have an impressive offering of street-food snacks like squid balls, fried tofu, taro or sweet potato fries, and popcorn chicken. In addition to this, they have full-sized meals that are reasonably priced at under $10. I haven't tried anything from their Railroad Bento Box series (I don't know why the word railroad is added to it), but I have tried their chicken katsu curry plate and it is fantastic, down to the pickled cucumber slices. :)

So I'll proceed to post some pics of the food I've had thus far. The popcorn chicken isn't shown, but I highly recommend it if you love fried chicken or chicken karaage. And next time I'm trying to figure out a cheap place to eat that's open late and isn't sketchy, I'll come here.

Frosti Milks with the cousin: She got matcha and red bean, whereas I got chocolate with more chocolate.
Surprisingly, it is not very sweet and has more of a light dairy taste. She said hers was good, too.

Taro fries with sweet and sour dipping sauce is a must for me!

Listed prices in-store as of Sept. 2018

Calamari with basil at level 4 spice! 

Chicken katsu cutlet with an egg. I love how they add an egg to the mix.

East Asian-style curry on the side

The takeout spread (on a messy kitchen table—not shown for evident reasons).
The bubble tea flavor is Okinawa style with pudding.
Not sure why it's called Okinawa, but it's milk tea with roasted brown sugar for a subtle flavor.