We found the food here to be really good overall. The bowls of ramen were huge and a great value. The sushi roll was also large and tasty - their signature Roots roll is the one we tried. I'd also recommend the pork bao buns. The advice was fast and friendly. Plenty of seating and a simple, clean, decor here. read more

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It sounded promising. Asian options including Taiwanese beef Noodle soups from founders from the motherland. It's located in a strip mall and all the customers were non-asian...that should have been a sign. The Hot and Sour Soup and Wonton Soups were just OK. A bit salty for my taste actually. The LoMein noodles with shrip were a disappointment @ $20 per bowl. The noodles were overcooked with too much water remaining in the bowl it was served in. The shrimp was not high quality, and there were minimal vegetables in the dish. Overall, not worth the asking price. I'm not from the Princeton area which has a wealth of ethnic cuisine, but unfortunately would not be one I'd recommend. read more

Got seated quickly during lunch on a saturday and got chicken katsu ramen and drunken noodles. Both were very tasty and the portions were a good size. read more

Roots - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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This is an interesting Asian fusion restaurant located in a strip mall. At first I was a little confused, it was unclear to me if you ordered at the front, and picked your food near the register, but soon after I realized it was a sit down spot. The waiters are all very friendly, and a menu was bought out quickly. The choices definitely varied! I don't know if I would call it a fusion restaurant... maybe an all inclusive Asian restaurant. They had options such as Taiwanese beef noodle soup, sushi, kimchi fried rice etc... My pad Thai did not taste authentic, but I loved the chewiness of the noodles. I wished it was slightly spicier with a punchier flavor. read more

Roots - Drunken Noodle - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

Great food. Casual restaurant. But food is fantastic. Servers are very friendly. Highly recommend.

Used to like this place but it's gone downhill since. The concept is nice and the first time I went the purple rice and tofu combination was nice but the last few times I've gone the food has been flavorless and too greasy and just plain disappointing. It's a nice spot for dinner or date night but unfortunately the food is not up to par anymore read more

Roots - Crepe - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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Came here for dinner after work. I am not sure why this place is not getting more review stars. We ordered a few different dishes and every dish came out excellent - from presentation to taste. Not to mention the service is very good too. The interior looks nice though a little loud. read more

Roots - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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The vibe is relaxing and dim once inside, it is usually busy around dinner time sometimes there is a wait but it is very short. The ramen was HUGE I took half of it home & the pork buns were fluffy and delicious. Fantastic service and presentation of food, good portions and definitely worth a trip over. read more

Roots - Edamame and the roots ramen! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

This place is fantastic. The food is delicious, orders are fast and efficient, and the system for customizations is very efficient - I am a vegetarian and have subbed tofu for meat several times, and often get a call within a few minutes of ordering double-checking if egg is okay or some other high-level detail. It is so rare to see this level of attention and quality in work in restaurants these days, but this place can always be relied upon. Thank you, Roots! read more

I love coming here! The food is amazing and the staff is always so nice. I normally get the drunken noodles and pad Thai. It is a little on the spicy side but I would highly recommend read more

Decent place for ramen in the Princeton area! My family came here for early dinner at 4pm on Dec. 26, 2023. It was not too busy and our party of 7 could be accommodated. Roots ramen was tasty with pork, soft boiled eggs, and Shanghai greens. The appetizers were nice with the edamame and pork dumplings. My wife enjoyed the drunken noodles dish. Interior of restaurant is quite pleasant and bright. Parking is easy as it's in the same shopping complex as Whole Foods. Service can be a bit slow if it is crowded. But overall this is a good option for pan-Asian food in Princeton! read more

Roots - Roots interior - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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Service was slow, I went with a friend and you'd think you would get sat right away when there's two of you. However, bigger parties were walking in and being sat before us. We noticed they were waiting to give us a smaller table; meanwhile, we got the most food. Food was good! Haven't been in awhile and I do feel it's changed in quality a little bit. Atmosphere is always nice in there in terms of decor. Still a good pick and should try if you like Asian cuisine. read more

