The food was incredibly flavorful, full of different textures and so delicious! The ingredients are fresh and the dishes were thoughtfully plated. An elevated version of the food I grew up eating in Taipei. Our server was knowledgeable and described the dishes with excitement and passion. Chef Tony came out and chatted for a bit. I'm recommending JaBä to everyone. What we ordered: - Stinky Tofu: This was flavorful with chilis on top of garlic soy sauce. The 'stink' was turned down a little so as to not stink out the neighborhood. - Chilled FRESH bamboo: Fresh bamboo is hard to find. Very unique in how it was served on a thin layer of kewpie mayo and condensed milk topped with crushed peanuts. - Pig in Scuba Suit: Homemade whole Taiwanese sausage stuffed in baby calamari over a squid ink sauce. - Scallop Crudo: Super fresh scallop. Don't think I've had fresh lily bulbs before. Really special. - Garlic Basil Mussels: The mussels were also super fresh and very plump. So much flavor in the sauce. I brought it home and put it over rice the next day. - Berkshire Pork LBB: This is elevated lu rou fan. So much yum!! - Sautéed AA Choy: Because we need to eat our greens. I can't wait to go back and try other dishes. It looks like there are often rotating dishes based on what's seasonally fresh. Oh! The JaBä Negroni was like an iced tea had a baby with a Negroni. So good I had 2. I also want to try the other cocktails. read more

We had a great experience at Jaba! The staff is extremely attentive and friendly. They made sure our water was refilled and brought out new plates consistently. The chef even came over to say hi, which was a treat! We tried the stinky tofu, the oyster omelet, the pork rice, peanut noodles, and AA choy, and were totally full by the end... but not too full for dessert, which was the best part, in my opinion! We went crazy and had the honey truffle basque cheesecake, which was made that day, AND the sweet potato crème brûlée. Oh my god... The warm crème brûlée mixed with the cold mascarpone was truly to die for. They also had a nice cocktail menu. We all tried the guavarita, which was very well made. My friend that I went with is from Taiwan and this restaurant got her approval! The restaurant is small, quiet, yet lively, and dimly lit. It's gorgeous, from the chairs to the plates to the fancy door. We had a really memorable and great night and would definitely return! read more

Jaba - Honey truffle basque cheesecake - Taiwanese Near Me - New York, New York

I really want to support Taiwanese food, there aren't a ton of options in Manhattan, but I felt mediocre about our recent dinner. Maybe my expectations are too high, as someone who has enjoyed really good Taiwanese food, understanding this is fusion. Service - this was great, everyone was super friendly. Ambiance - modern, pretty casual Food - - Stinky tofu was pretty good - Grilled sweet sausage was good - Oyster egg omelet - Didn't love the oysters, liked the rest. - Salt and pepper chicken was good - Beef noodle soup - darker than I would prefer. The meat itself was good but I didn't care for the broth (too dark, like more body/flavor) - LBB - I thought this was just ok - Sweet potato creme brulee - I thought it was just ok. It was very liquidy in the middle - not sure if that's how it's supposed to be. Pricing - I know everything is expensive these days... read more

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I have yet to leave this place without waddling home with a food coma from stuffing myself to satisfaction. The Berkshire lo ba beng is my go-to-comfort food where I just can't get enough of the soft poached egg over rice with the sauce from the mince beef and picked veggies. My bro would lick that bowl clean =b What keeps me coming back is the evolving menu of seasonal dishes that elevate Taiwanese dishes with a culinary twist for those who want to try something new and not compare it to street food given we're in NYC, not Taiwan. For example, I loved their refreshing l watermelon with pickled rind and heirloom tomato salad that melded the colors and flavors together well for another hot summer day. My teeth sank into the tender lamb ribs that were seasoned to perfection with just the right level of gamy flavor. I also appreciated how the three cup lobster was easy to eat either the tail and claws exposed without too much effort to extract the meat. The star of the night was the delicate, smooth, and shining white scallops with a layer of sea urchin to accentuate this canvas in my mouth as a "unicorn", which explains its fitting name. Of course, I couldn't leave without dessert. How can you beat a bowl of freshly made tofu with sweet red bean, ai yu jelly, and grass jelly, coated with a honey and ginger sauce? You can always ask for more sauce to sweeten the flavor to your taste buds' content. Service was exceptional as usual. It's rare to find attentive, warm, and helpful staff, who care to ensure you're enjoying your meal with water refills and recommendations to try that make you want to come back craving for more. This Jaba munchy monster can't wait until her next feast given this is as close as she gets to her last heavenly meal! read more

