While waiting in the seemingly interminable line outside a restaurant on Elizabeth Street, we decided to quench our thirst with some bubble tea around the corner on Mott Street. Ten Ren named one of the best Bubble Tea places in NYC in Time Out, The Gothamist and Yelp. I had tried it a few years ago and wasn’t wild about it. Thought I’d give the Taiwanese drink invented in the 1980s another chance.
Don’t go if you have trouble making decisions.
After picking the type of tea and flavor, you select both your sweetness and ice levels. One friend chose 100 percent sweetness for his black milk tea ($5.05 large), the other 50 for her lychee slush ($5.05 small) and I chose 25 percent for my passion fruit slush ($5.05 small), although no added sugars would have been better, as the slush was still a bit too sweet for me.
And then, you decide which ingredient from the list of seven for your “bubbles.” I chose the traditional tapioca balls (boba), the black chewy tidbits for my libation.
Do experience it once, if you haven’t. Personally, I find carbonated water — seltzer, club soda — much more thirst quenching. The best part: when we returned to the hostess desk, we only had to wait a few more minutes until we headed up to the cavernous hall for dim sum at Jing Fong.
Ten Ren Tea
Chinatown
79 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013
212-732-7178
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