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Decent spot in the area if you're looking for something on the healthier side. My dietary restrictions make it so that I'm limited in what I can have here, but my wife has tried several items and always is very happy with what she gets. If you come in the evening, be prepared to wait a little since it gets pretty packed. That said, the wait time is usually not terrible and the service is quite fast once seated. Overall good ambience and the ingredients are fresh. We always try one of their juices when we come here which are done well, although I wish they were larger given the price tag. I don't think I've found my go-to item though as nothing stands out as a must-try. However, I'll admit that may just be because the food is too healthy for me! Parking is quite easy as it shares the plaza with Whole Foods and several other spots in the strip mall. I do have to admit that the pricing is a bit steep for what you get, would probably rate higher if they gave you more for your buck. read more

General Roots bowl. Need I say more? Look at the material, you already know it was delicious. read more

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The best option for Asian food and sushi in the area if you eat gluten-free. The menu specifically notes which items are gluten-free or can be prepared gluten-free. The sushi rolls are all of the standard fare. I've tried a number of rolls, both gluten-free and not, and they have all been solid. The quality is great for the price point. Outside of the sushi, I have had the wonton soup which was really good as well. read more

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Delicious food and great options! Only problem is the restaurant can get a bit loud making it difficult to have conversations if you're with hard of hearing people. Always leave with a full belly! read more

It's ok. When it first opened it was very good. Not that impressed recently. Pad Thai was very bland.

Nice and clean indoors and felt comfortable- loved the amount of space between each table- but food was not flavorful. Very few vegan options and waiters are not educated on what is vegan/ not. Would not recommend. We ordered this as vegans: - Miso soup: pretty decent, but all taste the same so how could you go wrong - Drunken noodles: super bland and no flavor - Spring rolls: tiny and crispy- i enjoyed these Save yourself a trip and go somewhere with more authentic thai flavors! read more

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Long over due lunch date with hubby in between Thanksgiving food shopping at multiple stores. Yeah, we're particular about what we eat. Despite being super busy with the work lunch crowd we didn't feel neglected or put off. Tasty and nicely presented bowls of goodness and professional and friendly service included. Take your next lunch date here. read more

Roots - General's beef bowl. - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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So delicious, the food was served hot and fresh, the staff was helpful however I'd recommend making reservations.

Absolutely love Roots! Some of our favorite Asian food in NJ. The place is super cozy and the food is fresh. Some favorites: Vegetarian dumplings (super buttery) Thai basil bowl (really good flavor) Thai coconut bowl (creamy and spicy, love with noodles) They also have a sushi menu and their rolls are pretty good read more

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Service and quality are declining. Food is okay but having more mishaps with order and quality issues. read more

Roots - a view of a restaurant from the bar - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

Fresh food. Loved the spicy basil chicken and spring rolls. Service was fast and pleasant.

Atrocious experience. Worst service ever... slow as can be. We're talking waiting an hour just for the app to come out... Not friendly with lots of attitude when answering questions about the menu. Hair found in dumpling appetizer. No apology granted but they did bring out a new one, no questions asked. Food was mediocre. Sushi is probably the best thing here. Tried the chicken ramen soup and it was bland. Very large though and generous portions of everything, impressed by that. Much better Asian restaurants around the area so probably wouldn't bother with this one again. Has a nice, calming atmosphere though, possibly for a date. read more

Roots - Angry Dragon roll - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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This is a fantastic Asian restaurant. We came for lunch on a Friday and ordered the Shrimp and Mango sushi roll, pork dumplings, vegetable dumplings, Thai coconut chicken bowl and hot green tea. All of the foot tastes so fresh, flavorful and piping hot. The service was fantastic and the food came out very quickly. This will become one of our go-to restaurants. read more

Roots - Creamy Coconut Thai bowl with chicken - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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The ambiance is good and the food is fine, it came out just a bit under seasoned. I had to request some siracha for the drunken noodles. The ingredients they use are very good quality, but some of the recipes could use some improvements. read more

Not sure why they have low score My husband and I stopped in and had dumplings and the sauce served with was delish, Thai spring rolls and the sweet spice sauce again was delish Then I had the roots roll and my husband had pho Bo accompanied by the regular stuff plus more mint basil bean sprouts chili paste plum sauce soy sauce Def will come back if we are ever in this area again read more

Roots - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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Solid place to grab an Asian fusion casual meal with friends. Everything I've tried here is decent quality, big portions, and yummy. Service was quick as well. read more

