This time I tried the tofu curry rice and a lavender milk tea with grass jelly. Really enjoyed the…read morecurry rice. Not comparable to what you get if you visit a real Japanese curry house, but still delicious. The menu marks it as spicy but, while it was warming and hearty, I didn't think it was very spicy. I like how they prepare their tofu - the texture is perfect for holding sauce. The lavender milk tea was the basic stuff from a premade mix. Not bad but not great. I think they may just have used too much of the mix because the drink was very sweet and a little thick. The grass jelly was also firmer than usual so I suspect this was a premade canned brand of not particularly high quality. I do sometimes like bubble tea made from tea mixes, so I might try different flavours and toppings to see if other options are better. They had regular waiter service this time. I had a different waitress than last time. She mentioned that she had just started, but she was very nice and did great.

The picture was alittle deceiving. I ordered the crepe cake expecting creamy light and refreshing…read more This one tasted really stale and not fresh at all. The cream between the layers was quite stiffened and dry. You might have needed a knife to cut through the layers. Yes... that bad. I also ordered an americano coffee, the cashier didn't really offer cream or sugar... so I had it black which is fine, but bc of how stale the cake was, it did not help the coffee any. I'm hoping it was just an off day. The young cashier seemed like she did not want to be there and I totally feel her, I remember being that age and not wanting to work, so it may also be a staffing issue as well. Overall, was kind of disappointed in my visit here. But there are other places in Bloomington to try out so no worries.

Super yummy boba and cheese corn dog definitely would recommend, slightly secluded, they deserve…read moremore customers!!

Zero Degrees has east Asian food and drinks including but not limited to bubble tea, ramen,…read moreKorean-style corn dogs, and egg waffles. The store is colourful and cute but not over the top, and the seating is very comfortable. They have wifi. I got a taro meets ube drink with pudding and a pumpkin spice egg waffle (fall special). I haven't had an egg waffle in a while since I don't know of any other place in Bloomington that makes them and I love pumpkin spice, so I was very excited about this waffle, and it did not let me down. The pumpkin spice flavour was nice, the waffle was fluffy and cooked right. They lightly drizzled it with a caramel sauce but the waffle itself wasn't too sweet so it balanced out. I liked the taro meets ube, which was taro milk tea with ube paste. The taro and ube flavours were similar but enhanced each other. I didn't see if I could adjust the sweetness level, but the default wasn't overly sweet. I was able to get this drink with soy milk instead of regular milk, although the barista let me know that the ube paste contains milk that can't be removed. The barista and lady cooking in the back both seemed very friendly. My drink was ready quickly. It took a while, maybe 15 minutes to get my waffle, but they apologized for the wait. There's a 4% charge on card purchases. Bring cash to save a little.

I love coming to Kung Fu Tea, no matter what state they're in. It's always consistent drinks and…read morevery flavorful. This one is, in my opinion, the best boba tea in Bloomington and, although you have to drive to the west side to get it, it's very worth the short trip. The employees are always very quick to take your order and make your drinks. The shop the always clean and it has a wide open space with lots of tables and chairs. They also have a lot of small items and toys you can purchase while waiting for your drinks.

Went tonight with the kid. Her favorite spot is on the east side…read more Let me start by saying that this place should NOT be listed in the boba tea category. They technically have boba they can add to any tea or drink you choose, but unless they simply didn't offer it, there is no variety. Kid had a strawberry drink she said was very good, but when it got to the boba she didn't like it and didn't finish it. Her favorite place offers all kinds of boba, including fizzy boba. That being said, they have a wide array of drinks, which means you don't have to be a coffee or tea drinker to enjoy what they serve. There are some good looking concoctions there! The staff was very friendly, and they have a nice little selection of merchandise that is imported straight from china, which is always cool to see. I wound up getting a stuffy for the kid. They also had hair clips, jewelry, pens, and some other goodies. I may stop in myself sometime for a drink. The prices seemed reasonable, and the drink seemed like it was made with care. We don't have many places like this on the west side. Give it a try!

