Formosa Cafe

Got the Jasmine milk tea hot at 50% sweetness. It was ok. Space is pretty big for a tea place. Interesting décor, kind of animé like. Tried their chicken, which is ok too. My friend got some plum drink that she said hurt her stomach. Mine tasted fine though. Place does get packed with after school kids.

AVOID THIS PLACE! We were in the mood for something sweet after lunch when we walked by this place. It was quite empty even though all the other restaurants/​cafes on the same street were packed. I ignored this huge red flag and decided to give it a try. We ordered bubble tea and durian cake. Bubble tea was awful. Who on earth could mess up bubble tea! It is basically mixing chemicals in the powder form with water and ice. Apparently we were not the only customers who were not happy with the poor quality of their bubble tea. A lady actually asked the store to remake her bubble tea. The cashier was extremely rude and rolled her eyes. The durian cake was mediocre and TINY! It’s criminal to charge you 7+ for such a tiny piece of crap. How small was it? Imagine a regular slice of cheese cake you get from any decent restaurant or café in Manhattan and cut it into three pieces. It seems that this place appeals only to teenagers who grew up in Chinatown. I would not even recommend this horrible place to my worst enemy.

Needed a quick option for lunch and this place was really good! I got the combo meal: Taiwanese popcorn chicken, teriyaki chicken rice ball, and a bubble tea! It was delicious and filling. Staff very friendly Ella was more then helpful with the menu and very knowledgeable.

Absolutely loved my experience a Formosa — ended up staying here 1.5 hours longer than planned because it had such great vibes! The bubble tea was delicious and I loved how it was served in mason jars (it was on the sweeter side so ask for less sugar if you’re like me!). My sister ordered a chicken katsu roll which was delicious, especially with their selection of sauces. On top of all these perks, I have to say the excellent music was the best part! They were playing oldies and great top 40 hits that were so fun to listen to, and everyone in the café was rocking along to the songs. I’ve been recommending Formosa to anyone who will listen and can’t wait to visit again soon!

Eel rice ball, bubble tea and tawainese fried chicken was bomb!!! All hits no misses here! Prices are very good for the portion size you get, I will come here again!

Wanted to grab a quick snack before my friend and I continued walking down south of Manhattan. Found this place through Unilocal and bought the Taiwanese popcorn chicken and a Taiwanese sausage.
The Taiwanese popcorn chicken was very delicious. Had the right amount of crunch to it and the chicken was tender and juicy. My friend who is Taiwanese approved of the chicken but wished that there was a bit more seasoning to it. For me, it was fine. Cost $ 4.
The Taiwanese sausage is what you would imagine it to be. Nothing really out of the ordinary with it. Served on a stick and is sweet and served warm. Cost $ 2.
Didn’t get any bubble tea here but maybe next time I’ll try it out.
Free wifi here and bathroom is clean. The inside of the place is very modern and clean. Great place to take a quick break and enjoy something delicious.

If you’re in the area and isn’t looking for a meal, this would be a great place to do so.
Formosa is quite spacious considering it’s a snack and bubble tea place. They can easily accomodate 20+ people there. Other similar places in Chinatown are relatively small.
They offer a 10% discount for first time check ins on Unilocal,so be sure to use it.
I tried their combo A (bubble tea, popcorn chicken, and chicken onigiri (riceball).
For bubble tea, you can get the hot version for .50 cents more. Popcorn chicken was super tasty. But the onigiri wasn’t the best I’ve had. I also had their durian crêpe which wasn’t too bad, although I would prefer a bit more durian in it.

A good big size café that serves fried foods and snadwiches with bubble tea. This is the same chain that I’ve stopped at in brooklyn.
I decided to stop here to get away from the heat as it was about 90 degrees out on a hot summer day. This café had the AC on blast and offered free WiFi.
Prices are normal that you would get anywhere.

Very cute place and I like their tiger logo. This is a nice bubble tea spot to hang out in thats not too busy since its on a small side street in chinatown. It is run by a good looking, hip, young staff but their english is not great. There are a bunch of long communal tables and like two or three booths. This place is good if you want to have bubble tea and a small snack or dessert. Came here with some friends and got a combo A which came with a milk tea (interchangeable flavored milk tea) I got the almond flavor but looks like they use powders, teriyaki chicken rice ball (size small you can order a large a la carte) and some popcorn chicken chunks. This place is fairly new so I was surprised that they have already raised the price of their combo by a dollar but the food was okay. I enjoyed my rice ball and the chicken chunks were spiced well and had good crunch. I am not sure how clean their kitchen is despite their A rating since there was a fly hanging out by the rice balls and may have been buzzing near my order a little too long. Also the girl preparing the food had gloves on but she also handled money which is kinda offputting since I did not see her change gloves. My friend got the mochi dessert and really enjoyed it though and it was cool that they have green tea crêpe cake but it was kinda expensive. She was also pushing the durian crêpe cake but durian is not really my thing. They serve these signature sundaes in mason jars. I may return for those if I’m in the mood for something sweet not savory. They have wifi but you have to fill out a form with your info on it before you can log on. Cool joint but wish it was still their original price. Not bad for a small bite and a boba if you are in the area.