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A pretty bold attempt at modern Taiwanese, Jaba is definitely one of the more interesting restaurants I tried this year. The restaurant feels pretty trendy, and I do admire the attempt to fancify Taiwanese classics, but I left the restaurant feeling a bit mixed about the place. On to the good, I've been to Taiwan and I don't think I've had takes on Taiwanese food quite like this. The creativity is refreshing and the menu still does feel authentically Taiwanese, however, I think the execution was a bit mixed. I thought the three cup lobster, a riff off of the famous three cup chicken, was a bit of a miss. While the lobster itself was fine, it didn't really capture the "three cup" flavor I grew up loving. The oyster pancake was also pretty interesting, but the actual dish itself was just..fine. The century egg sesame noodles were a hit though. As to service, it was pretty slow. I'm going to forgive the kitchen on this one as the restaurant was likely still going through some growing pains. As a whole, I admire the concept, but I'm a bit mixed on the execution. Perhaps with time, Jaba will mature into a staple in the Upper East Side read more

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We're always excited to hear about a new Taiwanese restaurant so here we are. Jabä is about a month old and located in midtown East. The restaurant itself isn't very large but they have a good spread of large and small tables. They don't have a liquor license yet so they're offering BYOB. The staff here is super attentive. Everyone is friendly and helpful. One thing I always look for is whether they fold my napkin while I'm in the bathroom and they did! Let's get to the food. We ordered the cucumbers, salt and pepper chicken, crab and mentaiko dumplings, 5 spice lamb ribs, pork lo ba beng, and braised cabbage. Overall everything was pretty good, the ribs stood out as the best. But I think the food would have been better if they made it less modern and more traditional. Like the pork wasn't saucy enough and the chicken felt like it needed more pepper. Let's talk about dessert. I dislike sweet potatoes but the sweet potato creme brulee was amazing. It was a very balanced and delicious dessert. We also got the shaved ice which was okay. I kind of wished it was more like the Taiwanese mango flavor. Overall, not a bad spot. Again, great staff, decent prices, and good food. I just didn't feel like there was anything other than the sweet potato that made me say, wow. Extra tip: if you ask for chili oil, they give you chili marinated in soy sauce. It's delicious. read more

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As I type, my lower backside is soaked in beef noodle soup. I stink of broth. It is very, very unpleasant. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning. I visited Jaba recently with my Taiwanese brethren, excited to try a place that--by all marketing--sounded legit. In a nutshell: It is. If you can ignore the requisite Manhattan tax (higher prices, smaller portions) and the requisite Manhattan styling (nicer presentations, use of "refined", "elevated", "modern"-type buzzwords)--this is still the most authentic Taiwanese restaurant in the borough (including Chinatown). Best dishes: - Stinky Tofu: This is how you know Jaba is the real deal--they're not afraid to put this oft-maligned dish on their menu. And for all the "elevated" posturing, they didn't change this dish one bit--which is the way it's supposed to be. Fried to a delicate crisp, soaked in pungent garlic/dark soy sauce and served with pickled cabbage/carrots. Fantastic. Just needed more sauce, so we got additional on the side. - Lo Ba Ben (AKA Lu Rou Fan in Mandarin): Umami, fatty, braised to a perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture. - Taiwanese Shaved Ice: A mountain of ice with oodles of thick, rich, caramelized condensed milk, juicy grape halves, and decadent mascarpone cream. This ain't your Shilin Night Market baobing, but the makeover is just as delish. Good dishes: - Beef Noodle Soup: Appropriately red braised and tender enough to cut with a butter knife. Beef was of the thin slice, tendon-y king, which is great for umami but not my favorite style for BNS (I like my fatty chunks). The chewy, handpulled noodles were the best part of the bowl; the broth needed more complexity. - Basil Garlic Manila Clams: Authentic in that Taiwanese people love cooking clams with basil. The bivalves themselves were of appropriate texture. The sauce was too salty, though. - Corn Spare Ribs: Fun and juicy, but it's just grilled corn on the cob. - Papaya Milk: Good, but needed some more sweetness. Bad dish: - Crispy Pig Ears: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Nice attempt at creativity, but the unnecessary batter masked the cartilege-y texture that I love about pig ears, and the accompanying aioli/mayo concoction did nothing for flavor. Chef Inn: If you want to get creative, do interesting things with the braising sauce. But don't fry the pig ears. What a waste. Now, back to my story. We got a second beef noodle soup (because one is never enough), and about half of it ended up being packed for me to take home. The staff didn't separate the broth from the solids, so everything was put into a takeout container with a thin plastic lid. Despite packing it carefully in my backpack, the lid came loose and the broth spilled everywhere--hence the soaked backside. No more BNS for me. :/ Jaba staff: If you're not going to separate noodle soups properly, then at least invest in better takeout containers with tighter lids--most other Asian restaurants already use these. Come on. read more

