Getting thirsty from walking around the ginormous mall that is American Dream, I stopped by Gong…read moreCha (located in Hmart's Food court) after picking up a simple lunch. The line at around 2pm was short, maybe a few minute wait. You can order at a tablet or directly with the staff at the register. Menu is posted right next to the counter. Wait time was also brief, maybe 5 minutes. I went with my tried and true regular milk tea with herbal jelly $5.75, less ice, 30% sugar. The jelly had a pleasant herbal flavor which I appreciated though there was something kinda off with the texture--there were bits of the jelly that had a texture of thin film, like when a liquidy food has been sitting out and dried a little, and has a film over the top. At first I thought maybe I had gotten some bits of plastic from the cup lid into the drink though it didn't seem to be that. Then I kept feeling little bits of this between my teeth as I was eating the jelly. Not particularly pleasant. I don't know that I'd order again soon based on this experience, though I'd think the other add-ins like the boba, aloe, other jellies, would probably not have this issue.

Gong Cha opened their newest location in American Dream mall. It located inside the Hmart Food Hall…read moreon first floor. The store is pretty nice, with a giant bubble tea statue right in front of the store. The menu has all the popular drinks. I ordered the Thai Milk tea with bubbles. Quick efficient service at the counter. The order was ready within minutes. Excellent quality milk tea and super soft chewy bobas. Really happy to see them opening a store at this mall.

Sadly this LOCATION is temporarily CLOSED. There are no other locations in NJ…read more But, there are 3 other stores in Queens, NY. Visit their website for store locations - https://www.hkhls.com/en/store/

Delicious desserts and amazing mango flavor at Hui Lau Shan! Everything was fresh and satisfying…read more One of the best dessert spots will definitely return.

Bubble tea's popularity has been spreading like wildfire... AS IT SHOULD! Secaucus was in need of a…read moregood boba franchise. Thank goodness they now have Tsaocaa, a brand that prides itself on providing drinks made from high quality, premium tea leaves and fresh fruit ingredients. This location is in the Plaza at Harmon Meadow. It shares a large public parking lot with many other businesses. The store is clean, modern, and bright with a few tables and seating. You can order at one of the self-service kiosks or at the counter. The menu is overwhelming in the best way. There are SO many options for drinks - milk teas, fruit teas, slushies, fruit mojitos, yogurt slushes, you name it. You'll find both classic and unique flavors. You can customize the sugar and ice levels. Just a heads up, certain drinks have set sizes and some already have a topping/s included in the price. So keep that in mind when you're ordering so you don't get charged for extra add-ons. This location also has a food menu that offers egg waffles, fried chicken, and ramen. We ordered... *Passion Fruit & Lime Tea with passion fruit popping boba (~$7) - Very refreshing, tarty, and tangy! This is the perfect summer drink on a hot day. I was very pleased to see that they used fresh fruits in my drink. *King of Milk Oolong Tea with boba (~$7) - I usually don't drink oolong tea, but it's rubbing off on me now... This drink had the right balance of milk and freshly brewed tea. It was creamy, smoky, and rich with very strong notes of a roasted flavor. We requested 30% sugar level and the barista nailed it. The boba pearls were chewy, but not as sweet as I would've liked. Their pearls are amber brown in color as they are only made with sweet potato (no additional syrups or food dyes). Most boba is made from cassava root and then colored artificially. This isn't your run-of-the-mill shop that uses artificial syrups and powders... By the first few sips, you'll be able to tell they use high quali-TEA ingredients - definitely a must try for boba lovers!

Absolutely fabulous experience here. My boyfriend and I got…read morechipotle for dinner and when we walked out and looked over to see Tsaocaa I was a little upset! I would've gotten take out from here instead. But of course we had to stop and get a little boba tea to try. The store itself is gorgeous, modernly beautiful furniture, amazing light fixtures. The staff was friendly as well. Just going through all the boba options on the kiosk screen is overwhelming in a good way! There's so many to choose from. I decided to just go original and get a black milk tea with boba. My boyfriend got a green grape and lime tea. We both loved our options. I also added an order of rice cakes and they were delectable. Almost wished I got two. I'll definitely be back to try their ramen and other teas. Thankful to have found this new gem in the area!

We first went to one of these shops in Canada and loved it because the fruit is so fresh. Not just…read moresome mango powder that most shops use. We saw American Dream mall had a location and we had to get it. It was so so so good just like what we remembered. Instead of boba, there are mango chunks that fit perfectly through the large straw.

