I had only ever been to the City Market about four times before last Tuesday. These rare instances occurred when my mom or grandma decided they couldn’t survive another day without a juicy Kansas cucumber and brought my brothers and me along to the farmer’s market. While there, my brothers and I would generally spend our time begging for caramel made from goat milk or snickering over the live country music (not our favorite genre). So that’s why, when I went of my own accord with a friend last week, I didn’t really have any idea what to expect aside from the usual weekend farmer’s market.
It took us a while to find the actual City Market within the River Market area, and when we did, we wandered around for a long time trying to find a place to eat that looked appealing. There was a Minsky’s close by, but the majority of the restaurants were completely unknown to me.
Our first time around the market, a large, colorful sign displaying delicious-looking crêpes caught my eye, but we decided to tour around a little more to get a feel for the place. But the second time around, I decided I really wanted that crêpe in the picture, so we stopped at Dragonfly Tea Zone.
Tea and crêpes don’t really sound like they go together, and I didn’t even realize this store sold beverages until the second time we came to it. But once we entered, it was clear that their main focus was tea. There were glass jars of herbs and tea leaves everywhere, and posters about different types of tea and boba–the “bubbles” in bubble tea–covered the walls. The walls themselves were cement and had pink-and-green paint on them in a graffiti-like style.
Dragonfly Tea Zone’s menu consisted of smoothies, bubble tea and crêpes. Despite the rather extensive array of smoothie/tea flavors, a lot of them sounded a little too exotic for me on my first trip, like Jasmine and Lychee Nut. The only crêpe options were Nutella and peanut butter, so it wasn’t difficult for me to settle on strawberry bubble tea and a Nutella crêpe. My friend ordered a wild berry smoothie.
The lady who took our orders asked me if I wanted my tea over ice or blended, and I figured since I hadn’t been adventurous enough to sample the Lavender Milk bubble tea, I should go for blended.
It turns out that blended bubble tea is a smoothie with boba in it. It also turns out that smoothies with boba in them are very good.
My friend’s drink, a wild berry smoothie, was extremely sweet. My blended bubble tea was also very sweet, but not overwhelmingly so (maybe because it was technically tea, even though it looked like a smoothie), and it ended up making a nice complement to the crêpes.
The crêpes themselves took a few minutes longer than the drinks, which came right away, but it was absolutely worth the wait. They were light and buttery, and the Nutella and whipped cream made them even better. It helped that I have a dangerous sweet tooth and would probably marry Nutella.
There were no places to eat inside the shop itself, so we went and sat at one of the tables outside. I found the atmosphere unexciting, but we went on a weekday that was also cloudy, and not many people were there. I’m sure on a weekend or summer day, just roaming around City Market is an enjoyable experience.
Even though we weren’t in the area on the best possible day, the food was still exceptional and I’m glad we went. Still, you should shouldn’t be afraid to try some of the many other food options as well, since bubble tea and a Nutella crêpe does not constitute an ideal lunch for those who lack my fatal attraction to anything and everything sweet. But if you are like me, or if you just want something sweet after lunch, definitely hit up Dragonfly Tea Zone.