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Tried out Jaba for a weekday dinner. Overall it was decent food but nothing outstanding. I got the berkshire pork lbb which was super flavorful and tender, but definitely on the fattier side. The soft shell crispy shrimp was tasty and nicely fried, but I wish it came with more sauce, it needed just a little extra something to dip in. I also had the sesame noodles with century egg. The sauce was great and the century egg was great, but the noodles were a bit too soft for my taste. I like mine with more chew. read more

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We really enjoyed our meal at Jaba, which took place just after they opened. The service and food were outstanding, especially considering that fact. The dishes we got were: Stinky Tofu - Very yummy, but could've been even stinkier. Basil Garlic Clams - Really tasty and with a delicious broth. Taiwanese Sweet Sausage - again, very yummy. One of my faves of the night. Pork and Chive Dumplings - well seasoned and really tasty (and may have since changed). Are you seeing a trend yet?? Beef Noodle Soup - very flavorful, but I had wished for a bit less fatty piece of meat as it was difficult to eat (and yes, I am a picky finicky eater. Husband had no issue with the beef). I'm excited to go back again, and will probably look for a reservation for this weekend. Don't sleep on Jaba! read more

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Saw all the influencers hyping this up so had to try as i often visit family in Taiwan. These food influencers prove me right everytime, they just sell outs hyping up anything for a free meal. Good ambiance and vibes and loved that it was filled completely with asians so had hope. Unfortunately, The quality and flavor could not justify the ridiculous price. If you charge high prices has to be backed with quality and flavor which jaba lacked. At least should be at the quality of the night markets in Taiwan. Similar reviews have come in and the owner replies were classless hinting that the reviewer should go eat at cheaper places if she cant afford the "high quality "ingredients they source. Based on the taste, i could not tell they used these so called high quality ingredients. Nothing was bad per say but why is popcorn chicken over 20$ with like five pieces of chicken? Bawan really disappointing, they give you one for 12$, they are around a dollar in taiwan. The portion is small enough for me to shove the whole thing in my mouth and the texture of the wrapping was wrong. Either too much of the starch or the wrong starch, it was not nearly as QQ as it should be. Too firm. The LBB was good and the fried pig ears were the best thing on the menu and was truly great but overall way over priced and the flavors do not justify. 25 for beef noodle soup? Cmon jeju noodle bar has cheaper noodle soup options Just go to four four or taiwan bear house, if you wanna go fancy, 886 or wenwen read more

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Upscale Asian restaurant. Food is solid but a little pricey. The pork over rice was the best dish - classic and simple. Chilean seabass was great as well. Wasn't such a fan of the oyster pancake or the beef noodle soup. I enjoyed the meal overall, although I think the prices were a bit too steep. read more