Roots - Thai basil - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

Loved reading the story on the wall about how's the restaurant was founded. My mom got the sashimi dinner which was served on a small wooden boat! They were very accommodating to allergies and attentive to our questions. read more

Well I was searching for a unique Asian restaurant. When you walk in the restaurant seems to be torn between a fast-food (e.g. Chipotle) and a sit-down service. If you go for lunch expect the order in-line and move along while for dinner you are seated. There are some unique items on the menu and I went with the duck. The food was well prepared and I enjoyed the main dish. The sides were a nice touch as well, so overall a nice dish. I was flying solo this evening and was seated at a table for six. I stated that I could sit at one of the tables for two, but was told that those were reserved. OK, table for six then, these tables are long and rectangular in shape. The service was nice, friendly, and pretty much what you would expect. Shortly after ordering another customer was seated at the same table with me who was also flying solo. She never looked up from her phone - so much for social etiquette. The food... well my recent dinner "un"companion got her order way before mine. The server apologized and said it was coming shortly. It was another 10-minutes. This was absolutely ridiculous as it took nearly 25-minutes for me to get my order. Just simply tell me, "Sorry, we forgot to make your order." They made no effort to fix it or go out of there way. This is poor customer service. I did not complain because I am not that guy. This is integrity which this place lacked. If you care about your customers admit your mistake and fix it. Overall, the food was good. The staff, eh. I probably would not stop by here again which is a shame as I will be in the NJ area frequently in the coming months and I thought I had found a nice Asian restaurant. read more

This place is delicious! We spent a date night here and we're pleased. The restaurant is in an old train car, and the vibe is very rustic but glamorous. The appetizers were fresh and tasty. The servers were helpful and didn't simply push things. Dessert was lacking or else I'd give five stars- we will return read more

I've come here a handful of times and I'm never disappointed! Quality of food is great, tasty, and fresh. Also, the ambiance of this place is trendy and cozy! Portions are a bit small for the price, but I'll definitely keep coming back in the future. read more

Roots - Sushi Bowl - Asian Fusion Near Me - Princeton, New Jersey

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Came here after work to grab some dinner on a weekday a few months ago. I thought I could just walk in, sit down and eat but boy was I wrong. Place was unbelievably packed . People standing waiting to be seated . Seemed a little I decided to order and take it home to eat. Inside was very cute . Liked the decor . I ordered pork dumplings and thai coconut chicken bowl . It was good/ok. Not my favorite but then again I had it as take out. Would come back again - would like to dine there and give it another chance. One day read more

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Foods great and staff is super friendly. Id come back here again! Worth a stop if youre looking for sushi or thai/asian food read more

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I've had takeout here several times and it has always been good. The pad Thai is excellent.

Good for Princeton area. As this place is run by Chinese owners I would advise sticking with the hot Chinese or American-Chinese dishes on the menu which are pretty good. (Just as Asian Bistro is v good for Korean food). In particular, General Roots and Teriyaki were both consistently good. I like having them with purple rice which is a more nutritious alternative to starchy white rice. They would have gotten four stars except: I would stay VERY FAR AWAY from the sushi bowl. It is literally the only time in my life I've had a sushi bowl with copious amounts of Kewpie (that's MAYO, not even SPICY mayo) between the rice and the sashimi, which made it borderline inedible for me, since I chose sashimi bowl specifically as a healthy option. It's fine to take creative license if you must but please include unconventional use of ingredients in the description of the dish so I can know to avoid ordering it. The description also included furikake (Japanese rice seasoning flakes) which is nowhere to be seen - so I'm guessing someone in the kitchen made a conscious choice to replace with MAYO. Stick with the hot Chinese dishes and you'll do great. read more

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Amazing sashimi and noodle dishes. You can byob and they will provide ice bucket. Highly recommend!

