Chopsticks and Sips is a late-night Chinese food and bubble tea spot at The Kitchen Collective, 9A Akatea Road, Glendene, Auckland, rated 4.9 from 261 Google reviews. Its website lists fried rice, fresh dumplings and a menu of milk teas and fruit teas with sugar levels from standard to none, and says it is open late every day with online ordering and pickup in about 20 to 30 minutes. Reviewers mention dumplings and bubble tea most, along with churros, fast late-night delivery and a free energy drink.
A late-night Chinese kitchen does its best work with simple, quick dishes such as fried rice and dumplings, which are cooked fast and suit sharing after a night out or a long shift. Dumplings are best eaten hot, so pickup soon after cooking beats a long delivery. Pair them with a milk tea or a fruit tea, and adjust the sweetness, since less sugar makes the tea taste stronger. Ordering online ahead of time saves a wait at the counter, and a few dishes shared between friends give more variety than one large plate each.
For Glendene and West Auckland night owls, it is a handy source of dumplings, fried rice and bubble tea.