Out of all the bubble tea chains we've tried in the Triangle (e.g., Cha House, Quickly), Moge Tee has been the best and most consistent in terms of quality to us. The tea we've had at the Moge Tee locations in both Raleigh and Durham have been good and satisfying. I recommend this place. Overall, it's one of the better bubble tea places we've been to in the Triangle so far (local businesses included).
Unlike a lot of bubble tea chains, Moge Tee is from mainland China, not Taiwan (most of the big brands are from Taiwan). It started in 2012. This location opened in December 2019 in West Raleigh, across the street from NC State. It's on Hillsborough Street, the main drag for NC State (like what Franklin Street is to UNC). Moge Tee sits directly across from Winston and Caldwell Halls.
We visited on a Saturday afternoon when street parking was free. Metered parking is enforced Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm. Several spots were available near Moge Tee. I parked in front of Caldwell Hall.
This location has the typical small/compact bubble tea store layout. The interior is a little more narrow and cramped than average. They have both indoor and outdoor seating. Their outdoor seating, on the brick and concrete sidewalk, is nice. It's partially covered. During our visit, the store was busy, but the line wasn't bad. They had plenty of staff to keep things moving at a brisk pace.
My wife and I got a Super Fruit Green Tea (large, $5.75) and a Taro Tofu Pudding (medium, made with soy milk, $6.00). These two drinks were cold, refreshing, and hit the spot. Fruit tea is a healthier, lighter alternative to the more calorie-dense milk bubble teas yet is still tasty and satisfying. The Super Fruit Green Tea we had here had good, strong tea flavor. Fruits in the tea included lime, lemon, orange, watermelon, and passionfruit (pulp and seeds). The Taro Tofu Pudding drink had lots of real taro and silken tofu in it, easily sucked up through a wide boba straw. The ingredients tasted fresh and appetizing. An advantage to this drink is it's caffeine-free. I'd only had caffeinated beverages on this particular day until ordering this (I was looking for something caffeine-free). Also, we liked that there were multiple milk alternatives like almond milk and soy milk. In general, the quality of both drinks was consistent with the Moge Tee we've been to in Old West Durham.
A detail I like about some of the lids here is, unlike the common plastic film covers and other types of lids, you can re-snap the straw holes shut. There are circular indentations on top of the lids where you can snap the straw hole covers while you drink. I've seen similar for sip lids, but for straw lids, I've not seen it as often.
Moge Tee has all the standard, popular drinks like tea with cheese foam, Yakult drinks, "Milk Swirl" (e.g., Brown Sugar Bubble Milk Tea), and Uji matcha (considered the superior type of matcha green tea). Expect to spend about $5-7 each for a medium-sized drink (500 mL or 17 oz) and about $6-9 each for a large-sized drink (700 mL or 24 oz) before tax and tip.
They also serve egg waffles. Most varieties (e.g., matcha and strawberry) are about $7 each. The menu listed the egg waffles as exclusive to Raleigh, but I'm not sure how true that is.
Service was great. The staff was polite and processed orders fast and efficiently.
At the time of writing this review, there are six Moge Tee locations in North Carolina including one in each Triangle city (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). There are two in Georgia (Atlanta and Duluth). None in South Carolina. read more