PaTea

Came here for the first time and ordered a milk yea with bubbles and pudding and got my boyfriend a rose milk tea. Pretty good. Their milk for the milk tea was different than the other places and the rose milk tea had a strong tea flavor.
If I’m ever in Chinatown again, I’ll probably stop by :)

I went in knowing what I wanted for the most part. I’d just come from 88 Optical down the street, craving this tea that I had anticipated since the night before. I had my eyes on the rose milk tea and was considering another. I was welcomed by the girl at the register that ended up walking away while I was checking out the menu and shortly after, a guy came to help me. I asked what his favourites were and as I can’t remember the other one that he mentioned, he did say that he was a fan of the rose milk tea, which I had already planned on getting. I asked him if he preferred mango milk tea or honeydew milk tea (which is a usual for me) and she said he personally doesn’t like mango but it’s a popular drink, so I went with that one. I mentioned to him that I used to get rose milk tea at Red Bubble and was excited to have it again since they closed and he proceeded to inform me that PaTea’s rose milk tea is different from Red Bubble’s. Although that didn’t change my mind, I guess it would be useful info for anyone that preferred Red Bubble’s for whatever reason.
Onto the reviews of the teas: The rose milk tea was enjoyed shortly after purchasing, once I got to work one stop away on the train. It was definitely different from Red Bubble’s but not in a bad way. I got 70% sugar and truthfully, 100% wouldn’t have been too bad unless it’s a drastic increase of sugar from 70%. But I think they said that 50% is their default level and 70% wasn’t even very sweet to me so that’s why I think 100% would be okay. The rose milk tea tasted delicious, like I might have been drinking something brewed with real rose petals possibly? I bake with rose water and it has a different flavour.
The mango milk tea was enjoyed hours later, it had separated as it was sitting in a fridge for hours at work, it went back together with some firm shaking. Although separated again after sitting for only a few minutes. Not a big problem, it was still decent and probably would have tasted much better had I had it sooner. I plan to go back asap to try the passionfruit milk tea, as I’m a huge fan of fruity flavours mixed with milky flavours. Jasmine milk tea is on my to-​sip list as well.
I really love the menu here, the prices are great and much cheaper than the spots in St. Marks that I go to and the staff is helpful and polite.
P. S. — THEY HAVE STAMP CARDS! Get yourself one!

I went into Pa Tea for the $ 1.95 deal. It was 16 oz for either Oolong Milk Tea or Passionfruit Green Tea. I was in the mood for milk tea, but they ran out of the oolong milk tea. I asked if they could substitute another milk tea for me and the worker offered me the PA Four Seasons Green Milk Tea.
It’s slightly more bitter than the green milk teas that I’ve tried. I asked for 50% sugar & it was a good choice. I wouldn’t have minded if the drink was sweeter, so 70% sugar might also be a good option for me. I thought the drink was ok, I wasn’t in love/​impressed by the flavor. I asked for no ice, but I don’t think the worker heard me, so ~25% of my cup ended up being filled with ice.): It’s not a bad deal for $ 1.95 (tax is included in the price).

I’ve been meaning to try PaTea for a while now only because they have cute stubby sized cups. Very picture worthy indeed. However, it was not a good enough reason to convince me to pay a visit. Then, I found out they served mini bubbles which sparked some interest in me. Hence, I finally strayed away from my usual bubble tea spots in Chinatown and made a stop at PaTea.
I glanced around the menu intently and noticed several promos going on. They have:
–Buy 2 large drinks, get one free on weekdays from 12−3PM and,
–Medium Oolong Milk tea or a Passion fruit drink for $ 1.95
I settled for the Oolong Milk tea with 50% sugar, less ice and mini bubbles (25 cents extra). Surprisingly, the drink was deliciously fragrant! The mini bubbles were also a fun addition that didn’t require excessive chewing, which was nice.
Overall, I was very pleased with my drink. My friend, who came with me here, ordered a Kumquat drink which I thought was way too sour but she seemed to enjoy it. Will definitely be returning to check out some of their other affordable bubble tea options.

I heard about this place because of their creamy and stubby sized cups and I was really excited.
So I came in here with my friend and it was not as crowded as I thought it would be. I was glad that I got the last stubby sized cup yesterday and I was impressed. Tip: check in on Unilocal for 10percent off.
I ordered the Passion fruit Yakult, 50 percent sugar. I asked for no ice but I don’t think that the person heard so it was whatever.
I was surprised that the stubby sized cup was really big and if you order a drink the mini bubbles came with it. It was so cute. The cup was really wide.
I think it is worth $ 4.50 for the stubby sized cup. I would be coming back here again to try their other flavors.
Thank you for making my day.