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Starting with the good. The ambiance was good. The presentation was good. Now the bad. The food was mediocre and portion sizes were outrageously small for the prices. The worst is the bawan which doesn't have enough chew to the skin. It's not difficult to make so there's no reason it should be $12 for about 2 bites. When we ordered our waitress upsold us on the lo ba beng (AKA lu rou fan) saying it's their best dish. The minced pork itself was decent. However the rice was way too mushy. And like the other dishes, the portion sizes were egregiously too small for the price. I understand that they were going for a fine dining experience with small portions sizes and clean presentation. For that to work the food must also be good. But it doesn't live up to the standard, and the result is a highly overpriced and pretentious restaurant. read more

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New restaurant! It ended up being around $100 a person with barely any drinks, which was on the pricier end. However, the lamb, chicken, and beef noodle soup were excellent. Razor clams were tasty. The meat portions for the soup was good. The dried noodle dish could have packed more of a punch. The egg tofu dessert was a bit disappointing since the tofu was so broken up. The potato and ice cream were good but extremely sweet. Overall solid 4/5. It was hefty for the price to value, and very dark inside. read more

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Minimalistic decorum with dim lights when you enter Jaba. Coat check service was offered during seating: tables were fairly close that it was hard to enjoy dinner with loud chats amongst other guests. Table service could use some education such as introducing host name, inquiring allergen and describing dishes as they are delivered. The food had great concept but the combination of execution, taste, texture and flavor were a huge miss. Crab dumplings skin was undercooked, drizzled with chili sauce (not described) cold and filling lacked other textural elements. Oyster omelet was presented beautifully but the batter was too thick and oysters were scarcely hidden. Salt&pepper chicken was under seasoned and missing that crispy crunch. The last dish, beef noodle soup had AA-choy (bitter leafy green) concocted with soy broth that missed the richness of herb aromatics. The win I took from this dish was a side of picked mustard. Overall, I would come back to Jaba after some minor adjustments are upgraded and hope to see the improvement! I thank the chef for making the moment right with my experience. Coat check- yes Bathroom- yes read more

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Groups of 7 people or more will be subjected to a minimum $95 per person spend. They don't have a liquor license so as of July 3, 2025 it's still free BYOB. The noodles were actually the best texture I've had in a beef noodle soup. The Taiwanese sausage came with garlic which is the correct pairing. The sweet potato dessert was my favorite out of the 4 we tried. The ambiance inside is very minimalistic and clean. There's only 1 bathroom. They're able to split the check amongst as many people as you request; accepts cards. The location is not the best in my opinion because it's right by the 59th street bridge so it's more of a pass-through part of the city. Some dishes I felt was very expensive (I.e salt and popcorn chicken $20 & the 3 cup lobster for $65) . I'm glad I tried it but given the location I won't be back anytime soon read more

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Love a new Taiwanese restaurant in the area! So happy to have this around and another great beef noodle soup! Loved the dishes we had reminded me of dishes I've gotten in Taiwan and can't wait to come back to try more! read more

Jaba - Sweet potato - Taiwanese Near Me - New York, New York

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I really wanted to like this place! Unfortunately it fell short of expectations, especially for it's price point. Started off with the fried pig ears which were pretty crispy and tasty with the five spice seasoning. The stinky tofu was solid; nothing that compared to ones I had in Taipei but appreciated it's attempt to be coated in lots of sauces! The mochi meat balls had a nice savory sauce and meat filling. For mains, the LBB featured a well seasoned lu rou which had a nice mix of fatty and meat bits. The rice was too overcooked and mushy. If the rice was more chewy, it would be been a better textual contrast with the soft minced meat. The three cup chicken had a very fragrant sauce with lots of aromatics which I liked. It's on the saltier side if you don't mix the sauce with rice. I only wish the chicken pieces were more tender. The vibes were intimate with dim lighting. Staff were nice but you can tell a couple of them are new at waiting tables. My partner just came back from Taipei so it's hard to not have high hopes. However, despite enjoying my meal experience overall, I was expecting more impressive dishes for this price point. read more