Tea store inside American Dream. The staff Justine was very nice and friendly…read more I usually get black tea. Strong and great tea flavor, not bitter at all. They made it fresh for every cup I think. The mango series is the best out of all the fruit drinks. It's fresh and they prep it everyday. There are some tables and seats inside but most people do takeouts.

Last time I was here weekday evening time when it wasn't busy. Today (Saturday) it was a madhouse…read morearound 1pm. Wait time was 40 minutes. No bobas were available to order. Cashier was struggling to give out changes to customer, holding the line back for 5 minutes. Luckily the app was available to track the order. When I went to pickup the order, saw just pure chaos. Four people behind the counter running around mad confused. After waiting several minutes I had to get someone's attention to hand me my drinks. Fortunately my mango cloud came out fine. But the other drink had issues. Just seemed the employees were clueless how to handle peak hours.

Choo choo... it's the HeyTea train coming through. And I don't know if I want to climb aboard…read more This was my second time trying HeyTea. It's a VERY popular brand known for high quality drinks made with premium teas and fresh fruit--and they're aesthetically pleasing too. My first time was at the Edison location, and that was a dub. I decided to give it a second shot at the East Rutherford one... also a dub. LOL. This location is a small kiosk inside the American Dream Mall, near the H Mart in Court A on level 1. I went on a Saturday and it was chaos. You couldn't even tell where the line started or ended. You just gotta squeeze through the crowd and figure it out. There's basically no seating except for a small bench off to the side. Very limited space. And to make the lines even longer, there's no menu displayed for everyone to see--so you have to wait until you reach the counter and then decide on the spot. The most popular drinks are the fruit/superfood teas, but they also offer brewed tea, milk teas, and matcha. Personally, I'm more of a classic tea person. I'm not crazy about the fancy shmancy trendy drinks with a ton of add-ins and artisanal toppings. Sure, they're pretty to look at--but I prefer to keep it simple. I ordered two black milk teas with tapioca pearls. I requested less ice and the lowest sugar level. Both drinks with tax + tip came out to almost $20. At that price, I was really hoping and praying that the drinks would be dang good. After ordering, your order # shows up on a screen so you can track the status. Mine took almost 30 minutes. Expect long wait times during weekends/peak hours because there's a TON of foot traffic. They also get slammed with mobile orders. There wasn't any space for people to wait for their orders. It got so packed and disorganized that the crowd was spilling into the mall's walkway. First sip? Immediate no. GIRL. It tasted like straight milk with the faintest hint of black tea. They got a basic milk tea wrong... really disappointing. The tapioca had a strange taste. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it did not taste like any boba I've had before. It almost tasted TOO starchy. The barista also put foam on top, which I didn't ask for. It was more like watered down whipped cream, not like the salty cheese foam I've had at other places. I was not a fan. Major L. Sometimes ya just have to take one. These drinks were not worth $20 and a 30 minute wait. I would not come back to this location. Maybe I would've had a better experience if I came on a slower weekday or if a different barista made my drink, but I'm not interested in finding out. I'll give HeyTea ONEEEEE more chance. They just opened a new one near me at the Garden State Plaza. I will most definitely be going during off hours. Fingers crossed. But three strikes... and yerrrrrrrrr out.

Ara Coffee is a sweet family-owned coffee shop with genuinely nice people behind the counter. Great…read morecoffee, warm vibe, and the kind of neighborhood spot you're happy to support.

The workers and owners think I'm stupid. They put Soo many flavors IN my drink and then said they…read morehad put to it on my receipt in order for the hazelnut to show up. BULL SHIT. There are seats, but the stools that were available at the time, were too high for my height, and the benches would take up the aisles so no one could walk. I am allergic to pumpkin syrup which they DID put in the drink, given that I had to use my emergency medication. Lied about it later. So glad a coffee shop opened up next door.

So excited to finally have a real bubble tea place in town with a large drink menu!…read more Drinks are delicious and reasonably priced. Pay in cash if you don't want the CC fee. Clean and friendly workers, always so nice. Can't wait to walk here in the summer months and try more of their drinks.

I had brunch a few doors down and needed something sweet so I dropped into 2 Sweets. It was super…read moreclean, super neat, and had some window seating available but I got my drink to go. So I love getting brown sugar milk with boba BUT I saw they had a fire toasted dirty brown milk on the menu and let me tell you, it was amazing. It had some crunchy caramelized sugar bits, yummm like drinking a crème brûlée. My husband is NOT into boba drinks with different toppings and all that fun flair but even he was surprised at how delicious it was. The cute girl at the register was super sweet and bubbly and the service was nice and speedy. I'd come for more boba, rolled ice cream is kind of cheugy now, isn't it? Haha just kidding. 'Til next time!