Overall, a solid spot - especially for poke…read more The poke bowls are really good: fresh ingredients, nice portions, and a great variety of toppings and combinations to choose from. It's a reliable place if you're craving something quick, customizable, and satisfying. They also have a wide selection of boba drinks with lots of different flavors, which is great in terms of variety. That said, I found the drinks to be a bit too sweet for my taste, and it would be great if there were adjustment options available. That's really the only reason I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5. Still, a great option in Bloomington for both poke and boba - just be mindful of the boba if you do get it here.

I come here pretty often because of the location, and I've found them to be pretty consistent in…read moredelivering fresh poke and bubble tea. Something I like here is that a lot of the proteins are marinated/sauced, and the marinades are very tasty, although this does result in the bowls coming out really saucy when you add sauces and dressings on top of that. All of the poke I've ordered has come out delicious. The unagi in the unagi don was a little tough, but the other proteins seem to be good quality and the veggies are fresh. Even the small bowl is filling enough for a meal for me, and since most toppings are free, you can load up with the veggies you want. I never feel like they get stingy with the portions. I'm not super impressed with the other food besides poke. It's not bad but nothing special. The spring rolls were unoffensive but could've been grocery store frozen spring rolls, and were only served with the duck sauce packets you get with Chinese takeout. The caramel pudding was okay but the texture was a little grainy. They have really good drinks if you know what to order. Some of their bubble tea is just the basic flavoured stuff, but the fancy-sounding teas - anything from the specialty drink series or pure tea series - are really good. They do run a bit sweet and I'm still not sure if you can adjust the sugar level. Maybe I'll remember to ask next time now that I've written it down. The staff here are nice, and the assembly-line ordering for the poke means it's very fast to grab food here. They take a little longer to make drinks but they're still usually a little faster than most bubble tea places in town.

I come here a lot because it's right across the street from IU Jacobs, and it's the only…read moreindependent coffee shop that opens early (they open at 6 am M-F and actually have food out when they open, unlike the nearby Crumble and Inkwell that open at 7/7:30 but don't have baked goods out until about an hour later). The baristas are always friendly. The place is spacious with a good amount of seating, but it can sometimes be hard to find a good seat inside because, as you would expect, students come to study/work and stay for a long time. I love their baked goods - they have interesting and unique offerings and everything tastes wholesome. Besides their Soma-made bakes (muffins, loaves, scones, dessert bars, cookies, and more), the bagels (I think from Gables) and Piccolo Dolci pastries are great, but they have these two muffins that are from a different supplier that I didn't think were of very good quality - I recommend avoiding the chocolate cheesecake muffin and banana nut muffin. I think the veggie/cheese sandwich is decent. It's just deli cheese slices with lettuce, cucumber, pesto, and mayo, but the bread is good and if you want something simple it's surprisingly satisfying. The coffee is pretty good. I am a decaf drinker so I appreciate that they have both decaf coffee and decaf espresso. They have a really good loose leaf tea selection and the teas are legit. Between the variety and quality it's the best tea selection I've found at a coffee shop in Bloomington. The quality of the chai and matcha are less impressive. I feel like there's a slight artificial flavour to the matcha, but to be fair, I've only tried it with flavour added, so maybe it's better unsweetened. When I asked for half sweet, that was better than regular sweetness. Both are still better than Starbucks. But I'd definitely recommend the loose leaf tea lattes over the chai/matcha. As mentioned in my previous review, some things are self-serve. It turns out they do have glasses and mugs available if you ask, but if you don't ask for dine-in, the default is disposable cups. Brewed coffee is self-serve, with your choice of (usually) two regular roasts and one decaf. If you want a toasted bagel, you have to slice and toast it yourself in the toaster on the condiment table. It seems like you sort of have to know what to order here, but as I'm learning what's good, I really appreciate the offerings that are good, the comfortable unpretentious environment, and long hours at Soma.

