For days when you need a simultaneous pick-me-up, a cool-me-down or a chill-me-out, Super Duck Modern Tea is a tea shop that would best claim your sanity back.
I actually had to attend two consecutive events last Saturday, but I later chose to stay in Super Duck because I suspect I’d be arriving very late at the second destination. I felt sorry but glad at the same time for I had a pretty good time drinking and learning about teas from owners of Super Duck: Steve, Dennis, Ellen and Olivia.
A totally fabulous modern take on tea…
In 2011, the first and only branch of Super Duck in Metro Manila, Philippines has been brought within reach to Filipinos and most especially to those who are near Robinsons Galleria. The brand is originally from 鹿港 Lukang, Taiwan. Super Duck Modern Tea Shop’s fresh approach to tea appeals more to those who are into drinking healthy tea stuff. Showcasing only the best, this cafe serves more than 50 different flavors of teas brewed with loose tea leaves and key ingredients imported from Taiwan that had soothing aroma.
The response has already been outstanding ever since, and it’s not hard to see why. Not only does Super Duck provide customers with a funky, modern tea lounge experience, but it also delivers on innovation, quality and taste — quite different from the usual milk tea and coffee shops that penetrate the local market.
Review of Super Duck Modern Tea 超級達可時尚茶飲 (Ortigas, Pasig City)
Ambiance: ★★★★★
Super Duck is a casual restaurant where you can put your bags down, sip a specialty tea, have a meal and relax. Customers can stay in the air-conditioned area or the outside area. Seats are limited to about 20.
Serenity is embraced all throughout the space, with a muted green color scheme combined with white. The decor is clean and modern without having pretensions. Attention to detail is evident, from the Super Duck dolls, Chinese figurines that bring luck, and tea bags and leaves inside small containers on the counter.
Service: ★★★★★
What I like most about Super Duck is that customers are not being rushed. Why do I say so? Nice and friendly, staff are more than willing to make sure that customers get the most definite order they want to get.
Here, customers are asked what level of sugar, level of ice, size of the drink, and whether they want large or small straws to sip drinks from and whether they want the drink hot or hold as all these would affect their experience and judgment of the taste of the “mighty beverage,” aside from the sinkers: pearls (big/small), perilla seeds, fig jelly, coco jelly (marinated with pineapple juice), aloe vera, grass jelly, pudding, coffee jelly and beans (red/green).
The menu is posted on the wall, just beside the counter, and a list of sassed-up “best-sellers” is on the counter itself to aid customers in making up their minds and selecting from the long list of drinks available. If you’re still not sure which to buy, Super Duck staffs allow free tastes of the drinks for you to come out truly satisfied!
It’s also worth mentioning that the team of Super Duck is in constant research and development of new items that would click after receiving accolades and suggestions from people. Their menu is still expanding, in adherence to providing the best quality stylish tea that can be enjoyed alone or with companions.
Food/Drinks: ★★★★★
So, what did we slurp? For the taste-testing event, we sampled almost every drink they have on the menu! We kicked off with their five classic Super Duck teas 原味好茶: (1) Ceylon Black Tea, (2) Jasmine Green Tea, (3) White or Clear Tea, (4) Oolong Tea and (5) Tie Guan Yin Tea.
These can be ordered as they are (either hot or cold) or as bases of the other succeeding flavors as follows: (1) Black Fruit Chestnut Tea, (2) Golden Oolong Tea, (3) Standard Pearl Milk Tea (4) Classic Tea with Pearl, (5) Blend of Black and Green Tea, (6) Clear Tea with Coffee Jelly, (7) Te Guan Yin Tea with Coco Jelly, and (9) Longgan Red Dates Fruit Tea.
Drinks that are not tea-based are: (1) Hot Coffee – from 2-in-1 coffee powder from Taiwan, available in mild, regular and strong taste with one tablespoon of sugar, (2) Mango Milk Smoothie – mango concentrate and condensed milk, and (3) Mixed Fruit Juice – refreshing orange, calamansi, grape fruit, passion fruit and lemon with sliced apples.
Moving on, we also gave the following a whirl and we were not disappointed: (1) Mixed Oolong Three Jelly – grass jelly, coco jelly, red bean and nata containing standard sugar, (2) Longgan Honey Green Tea – first Super Duck drink tasted by Steve, (3) Rose Petal with Lemon, (4) Peach Green Tea (5) Orange Grapefruit with perilla – good for digestion, (6) Rossel Fig Jelly with Plum – taste like kiam-moy, good for lowering high blood and cholesterol, (7) Strawberry Yakult – strawberry jam (not syrup flavoring) plus Yakult, (8) Lychee Tea – the newest addition clear tea-based with lychee jelly, (9) Almond milk with pudding,(10) Heineken Green Tea – with real Heineken beer (half can for a large cup), (11) Roasted Macha – homemade brown rice and black beans with grass jelly, (12) Chocolate Nai Kai – chocolate “milk cover” with rock salt and cream cheese, and (13) French Rose – green tea with French rose and non-dairy milk.
Finally, the pièce de résistance: the Quackers, namely: (1) Vegetarian Nuggets, (2) Tofu Bites with Pepper and Basil Seasoning, (3) Tofu Bites – taste like tofu with fish balls, dash of salt and pepper (Dips are plum and catsup but for purposes of tasting, we were not advised to eat with any condiments.), (4) Vegetarian Fish and Fries – vegetarian codfish and Belgian fries and (5) Shrooms – fried bite-size mushrooms.
I could dedicate this whole review to these vegetarian delights but I won’t. 😀 Safe to say, if there was only one reason to visit Super Duck for its uniqueness, these, my friends, would be it. I’ve grown up with these veggie meat so eating them made me feel at home. I’m sure my family would love them, too. ♥
Bits of Trivia:
- Super Duck uses fructose (high quality sweetness) and not refined white sugar.
- Super Duck serves both fresh milk (with roasted and creamy taste) and non-dairy for those who are lactose-intolerant.
- Super Duck has the biggest pearls in the Philippines with the diameter of 2.5mm, while the smallest they have is 1.5mm.
- Big pearls are cooked in an hour, while small ones are cooked in 25 minutes. So staff has to arrive in the store an hour earlier opening time to get prepared. Super Duck cooks pearls about four times in a day.
- Super Duck maintains a strict quality check form storage until handing each drink to their customers. They dispose unused tea every day.
Price for Value: ★★★★★
When what I need peaceful, calming, almost spa-like environment without any chatter or clatter, Super Duck fits the bill. Prices are agreeable. 😀
I would wholeheartedly recommend an afternoon visit to the Super Duck Modern Tea to witness and experience its charming style and ambiance enhanced by the help of friendly staff yet again. For those of you that might prefer to start your day off with more of a swing, try any of their teas with unusual names and don’t just stick with the classic Wintermelon Milk Tea every time. 😛 Peruse the menu for yourselves here and I encourage you to take full advantage:
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Operating Hours:
Mon – Fri: 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Sat: 2:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Sun: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
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