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Had an amazing experience at Yaba NYC Taiwanese! From the moment we walked in, Chef Tony and the staff made us feel so welcome -- super friendly, attentive, and clearly passionate about what they do. We tried most of the menu and honestly everything was solid, but a couple dishes really stood out. The Razor Clams were fresh and flavorful, and the Pork Rice was comfort food perfection. The absolute highlight though was the Wagyu Steak -- melt-in-your-mouth good, perfectly cooked, and one of the best we've had in NYC. And if you go, you have to save room for dessert. The Crème Brûlée Sweet Potato is next-level... hands down one of the most unique and delicious desserts I've ever had. Great food, great vibes, and amazing people. Already looking forward to coming back! read more

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Had an amazing experience at Yaba NYC Taiwanese! From the moment we walked in, Chef Tony and the staff made us feel so welcome -- super friendly, attentive, and clearly passionate about what they do. We tried most of the menu and honestly everything was solid, but a couple dishes really stood out. The Razor Clams were fresh and flavorful, and the Pork Rice was comfort food perfection. The absolute highlight though was the Wagyu Steak -- melt-in-your-mouth good, perfectly cooked, and one of the best we've had in NYC. And if you go, you have to save room for dessert. The Crème Brûlée Sweet Potato is next-level... hands down one of the most unique and delicious desserts I've ever had. Great food, great vibes, and amazing people. Already looking forward to coming back! read more

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Tried this place that ppl were raving about!! Definitely, supporting my ppls as well! Place is pretty pricey since it's in the city!! Lamb & Taiwanese Sausage was delicious!! Stinky Tofu was ok!! Definitely don't recommend the Berkshire pork LLB, very salty especially if eaten alone!! The egg that came with it was nice & creamy but cold!! The shave ice was bitter not sweet which was disappointing, the mascara mascarpone cream was yummy though!! Service was amazing!!! read more

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Wonderful menu and spectacular service. The restaurant is hard to find, but worth the trip, Do not forget the desserts! The sweet potato crème brûlée is the best. read more

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Flavors were good but portions were incredibly small and ridiculously overpriced. The clam dish had 12 tiny shells, for $36!! There were also 10 pieces of pork jowl for $40. I went with a group of 4 and we pretty much had two bites of everything. The check came out to be $250 not including gratuity. read more

I had a wonderful experience at Jaba last night after seeing it on social media! It's sad to see how harsh these yelp reviews are because I thought it was great. You simply cannot compare New York food prices (some of the most expensive) to Taiwan. The reason why I went is because my boyfriend is Taiwanese and saw they had bawan and wanted to try theirs. Sadly, they ran out before we could try it. Everything else we had was great and made up for it. They have a limited drink menu with apple soda, hey song soda, and a few beers and mocktails. I will say that the mocktails being 14+ is definitely too expensive so we got the Hey Song soda. We split the Taiwanese sausage, Berkshire pork LBB, and beef noodle soup. The sausages came out piping hot and were incredible. I love how it's served with raw garlic and they were perfectly sweet and salty. Would definitely recommend this! Berkshire pork LBB was so rich and fatty. It came with jammy egg, pickled radish, another pickle, and a piece of fried tofu. The tofu felt a little random at first but it absorbed the fat from the pork very well. I am not as familiar with this dish but I thought it was fantastic. The beef noodle soup really wowed me. I just had Gulp the other day which is another great beef noodle soup and this one was much different. The beef shank pieces were thick but so tender and the tendons were so cooked down that they were fatty and slurpable. Carrots were an interesting addition and reminded me of a typical American beef stew. Noodles were chewy and a little wavy and seemed handmade. I like how the broth was rich in flavor but not too oily, and had that tomato flavor. I would definitely recommend this dish for someone who likes a beef noodle soup that is hearty but not too heavy. To finish off, we got the shaved ice. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I can't put my finger on the flavor but it was almost cinnamony with caramel drizzle and star fruit. It tasted distinctly Asian and it was so refreshing to eat after sweating from the noodle soup. Another thing to note is we were going to get the salt and pepper chicken but we saw in pics that it was a really small portion for the price. I had a very positive experience at Jaba. The service was friendly and in my opinion I thought the food justified the prices. I've been to other high end Taiwanese spots that are just as expensive or more expensive. I would come back to try some of the other items like the bawan, oyster omelette, and the more unique things on the menu that you are hard to find elsewhere. I personally would recommend trying Jaba out! read more

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I love Jaba's food and the space inside is great. However, I'm just not on board with the high prices.