As chains like Hey Tea continue to expand at an impressive rate, I still have a fondness for King…read moreFu Tea, which I consider one of the older chains. It used to be easy to find a Kung Fu Tea, but over time many have closed and at the moment I can maybe think of four locations scattered around NYC (I'm sure there are more). That said, whenever I come across a new location I check it out to see if they measure up to other locations. Located on the third floor food court of the American Dream Mall, this stand is tucked away off to the side. There is no seating, it is purely a take away stand. You go up to the cashier or use a kiosk to order and your drink is picked up to the left. I ordered my usual: a Red Bean Slush with Bubbles and no Sweet (the red bean mixture plus the bubbles has plenty of sweetness by itself for my taste). You'd be surprised but such a simple drink can be made badly. Sometimes there is too much ice so you lose all flavor. Other times there isn't a good amount of bubbles. And this will vary from visit to visit depending on the location. I am happy to report this time out this location nailed it. The drink was made perfectly and the flavor had an excellent balance between the red bean and sweet flavors. The slush texture was perfect as well. Well done! For this visit at least, this location made my drink right and very quickly to boot. I would happily go back again.

I usually love going to Kung Fu Tea, but I was most disappointed with this one. I would recommend…read moregoing to a Kung Fu Tea outside of the mall. While it's great for them to get so many customers, the quality of the drinks is not there. They are just pumping out drinks due to long lines. I ordered: - coconut milk tea with boba: the coconut flavor was faint, and the boba was not good - there was no chew, and usually their boba is soaked in syrup or honey (which was not the case here) - pina colada slush: came out melted (disappointing, especially when it was a hot day outside) I'll still be going to Kung Fu Tea - but not this one.

The dumpling were delish and the chili oil is very well seasoned. I would definitely go there again.read more

I'm a big dumpling lover. So when I saw a Vanessa's Dumpling House in the American Dream Mall food…read morecourt, I was pretty excited. I recognized the franchise from my visits to Chinatown, the mecca of dumplings and foolishly assumed that meant good eats were to be had here. But this was such a disappointment. Call me a grump, but I believe the namesake food at an establishment should be the best thing on the menu. We ordered two kinds - a fried pork chive dumpling and a boiled chicken and basil. But if I were blindfolded, I don't think I could've told them apart because both wrappers were not only thick but had similarly gummy textures. The chicken and basil dumplings also had a pinkish purple hue that gave it the off-putting look of raw chicken. After a few ho-hum attempts to eat them, my husband and I ended up forgoing the wrappers entirely and simply rescued the innards with our chopsticks. On the slight plus side, these tasted great - well seasoned and meaty. The spicy beef dan dan noodles were okay. For all the sauciness and toppings on it, I was surprised that the word that came to mind was 'boring'. As far as flavor went, there was a slightly fermented funk that made it just a little interesting, but I ended up dousing my bites with Sriracha to add the fun I felt was needed. A bright spot of our order was the side of sweet and spicy cucumbers we randomly ordered. Doused in a vinegary chili oil, this provided just the fresh texture and acid that brightened up our otherwise dispirited meal.

TLDR: Food court ramen is a coin flip. This place leans toward good, but I won't actively look for…read moreit, even if I'm in the area. Black Tonkotsu Ramen: I think the thing I liked the most about this it is the noodle. It's firm but chewy and you get a respectable amount of it. The egg had a bit of a green band, but I'm not gonna complain about it. The broth is different from most black tonkotsu ramens that I've had, but it's not amazing. The chashu was the 2nd best thing in the bowl. It may not have tasted different from your everyday ramen, but there is something nice about doing the basics well. Generally, this is good enough to try. Service: I ordered by tablet. Paid on the card reader attached to the tablet. Got my food 10 minutes later. Not much service to talk about. Ambiance: The store looked nice. You're there to order and get your food. You dine in the many available tables in the dining area.

I have been meaning to try Pora Ramen at American Dream for a while. The dishes on the outside…read morelooked delicious. The ramen did not take long to be ready. There is a long bench inside where you can wait for your food. The area looked clean. I got the curry ramen. I did not find it to be spicy at all. It comes with pork, green onions, bean sprouts, egg, corn. I would say that this is average for a food court meal. I would have liked more flavor and spicy but the warm broth was perfect for a cold day.