Wow, obviously this place is frequented by "Americans" who have no idea about Asian food and don't really care about the quality. And I do not mean any insult to the average American diners but the American food culture stemming from processed foods and sauce-everything culture means they are often "less discerning" about what really good Asian foods taste like. That's the only conclusion I can reach after having an unfortunate experience of dining here a few weeks ago on a visit to Trenton. The interior is nice and spacious but a restaurant is judged by its food first and once my food arrived, everything went down the toilet from there. I ordered pretty generic items: har gow (steamed shrimp dumpling) and their Roots ramen, thinking it must be a safe bet since they put their name on it. Har gow was disappointing. The skin was breaking and the meat was rubbery, a sure sign of lower quality freezer-to-pan dumpling. I just doused them in sweet dimsum soy sauce for the sake of not wasting food. But true shock came from the ramen - my god, never have I been so instantaneously turned off by how wrongly made a dish was! Broth - So bland. I tried my best to find meaning in the broth... to tell myself no I must be wrong, but alas, it was horrible... a tasteless hot water with chicken bullions if that. It was an insult to the word "broth." Noodles - My instant noodle is chewier and better than this. Toppings - To their credit, they gave four pieces of char siu pork, but they were spongy and lacking in flavor. There were like 4 pieces of bokchoy, with no bamboo shoots, fish cakes, or anything else. And you call this a ramen? I second another reviewer's sentiment in saying that whoever created this "ramen" has never been to any decent ramen joints in North Jersey/NYC, let alone the homeland. I saw a couple eating some kimchi fried rice next table and it looked so tasteless... and sure enough, they left with like 50% of it left. What a waste of food. I came close to ordering soup dumplings but am SO glad I didn't because that would've been a trainwreck. I rarely give out 1-star, but I believe Roots deserve this thoroughly. Being near Princeton, one would think that this restaurant would know a thing or two about Asian food, but I can't take seriously a restaurant that fails so immediately and completely. Seeing how most highly-rated reviews come from non-Asians, this place only pretends to serve Asian foods and Asian diners who know their food should do right by staying away. Perhaps they do some other food items exceptionally well but given my experience, I highly doubt it. read more

Heard good things about this from a friend, so went to eat there. I ordered the Drunken Noodle because I've been craving Thai. If I'm honest, it didn't taste anything remotely like Drunken Noodle or close to any Thai dish I've had before. The cook was very generous with the soy sauce for the base and the noodle didn't taste like rice noodle. The other ingredients were high quality: beef and tofu tasted great. But overall, it tasted as if the person who made it believed that all Asian dishes only used soy sauce. Maybe it was the wrong dish to get, but I am cautious about a second visit... read more

My previous review seems to be missing ... so here goes again! Roots has gone through its ups and downs in the last year and a half that I've been going. These days, it seems to be somewhat on the upswing in terms of consistency and flavor. It hovers between 3 and 4 stars, but my recent experiences have bumped it up. Pan-Asian restaurants typically make me quite hesitant, but Roots does a decent job at making fresh versions of classic dishes from a variety of cuisines, plus adding some of their own twists. It's not what I would call "authentic" food (and most customers are not Asian), but it's often lighter than their original counterparts. The space is rustic modern in a positive way, feeling expansive and well-lit without being glaringly so. They could use some sound insulation, though, as all the hard surfaces can create a very loud atmosphere when it's packed. And it does get very busy, especially on weekends and the odd weeknight, so why not call ahead and make a reservation just in case. During lunch you order at the counter and take a number to your table, while at dinner they have table service. Their menu is pretty expansive, and even unexpectedly includes freshly pressed juices and crepes. Now that they've upped their spice game, their Korean offerings seem the best in terms of flavor, with some of their noodle dishes being tasty as well. The Tall Man is a fan of their drunken noodles and kimchi fried rice. My parents gave the scallion pancakes their ok (not too greasy), although most of their dimsum options are tasty but much more expensive than other Chinese restaurants around. I have been eating grain- and soy-free these days, so I tend to order the more basic items on the menu. But the staff has been great about accommodating my needs, even if I sometimes have to repeat several times that yes, I just want a sauce-free protein with veggies in a bowl without a starch. But they come through. If you're just gluten-free, they do have quite a few dishes that are labeled so, and they have tamari as an alternative to soy sauce. Half their menu is sushi. Their more basic rolls are better than the highly-decorated original-sounding rolls, which look much tastier than they actually are. But a big plus is that you can get both the sushi and the bowls made with purple rice, which is an unusual but tasty option (basically the same as black or forbidden rice, a little stickier than brown rice). You'll find Roots in the congested strip mall shared with Whole Foods, although it's usually always possible to find a spot not too far from the restaurant. The sign is oddly not properly illuminated at night, but you'll see it as a dark spot near Jersey Subs. read more