You will find this coffee shop right across the street from the main IU campus. There is a small…read morelot available in front of the the shop that has spots with a 20 minute max. Since the shop is so close to IU campus, most people walk here. The dining area is large and has couches, tables/chairs and bar seating along the front window. You can imagine that the place is usually filled with IU students working away on their laptops of in small social groups, given the shop's close proximity to the campus. The women that were working during my visit were all so very helpful and friendly. they helped my make my selection. They serve a wide array of hot and iced coffees and also has teas, smoothies and juices as well. The coffees come in 3 sizes, yep you guessed it, small, medium and large. The light food options that they have includes cookies, scones, muffins, parfaits, quiche, zucchini bread, brownies, and cinnamon rolls. I ended up getting a large iced pumpkin spice latte. It took about 7 minutes for me to get my drink. It was very savory and hit the spot. It was gone in a matter of seconds. Anyway, I highly recommend checking this place out. It is a traditional coffee house, with a great staff, savory drinks and delicious treats. I highly recommend checking this place out.

This and Siam House are both great. Can't go wrong with any dish and it's a nice vibe.read more

Really liked it! I really chose this place for dinner because I wanted bubble tea, and the bubble…read moretea was good but the food was the highlight. The menu is very vegetarian-friendly since you can choose tofu as a protein for most entrees, and even vegan-friendly since they have nondairy milk options for drinks and some entrees can be easily customized to be vegan (order with tofu/no meat and remove egg). I got a matcha latte with brown sugar crystal boba and the Pattaya pineapple rice. Matcha latte: The matcha was decent - it had the flavour of matcha latte mix rather than pure matcha, but it wasn't unpleasant, and it was strong. I like the brown sugar crystal boba as a topping - the flavour is very similar to brown sugar tapioca boba, but it doesn't sit as heavy. It's a different kind of chewy than tapioca, but it's close enough that it basically gives the same kind of experience as regular tapioca boba in a drink. Pattaya pineapple rice: Really good! The rice was well-seasoned and the pieces of juicy pineapple and raisins added some sweetness that contrasted very nicely with the curry-spiced rice. They have 5 spice levels (mild, medium, hot, extra hot, Thai hot). I usually went for medium heat when I lived on the west coast, but since this is the Midwest, I tried "hot" and found it had a bit of a kick, but the heat was still secondary to the other flavours, so it was the right choice for me. Very good service. The waiter was very friendly and attentive without hovering - he came by at just the right times. My drink and food came out not too long after I ordered. The place is nice. Like the other restaurants in this area, it's situated in a small house-like building. The atmosphere feels down-to-earth. There were lots of things on the menu that caught my interest, so I'll definitely be back!

This is one of my favorite places to eat in Bloomington and even better, has the seal of approval…read morefrom my Chinese mom! Judy's Kitchen is a Taiwanese style kitchen meaning they serve roasted meats like pork (Char Siu) and duck. They also have some Taiwanese staples like their popcorn chicken and beef noodle soup. They also have bubble tea made from real ingredients like taro or red bean as often times, boba places use powder to make the tea base. Before we moved from Bloomington entirely, my fiancé and I wanted to eat here one last time. He got his favorite, the hot pepper chicken, and I got the beer noodle soup for the first time. Both dishes didn't fail us. The hot pepper chicken is stir fried in a lot of chiles but actually isn't as hot as you think. It has a slow build and is tolerable for something with an average spice tolerance like me! The beef noodle soup was heavenly. It's similar to pho but is sweeter and more gingery. You need to try it to understand! I'll miss Judy's so much and hope it's still around when I visit Bloomington.

The food here was home-style and homemade, and reasonably tasty, but not my favorite Chinese food…read morein Bloomington. Wonton noodle soup: broth was a chicken broth that tasted super homemade, and might have been the best part of the meal. Wontons were okay, noodles were average premade. It all balances out.

Stopped by for takeout and got: pork buns, salt & pepper fish, fried spicy chicken and dan dan…read morenoodle. Everything tasted great--my favorite is always the salt & pepper fish. Perfectly seasoned. Good authentic Chinese food! Staff was very friendly.

My daughter and I just had the most delicious meal at Longfei. We ordered bok choy w garlic &…read moreginger and Salt&Pepper fish fillets (and white rice). It was so delicious and savory and spicy and bright and fresh. I want a repeat, tomorrow! Highly recommend, and I am grateful, too, for the warm, hospitable and unfussy service.