Overpriced and disappointing portions I was really looking forward to trying Jaba, hoping for an authentic Taiwanese experience. Unfortunately, it was a letdown. The prices were surprisingly high, and the portions were shockingly small -- definitely not worth what we paid. The food itself was just average, nothing that stood out. With so many great Taiwanese spots around, I don't think I'll be coming back. Stinky tofu $16 Oyster omelet $20 read more

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Very solid food, highlights are oyster pancakes, chicken fried, whole roasted mackerel and tiramisu. Service was fast and very attentive. The ambience is cool, modern and quiet, a really authentic experience. read more

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Kind of expensive for the quality of food. The noodles in the beef noodle soup were oddly chewy but also a little too soft. The stinky tofu also didn't have much of a funk. The razor clams were the best dish of the night, and the zong didn't really seem to go with the sauce it came with but was still solid read more

The food was fairly average and overpriced sadly. I had high hopes as I love Taiwanese food but this place was not it :( We tried a bunch of dishes: Oyster pancake- oysters were huge, but threw off the consistency of the dish since usually this comes with small oysters. Pig ear- not bad. I liked the contrast of the final fry with the unctuous soft pig ear. The pickled cucumbers were way too salty. Salt and pepper chicken- had better at Vivi's bubble tea tbh Beef noodle soup- respectable, but nothing to write home about. Clams- waaaay too salty I will say service was very friendly. We ended up getting comped drinks since they ran out of the one we wanted which was super nice, but sadly this does not mask the lackluster food. read more

i really wanted to like it but given the price and smaller dishes. they serve a lot of authentic dishes though. i think it may be tough for people unfamiliar with stinky tofu read more

Jaba - omelette, braised cabbage, beef noodle soup - Taiwanese Near Me - New York, New York

Food is interesting and very tasty ,loved the shaved ice ,it is huge and delicious, staffs are very professional and friendly

After vacationing in Taiwan twice and spending 2wks in the latter time, we really missed authentic Taiwanese cuisine, and Jaba really delivered it last night! The beef noodle soup tasted like the ones from Taiwan, al dente fresh hand made noodles with perfectly cooked beef shank and the broth that makes you reminisce back to its origins. My 8yr old son downed half of it in no time! The pork LBB is a classic, topping it off with a savory runny (the yolk melts!) soy sauce egg was just perfect! The oyster omelet was nothing like the ones we tried in Taiwan...Jaba really placed oyster over omelet in their version, and the oysters were big, plump and juicy! Having the sauce on the side was a great idea, keeping the crunch in the omelet and allowing customers to add the sauce to their own preference. The mochi meat ball was an interesting concept, the ingredients worked well together, tastes like zongzi, but without the starchy mung bean or sticky rice component, and replaced with a tapioca mochi covering (leaving more quota to try other foods)! We thought it was very bold of Jaba to put stinky tofu on their menu. I consider it as a "you either love it or hate it" dish because of its pungent smell/taste. I personally am not a fan, but my husband is, and he loves the dish! The flavors were all there, just like in Taiwan! The sacha beef and water spinach, 3 cups lobster and basil garlic razor clams were all very savory dishes, bursting with layers of flavors. My personal favorite was the razor clams, cooked perfectly with the right amount of spice. All the sauces of the 3 dishes were flavorful enough to go well with a bowl of white rice. As always, the sweet potato Creme brûlée was delivered flawlessly. I first tried it at Kin Gin in the LES and thought it was a genius concept! My son has tried a good amount of Creme brûlée in France and he downed this one in a split second, so looks like it's another winner! The shaved ice was very fluffy (just like the ones in Taiwan), and who doesn't like mascarpone cream and condense milk?? The star fruit was their seasonal fruit and gave the dessert a very fresh taste! The tomato granita was an interesting and surprising find. This was our first time having tomatoes as a dessert and it actually works! The sweet and tartness of the plum powder soy go really well with the fresh and sweetness of the tomato infused shaved ice! Super refreshing! Perfect on a hot summer day! JABA was a great experience overall! The staff were super friendly and attentive. The half open kitchen concept was very nice to have (my son was eating in front of their window, staring at the dessert chef of course). Highly recommended! Oh, and their winter melon tea drink was right on spot! Suitable for children also, my son had 2! read more

