Babo Teahouse has opened on Walnut Street in Montclair (next door to Mac Attack) offering bubble tea, ramen, dumplings, gelato, and other quick eats. This is the second location for Babo—the first is in Jersey City. The place is small, but cute. With an entire wall of Japanese toy vending machines and a communal charging station for phones, Babo has a very young and hip vibe.
The Bubbly Good stuff: The drinks—and lots of them. Babo has a four step process for ordering tea: Step 1: Type (milk or fruit tea, shakes or special blends, Step 2: Flavor (many choices, such as almond, banana, Thai Iced Tea, Vietnamese Coffee, Ginger, Pomegranate, Lychee…), Step 3: Sugar (25-100 %), and Step 4: Sinkers (Tapioca, Jelly Bits, Strawberry Hearts, Mango Stars, Aloe Vera, and Red Bean).
Things we tried: Fried Vegetable Dumplings (tasty, even without the sauce), Shrimp Shu Mai, a Thai tofu wrap (fresh and full of flavor), Thai Chicken Rice Bowl (delicious), a Pomegranate Fruit Tea with Strawberry Hearts (Yum!), and a Vietnamese Coffee with tapioca (Sweet and super strong – a coffee lovers treat).
Things we’ll try on our next visit: The gelato, which looks delicious. We visited on the snowy first day of spring and gelato just didn’t feel right. Other items that look promising are Pork buns and Hong Kong Waffles.
Things that burst our bubble: Babo is very small and, despite one communal table and a small window seat, is more of a takeout place. All food is served in take out containers and we were told there is no bathroom for customer use. While staff was very friendly, there were some issues with getting our order correct and we still had a couple of wrong and/or forgotten items—issues not uncommon with a new establishment.
Babo Teahouse
102 Walnut Street, Montclair, NJ, 07042
973.893.5221
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