Yum! I love getting my bubble tea from here! You have options! You can request different levels of sugar content ranging from 0%, 30%, 50%… I usually get 30% and it’s just right. You also have the option of having regular bubbles or mini bubbles (+ 25 cents). So I usually opt for the mini ones bc its not offered in a lot of bubble tea shops. They don’t just pour the milk tea into the cup but they use a special machine to shake it so it can be frothy and milky. And it’s reasonably-​priced total for medium size $ 2.25.
My only neg. is that it’s on Mott St. aka fish market water everywhere! You have been warned.

This place is lovely! Just stopped in there like 2 hours ago, kinda busy and sorta small but very good atmosphere. I got a passion fruit green tea, stubby size for only $ 3.95! They offer toppings for $ 0.25 and you can get mini bubbles (but I got regular size), they also show the sugar levels and 50% is what they consider normal. Come here if you’re in the mood for one of the best bubble teas in the city

Poor quality tea. They do have three sizes of some and four sizes of the Royale, which is the only deal for buy one get one free. They have happy hour 12 – 3 but not on weekends. We found the staff rude and curt. We will not go back.
Also, we had to fight to use the Unilocal coupon.
Go to Vivi tea at corner of Mott and Hester. Much nicer inside and neat boba options.

During the daytime, I feel like I could survive exclusively on bubble tea and its sister beverages and be just fine. I was looking for a different bubble tea establishment and stumbled upon this place one afternoon.
The good:
–black and yellow milk… oh, delicious. It’s pudding and boba in milk. They also offer a «red» mix and it’s assorted configurations with the above combo. (Red = red beans, so black and yellow, yellow and red, etc.)
–You can get mini boba! Completely straw suckable.
–Also they offer no or lite ice options which I love. As the old saying goes, «there’s money in ice!» — no ice equals more product.
–you can do 100, 70, 50, 30, etc percent sugar. The 50% sugar black and yellow milk was pretty sweet to me! I’d stick with 30%.
The bad
$ 10 credit card minimum. Or pay something like a 50 cent up charge to use one :-/.

One of the more decent bubble stores in Chinatown, there is no other chain or franchise location. It’s located in the middle of one of the most crowded street in Chinatown.
Their drinks are not bad. I do like the concept of the stubble size cup since you can’t get it anywhere else in New York. The bubbles don’t have much taste in them and they have mini bubbles which is good if you don’t like chewing the regular size bubbles since it gets very tiring. They also have a lot of different choices of toppings you can to your drink, I love adding lychee jelly for most of the fruity drinks (flavored green teas). My favorite is the Ice Cream Black Tea and is black tea and you mix the ice cream as the milk. I also like their Oreo milkshake which taste like McDonald’s Mcfury with no toppings of course.
The service is great expect when it’s busy and you have to wait a long time for your drink and since it’s such a small store shared with a cellphone store in the back, it gets too crowded so I prefer to go elsewhere. There is small bench for seating and there isn’t a bathroom. I only come when I’m by the area and they are not too packed.

I had the lychee milk tea with boba at 50% sugar and wasn’t very satisfied. The flavor of the lychee completely overpowered the flavor of the green tea. In fact, I really couldn’t taste any of the milky green tea at all! The boba was very chewy at least, and the lychee flavor was good, but I just wished there was a bit more of a balance. Next time I give this place a try, maybe I’ll just order a simple milk tea.
The shop is squished between a ton of exposed grocery shops and can be easily missed. Prices are good (don’t forget to check in on Unilocal for the extra discount!) and the service seemed solid to me. Though small, the shop has very cute decorations that give it a welcoming vibe. I am enticed to come back to give this another try.

3.5 stars. I wasn’t super impressed unfortunately. Ordered a green tea yakult with 50% sugar and no bubbles. Service was friendly but super, super slow. I’ve never waited over 15 minutes for bubble tea before. It was okay because I wasn’t in a rush, but there wasn’t too much room in the store (the back is another business) and if it weren’t for the bench near the front, I probably couldn’t have survived the wait while holding all of my groceries. The tea itself was a bit disappointing: Maybe I should have gotten more sugar or something, but it didn’t seem to be mixed very well. There was a frothy layer at the top that left a strange texture in my mouth as I drank the tea. Overall the flavor was good but I didn’t really feel like I got enough of the Yakult flavor.
It was definitely cheap though: $ 3 for my order and most things on the menu are extremely reasonable. Would be willing to give this place another shot but with so many other bubble tea options in the area I’m not sure this will really become my go-​to.