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All I need is the Wintermelon spritzer, stinky tofu, and sesame noodles. Wait, can't forget the shaved ice.. and of course, the sweet potato crème brûlée. Okay, I'd come back just for those. Everything hit the spot comforting, flavorful and totally Taiwanese crave-worthy. Service was wonderful, and the modern, sleek vibe made the whole experience even better -- bonus points for a super clean bathroom with real towels instead of paper! read more

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Initially I wasn't going to do a yelp review for this place, but since the owner responded in such a kind way, it just felt right to put this on Yelp. **This is for the owner, it's not fake. Just because I didn't make the reservation, doesn't mean it's fake. My friend made the reservation. I can add more food pics if you want, but don't call this review fake. Do better** This review is mainly about the food. The service was okay, nothing special. The ambiance was okay too but they need to work on dampening the sound. Tried Jabä recently and sadly, I can't recommend this place to anyone. We ordered several dishes: beef noodle soup, Berkshire pork LLB, stinky tofu, oyster pancake, crab and mentaiko dumplings, basil garlic razor clams, and sweet potato crème brûlée...and none of them were any good. The beef noodle soup had no flavoring; it was just salty water. There was no five spices, tomato, or beef flavor in that soup. The beef was soft, but it was also tasteless. The Berkshire pork LLB was rich and savory, but I think it didn't have enough rock sugar in it. It was edible but it was too savory that we had to keep asking for water. The stinky tofu was crispy, but the sauce wasn't it. The oyster pancake was soggy from oversized oysters and sauce was sad. It wasn't that sweet and savory red sauce that usually comes with the dish, it was too savory. The dumplings tasted good but there was so much air in them. I've never seen a dumpling deflate before. The razor clams were decent in terms of flavor, but they weren't cleaned. Most of the clams had grit in it and for that price, it shouldn't have any. Even the dessert was a $15 disappointment. The sugar top didn't crack, it folded like a taco, which defeats the purpose of a brûlée. The sweet potato was burnt at the edges, and the portion was tiny (four bites at best). Had high hopes for this place but 10 out of 10 would not try again. read more

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Jaba exceeds industry standards. Their dishes show cooking skill and good flavor. The modest-sized restaurant delivers excellent food. The restaurant proprietor displayed warm consideration. The place features a comfortable environment. read more

The food was amazing ! I had the crab dumplings, oyster omelette. The beef soup was delicious the meat was so tender and tasty. The pork dish with rice and tofu was so delicious. I saved room for dessert to savor the shaved ice... a must for a summer treat. The chef changes menu to keep us intrigued and guest wanting more. Looking forward to my next trip there! read more

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The food quality is solid. The serving size is generous and the cost stays low. Staff was careful and considerate. The dishes offer flavor experiences that seem new. Another meal here is essential. read more

Six hungry people found satisfaction here. The food is delicious and servings are large. My go-to place. They keep their establishment looking fresh and clean. Workers came across as particularly kind and skillful. This place offers outstanding food. read more

I was so excited to try this place when it opened up! Beautiful ambiance, kind staff, and yummy food. Whatever you know about Taiwanese food, this is that, but elevated! Given the location, east midtown, I thought the prices were reasonable for the experience (def a good date place). Being American born Chinese, I love Chinese food, but the presentation isn't always there and Jaba nails presentation!!! And they have a huge Taiwanese shaved ice to enjoy after your meal, can't beat that!! When you come to Jaba, it's not just about the food, but an experience!! Would definitely recommend to all! read more

I can't believe I found this spot. The menu costs align with the experience. Extraordinarily friendly workers throughout! Every dish showed tremendous skill. Consider dining at this restaurant! read more

The food here is the real deal. Traditional in the sense of what they doses represent in Taiwanese cuisine, but with a twist from Chef which is delightful and delicious. The ambiance is modern and serene. There is a beautiful window into the kitchen. Service was attentive and friendly. What a great experience on their opening night. read more

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