Fresh O Tea opened on Nassau St a couple years ago, and they serve bubble tea drinks, noodles, and a few other foods. The tea drinks here are the best in Princeton, in my opinion, especially the fruit drinks, which use fresh fruits (not powders). I also like their braised pork bun and their dumplings; steamed bok choy is available as a side add-on, so this is also a great place to get a meal. I was recently back in Princeton for Reunions and came here over 5 times...
I definitely recommend giving them a visit. The service is also super nice and friendly, and they're happy to give recommendations for drinks (they told me it was mango season and recommended several mango drinks). The store's logo is also adorable and is based on the owner's corgi!
I've tried a few drinks here, as well as many of their food items. Among the food items, I've tried (favorites listed first):
-Braised Pork Bun ($6.95) - aka roujiamo. It's a Northwest Chinese style snack, consisting of a pork belly filling inside a bread bun. The pork is really flavorful and delicious, and it's not as overly fatty as some versions at other restaurants. I recommend trying it with their housemade chili oil, or asking for the variation with green peppers if it's available.
-Dumplings (around $13-14 for 10 pieces, or $16.95 for 15 pieces) - these have homemade skin, and are available in a variety of fillings. I've tried all the non-vegetarian ones, and I liked all of them: the pickled cabbage & pork and fennel & pork are probably the most unique, but the pork & cabbage and then shrimp & chive & pork are also great. They come served with vinegar, and I recommend adding some chili oil as well.
-Braised Pork Rice ($13.95) - aka luroufan. This is originally a Taiwanese dish, and here they put their own spin on it. I believe the pork is the same as the one used in the pork bun. I slightly prefer the braised pork bun, but this is also great.
They also have several noodle soups. My friend tried the Lanzhou Beef Noodles ($13.95) and really liked them, especially the broth.
I also tried several drinks (all requested with 0% added sugar), listed below with favorites first:
-Osmanthus and Fermented Rice Milk Tea ($6.95) - very fragrant from the osmanthus, and also contains jiuniang (fermented rice). This is a really great combo, which I haven't seen that much in the U.S. It comes with boba, and the fermented rice also adds texture, so additional toppings aren't needed.
-Mochi Black Rice Milk Tea ($8.95 for large) - Assam milk tea, black rice, and housemade drinkable mochi. The mochi is really interesting: it's sweet, and it's much softer than regular mochi so you can drink it. I really liked the combination of the mochi and black rice. Note that this drink is pretty heavy/filling.
-Grapefruit Orange Milk Tea ($7.95) - really fresh, light, and refreshing. There were a lot of grapefruit pieces at the bottom of the drink, and you can really tell that they used real fruit.
-Mango Pomelo ($9.95) - has coconut milk, mango slush, cheese foam, diced mango, grapefruit, and white boba. It's great, and I liked all the different textures.
-Mango Lime Fruit Tea ($7.95) - this fruit tea was also fresh and good, and has a strong mango flavor. I slightly preferred the grapefruit orange since it was less sweet.
-Mango Milk Tea ($6.95 for medium) - green milk tea, mango, and white boba. This was good, though on the sweeter side (even with 0% sugar).
-Strawberry Milk Tea ($6.95 for medium) - green milk tea, strawberry, and white boba. Similarly to the mango milk tea, I liked it but found it slightly sweet.
Also, regarding the taro milk tea mentioned in an earlier review, I haven't tried this myself but I would guess that the reviewer found the texture different from usual because most other bubble tea shops use taro powder (as opposed to actual taro). read more