Bubble Cha: traditional Taiwanese bubble tea, Stowell Street

I spotted this one a few weeks ago and resolved to visit as soon as possible.  Bubble tea?  Neveer heard of it!  However, thanks to the wonders of the internet I was able to read that it is a relatively new phenomenon in the tea drinking world, and the sheer variety of ingredients made my head spin somewhat.

So, today I approached Bubble Cha in the sunshine and was relieved to see that others (young, Chinese and European) were also beating a path to the door.

Inside the cafe is compact with a stunning array of colour-changing bubble lights over the counter.  We had lampshades like that in the bathroom at home when I was young, but there are no more similarities between the cafe and my childhood home.

I was slightly perplexed by the choices on offer, but the young friendly staff helped me choose black tea with milk and coconut and small tapioca and ice.  Yes, the black stuff you can see at the bottom of the cup really is tapioca.  You get a huge straw to suck them up with.  The cake deserves a mention too - lovely cooked cheesecake - absolutely delicious!

I sat at one of the bench seats and wrestled with my drink.  You see, the cup comes sealed with cellophane which I tried to peel off - wrong!  The correct way is to stab the cellophane with the straw and then drink.  So now you know, don't make my mistake.

We have established that the cake was delicious.  Now to the drink.  Did I really sit in a cafe sucking up tapioca through a straw?   It sounds so improbable but yes, I did that thing.  Did it taste like tea?  Well, not Ringtons, but it was tasty and refreshing - more like a milkshake.  And there are seemingly never ending possible combinations of black tea, green tea, fruit tea, fruits, beans, stuff I've never heard of and an array of toppings.  It seems that savoury snacks are served too.  All of which adds up to very good reasons to go back and try something completely different.  You could probably visit every day for a month and have something different each time.

Oh, and the prices are reasonable too.

Tutti Frutti Ice Cream Parlour, Whitburn

The first time I tried to sample the delights of Tutti Frutti it was closed following a break-in.  Break-in at an icecream parlour?  It wasn't me, but I could almost applaud this as the perfect crime without of course condoning all the inconvenience and loss of trade etc etc, especially at the hottest time of the year.

On my return visit, order had been restored and a sprinkling of locals were enjoying not only icecream but coffees and sandwiches.  What to order?  This recent heat has fried my brain and I really couldn't decide between the variety of cleverly named ices  - all of which seemed to feature a fearsome array of sprinkles, crumbs, mini pieces etc etc.  So I opted for the good old fashioned banana split!  I got the choose my three scoops of icecream and soon a banana smothered in toffee fudge, lemon meringue and white chocolate and, naturally, squirty cream was mine!

I enjoyed every mouthful seated on a 50s style bench seat and listening to The Carpenters blasting the past down the airwaves.

I reflect that Whitburn is turning into a bit of a teashop heaven.  You can of course have your walk along the cliffs,beach or in the countryside first, but there's plenty of free parking if you just want to make straight for the food!