Yomie's Rice X Yogurt

Bubble tea started out so simple - generally, low grade powders, way too much sweetener, and non-dairy creamer.  Then places differentiated themselves by offering higher end teas, options for alternate milks, house made boba.  It became trendy.  Crowds formed.  Then there was an explosion of the types of mix-ins you could add to your drink.  Soon, plastic cups would no longer do, and beautiful glass bottles were introduced.  Carrying multiple drinks back to friends got hard, so carrying cases, branded of course, emerged.  Then there was cheese foam, or cheezo, or milk foam, or salty foam, or whatever a specific shop decided to call the rich, but slightly savory and salty, decadent topping.

Sydney embraced these fads full on, years, literally, ahead of even major cities in the US.  Every other shop was seeming to be a dessert drink shop.  By mid-day, no one was walking down the street with coffee anymore, it was all bubble tea.  On my recent visit to Sydney, I decided to try out the latest in drink innovation: yogurt rice.  Drinking rice.

Yogurt rice does not really sound like something I'd like.  I ... don't really find yogurt to be very interesting (although, I will admit the yogurt I've liked most in my life has been in Australia, at the Air New Zealand lounge at the airport, of all places ...).  And, I don't really eat rice ... well, savory rice, I do adore rice pudding.  The concept still didn't sound great to me.

Last year, when I visited, I saw the lines for Yomie's Rice X Yogurt. They were epic.  An hour or more, to get your yogurt rice drink.  "Authentic Natural Yogurt", the signs boasted.  People talked about how healthy and refreshing it was.  It was the only place in town doing something like this.  I didn't give it another thought.  One of my last nights in town that year, I visited The Original Royaltea, and tried their sesame taro milk with red sticky rice (and cheese foam of course, because, um, yes, I am obsessed with that).  While the overall drink wasn't actually a winner for me, I did find the rice mix-in very successful.  It got me thinking about the concept of rice in drinks, at least.

So this year, when I visited Sydney, and found that the yogurt rice scene had expanded pretty dramatically, I decided to give it a try.

I didn't go to Yomie's Rice X Yogurt though, as the lines were still epic.  Any time of day, morning, afternoon, evening, night.  Maybe more than an hour, but usually still at least half an hour.  Meh to that.  My first yogurt rice drink came from Koomi (review coming soon), and ... I adored it.  I had another, a day or two later, from The Moment (yup, review soon), and enjoyed it too.  And so on, for the course of the 1.5 weeks I was in town, yogurt rice became my new obsession too.  Some I didn't like, but mostly, I was in.

So finally, finally, my last night, I decided to get the original: Yomie's Rice X Yogurt.  I somehow had magic timing, finding a short line, only about 15 minutes to order, 10 minutes to get my order after that.  So I finally did it.  I tried the original yogurt rice.

And I hated it.

Setting

Yomie's Rice X Yogurt is located on a corner in Haymarket, right on George Street.  To find it, just head towards the crowds. 

Interior.

You line up to get inside, once inside you continue in the line to order, and then you take your number and wait.

There is no seating and very little space inside.

Numbers are not called out, but instead, a board, just like at the deli in my youth, flashes the current number being served by.  If you aren't paying attention, and miss your number, oh well.  My understanding is that usually the wait, post ordering, is even longer than the wait to order, which can make the line look not quite as intimidating, if you think you'll get your treat soon after.

Drinks

So, what does Yomie serve?  Well, to start, they are a one trick pony.  Yogurt drinks.  No bubble teas here.

And, um, they are an ... opinionated drink shop.  No customizations.  No modifying sweetness, no adding mix-ins.  They have preset drinks, and that is what they sell.  And ... no cheese foam.

Top 9.

Most people tend to order one of the Top 9, proudly displayed all over the place.  

The top 9 start with the basic purple rice yogurt, or, oat yogurt, if you prefer.  These are hands down the top sellers, the classics.  A trendy avocado yogurt comes next.  From there, there are exactly 3 other varieties of purple rice yogurt, with haw, jujube, or red bean.  Passionfruit, melon, and strawberry round out the top 9.

Note that the later group, just like the avocado, cannot have rice (or oats) added.  If you want rice, you must pick between the rice options.

The full menu does list out all the options they have, but again, no real customization, although it includes the less popular options like any of the rice drinks, just made with oats instead, and a few more flavors of fruit smoothies.  Again, no mix-ins, no bubble tea, no toppings.  And certainly no sweetness adjustments.

I'll admit that nothing called out to me.  Where was my taro?  My foam?  I felt limited, and a bit bored by the menu, but still, I dove in.

Haw Purple Rice Yogurt.

I went for a purple rice creation, and, not feeling inspired by the red bean (I thought that would be way too heavy with the protein from the red beans, the yogurt, and the rice ... this wasn't a meal replacement for me ...), not really wanting jujube, and bored by the idea of just rice and yogurt, so, haw it was.  I'll admit that I had never had haw before, but reviews talk about the sweetness being a nice compliment to the tart yogurt.

I'll start with something positive.  It was well blended.  For me, that was actually a downside, I loved the clumps of sticky rice, having something to chew on, in my drinks from other places.  This was fairly pulverized, and I didn't get that chewing satisfaction.

It was also icy.  Not ice chunks, since again, so blended, but it was crystalized.  Other places were certainly more about the yogurt having richness, less about the icy smoothie aspect.  I didn't care for that either.

The yogurt itself seemed kinda runny, not a thick, rich style I prefer.  It was kinda tart.  But really, not interesting.

But none of this really mattered. As there was something else about the drink that I disliked even more.  The sweetness.  It was way, way, way too sweet.  I guess this was the haw?  What if I had just gotten the plain one, would it have been tart?  I don't know, but this was just overboard sweet.

So basically, I hated it.  Runny yogurt, pulverized rice, icy bits, and way too sweet.  Chunks of sticky rice, rich thick yogurt, flavors and mix-ins I liked - like fresh taro!, and of course, cheese foam toppings, are what I loved about other places, and this had none of them.

That said, this is the original.  This is what started the fad.  This is what people ... seem to like?  Just, not me.  I won't go back, even to try the simple plain one.