4.5 stars. I am hooked! Thank you fellow Unilocalers for leading me to this awesome bubble tea place. Honestly though, I missed it when walking down the block and only saw it after seeing the cutesy wall; it’s just the mobile shop (which is in the back) on the canopy, so look for the bright wall with the cute bear! The space is small and can get kinda warm, but it’s totally worth it.
I’m going through a rose milk tea craze and this place hits the spot. I ordered it with lychee jelly because everyone knows rose and lychee together is a match made in heaven. The milk tea was fragrant without being artificial and it went perfectly with the generous amount of lychee jelly. The service is friendly for the most part, guys more than the girls. They also have a nicely sized stubby cup (26oz.), must bring a friend! I will definitely be back the next time I’m in the area! =)

This is my new favorite Manhattan PMT place. The tea is good-​quality, and the pearls are chewy and not sticky. They often have an item which is on sale; given the diversity of their menu, I always like to try that. They have features that you don’t see a lot of in Manhattan, such as small pearls and stubby cups.
The tea is flavorful but not overbearing, and coalesces very well with the taste of the pearls. Overall, medium prices are comparable (maybe a tiny bit less) than the average for the area, while large prices are higher, owing to the $ 1 difference between the two sizes (which is usually $ 0.50). On the other hand, the $ 0.25 charge for an additional topping is less than the usual $ 0.50.
Also, go for their weekly deals! Only $ 2 for a medium cup of whatever’s on sale (and $ 0.25 to add pearls), so this is a great way to try something new.
⁸⁹⁄₁₀₀

Something about their iced rose milk tea with mini pearls keeps me coming back for more and has me placing them on the list of my favorite boba places in New York. Not many places has rose milk tea AND let’s you choose the sweetness level AND has mini pearls. But all are here!
I didn’t even think I liked rose tea… but apparently I do!
They have other awesome things here, but I can’t bring myself to have anything other than the rose tea here.

My favorite bubble tea spot. If you’re used to an American palette, it’s your first time, or clueless what to get at first I recommend getting the oreo milk shake with bubbles (big not mini). It’s not overly sugary and tastes awesome. If oreo isn’t your thing, another I really enjoy is the Caramel Milk Tea with big bubbles.
I come here everyday and the only downside is that it’s next to this cellphone shop where this chick is constantly on the phone with AT&T or t-​mobile and yelling at the top of her voice at customer service treating them like trash, lol. Pretty annoying…
Patea is still awesome!

This shop is located in the middle of Mott Street and can easily be missed. They have a stubby size cup (26 oz) which is really cute and new on the east coast. There are a lot of options for drinks and I like your mini bubbles. I’m not a tapioca person, but I would order their mini bubbles because it’s cute and not hard.
I’ve tried their rose milk tea, lychee green tea, and regular milk green tea. They all tasted good and I had no complaints. Don’t forget to CHECK-​IN because you get 10% off your drink !

I got the mango slush with mini bubbles (stubby size) and the royal bubble tea (bogo). The mango slush was great, royal bubble tea was too strong in tea and lacking in milk. 50% sugar is great and the mini bubbles were so fun to eat.
Reason for 3.5 stars (rounded down): rude customer service. She rolled her eyes at everyone who came in. If you seriously hate your job, at least fake it.
I lost an inch of my drink in both bubble teas (???).
Store was very hard to find and there is no destined line, people skipped me (?) where does the line even start.
I’ll come back again because of the mini bubbles. Hopefully they will improve service and drink making. Also took me ~10 minutes to get my drink (there were only 3 people ahead of me).

Finally found a place on the east coast that has stubby cups! 26 oz of deliciousness!!!
I ordered the passion fruit milk tea with grass jelly, but I didn’t realize I got passion fruit tea with grass jelly until I left. It tasted good, so I can’t complain. It cost $ 4.25, but it would probably cost less if you chose the other sizes. They charged an extra $ 1.50 if you picked the stubby cups, which was included in the $ 4.25.
I usually drink my bubble tea really fast, but I was surprised that I still had a lot left after drinking it for a long time. It’s like that feeling you get when you find bag fries lol
It’s too far from where I live to get it everyday, but I’d definitely go again if I’m in the area.

Step aside teaus, vivi’s, gong cha, kung fu tea, ten ren’s. Patea is my new favorite bubble tea spot. They have all the things I love about these boba drinks and they serve it in this adorable stubby sized cup. Currently they have a BOGO offer with their royal milk tea which I snagged up of course. They offer 2 sizes of boba, tiny and regular, I haven’t had tiny boba since my days in California. Another plus is that you can adjust your sugar and ice level. Even though I didn’t mention the ice level they didn’t stuff the drink with ice even though one of the drinks were free. They still went easy with it and it was still cold! The royal milk tea comes with tapioca and herbal jelly, both my faves. I like this more because their milk isn’t too strong like gong cha and they still offer the same toppings like vivi’s. Definitely will be coming back for more drinks!
P. S. they’re getting rid of their belly card by feb 28^th so go fast! They’re switching over to stamp cards soon. Be on the watch :)