The last of the shaved ice hot spots: Guppys Tea House

Oh man is this post so long overdue.  College starts in a little less than two weeks!  But before that happens, I've been trying to fit in as many meet ups with friends (and many many many visits to the dentist I shadow) as possible.  So last week Laura came over for a drama marathon!

Her computer + my tv = skipping lunch for five hours straight of Korean goodness.

It was a great idea: spazzing over how wonderful Jung Yong Hwa sounds and looks and complaining about the lackluster ending to Heartstrings.  That is, until our stomachs started growling.  It's what skipping breakfast and lunch will do to you.  So it was off to Guppys Tea House (check out their Yelp page!) for their famous shaved ice!

Since Laura and I had pretty much starved ourselves for the whole day, we settled on the "Small Guppy Special": a small strawberry shaved ice, popcorn chicken, and a butter coconut brick toast--all for $21.99, which if you ask me is an amazing deal.  Yeah, we had heard the portions were ridiculously big, but then again, we were ridiculously hungry.

Lately, a lot of restaurants have been adopting themes to hopefully enhance a customer's experience at the place (ie. Class 302), and Guppys is no different.  Here, they strive for the rainforest look, with potted plants pretty much everywhere.  The place is pretty big, but the plants size down the area.  To quote Laura, "it's like I'm in a fishbowl!"  Or in your Asian aunt's backyard.  (Though I do appreciate my aunt's fresh herbs and vegetables.  Haha)

Unfortunately, we overestimated ourselves, regarding our huge order.  When they placed the shaved ice before us, my jaw dropped and stayed that way for a while as I tried to recompose myself.  When the SMALL shaved ice is bigger than Laura's head, you know things aren't right.

Small Strawberry Shaved Ice

This can feed a family, not just two Asian girls.  (So just imagine the large size which pretty much is a tub of shaved ice.)  But somehow, Laura and I plowed through it.  (More like I plowed through it.  Haha)  Unlike the other shaved ice/snow places I'd mentioned previously in this blog, there was no shaved milk.  Instead, it was the crunchy ice bits we're accustomed to when we're trying to make our own renditions of the dessert at home.  But don't let that fool you into thinking it's tasteless water.  They pour a generous amount of condensed milk over everything, so you're good to go on the flavor!

Popcorn chicken

Next, we were served popcorn chicken.  I don't usually order popcorn chicken at tea houses because I find that it's more fried flour than chicken.  So I had a nice surprise when I took a bite of the chicken.  There was actually chicken this time, as well as a hint of chili powder!

Butter coconut brick toast

But the best of all was the brick toast.  I don't even have words for it.  And we only ordered the normal brick toast too!  Slightly crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.  The butter coconut topping was yums.  And the caramel and chocolate they drizzled over the toast made it even more amazing.  I can imagine adding a side of ice cream with it.  OMG.  Move over shaved ice cravings, it's all about brick toast now!

a look at its innards

If only Guppys were closer to me, I would be frequenting this place so much more often.  I'm glad I can cross this off of my bucket list of restaurants to try, and I know the next time I come here, I'm bringing an army to help me finish my food.