Food review — haven’t tried the boba here yet, despite the fervent efforts of the nice women working the counter. I love the onigiri here. They brilliantly put a layer of roussong and seaweed salad in every rice ball, eliminating the possibility of a sad mouthful of plain rice. My faves are the traditional Taiwanese (Taiwanese sausage :9) and shrimp tempura. The popcorn chicken is also delicious. I’ve tried both curry and spicy and they were great — juicy, tender, and perfectly crispy.
Super cheap! Maybe onigiri is a tad more expensive than neighboring places, but it tastes better IMO plus it comes with unlimited free spicy mayo, an essential component of onigiri eating. Some (unnamed, round-​the-​corner) places charge for a tiny half cup of spicy mayo. My bf and I got dinner for $ 15 total here, which is a screaming deal.
The interior is pretty spacious and very teenage-​hip, I gather from the groups of high school kids that are always clustered in a corner when I come in. The service is super friendly, but it does take a while for the food to come out. And check to make sure you have everything before taking to go! Last time they forgot my popcorn chicken. They were super apologetic about it, and made it quickly, and all was well — but double check.

The Wifi is a bit slow.
This is pricer than other places in the area, but the décor is very adorable and very trendy. I’m surprised that there aren’t more people hanging out here, the location is a little tucked away but there is plenty of seating, it kinds of reminds me of cafes I would find in Houston, tx.
I haven’t tried their tea yet, (funny how could I not try bubble tea here? Just wasn’t in the mood) At some point I will. I’ve had their fried Calamari, popcorn chicken and fries. I like the dipping sauce options that are available.
–Fried Calamari– A little greasy? But other than that decent.
–Popcorn chicken– Very good, I would recommend this.
–Fries– Good, its hard to mess up fries. They’re not too soft and not overdone.
In terms of service, I don’t have anything to complain about. They usually get my order and I get my food. Been pretty friendly.

Funky little spot that reminds me of something you’d find in Taiwan, with cute branding and décor. We only tried the bubble tea, which is pretty good, but since their sugar is already included in their powders, they cannot customize sweetness like nearly all the other bubble tea places in NYC. Curious about these eel rice balls that everyone is talking about here, so likely to come back to squ-​eel about those too!

So far, this place is a 4-​star for me!
Honestly, I am not sure why this place is not more busy than it is. Every time I come here, there’s always a seat opened for me, and then some!
I tried many riceball «flavors» here: teriyaki chicken, chicken katsu, grilled beef, grilled pork chop, tempura kani, tempura shrimp, and BBQ eel. Stuffing to rice ratio is almost perfect — I get a bit of stuffing with every bite (not just rice for some bites –_​-​).
My favorite ones are chicken katsu and BBQ eel, and every time I come here, those two are the ones I order, along with their homemade Thai iced tea with herbal jelly.
From my first couple of times here, the staff didn’t seem to understand English too well, considering that they messed up my order (I wanted chicken katsu and they gave me teriyaki chicken). However, they are very nice and it does look like they’re trying. I especially respect the older gentleman who seems to be the manager/​owner because he has always been friendly and nice every time he took my order.
I think it’s rather unfortunate that not much people come here for their riceball fix. I understand the price might be a a slight turnoff, but the trade off for this higher price is better quality and more stuffing, which I am willing to pay.
I will definitely be back, and I will absolutely tell everyone I know to come here to try it out, at the very least!

I heard this café had really tasty onigiri so I came to to see if it was true.
Walking into the café, I see plenty of seats and tables. There’s several combo deals available, each with a drink, a snack (popcorn chicken or gyoza), and onigiri. First star that I’m taking off is for the service. There were two girls by the cashier but both of them ignored my friend and me while we stood at the front and waited for them to take our order. They had just taken someone else’s order so I’m not sure why they had to make us wait. There was only one other customer in the store so it wasn’t a busy time for them. Finally they turned around and were ready to take our order. All of the drinks included in the combos have milk in it, but my friend is lactose intolerant so she wanted to get a drink without milk in it. However, when we asked if we could switch the milk tea for something without milk, they refused to let us make the switch. Second star off. We ended up ordering the popcorn chicken and barbecue eel onigiri by themselves. Before we could give our new order though, they made us wait again while both girls fumbled with making a cup of bubble tea for the people in front of us. It’s not hard to make a bubble tea, and it definitely doesn’t take two people to make one cup.
When we finally got our food it was really disappointing. The popcorn chicken cost $ 4 but the quantity was depressingly little. I didn’t count, but looking at the photo I took, it looks like there was only 10 pieces of chicken. It was good, but the texture felt like it had been left in the fryer for way too long. It is definitely not worth $ 4, which is way more expensive than other shops selling popcorn chicken, especially for the amount of chicken actual given. The onigiri was ask a let down. I ordered barbecue eel onigiri, which cost $ 3.25, and barely tasted the eel. What I actually tasted was some seaweed salad and what tasted like meat floss. Definitely not worth it, there is in fact, another onigiri store two blocks away so there is no point in ordering onigiri from here. Third star off for the price of the food, and the low quality of the dishes.
Wish I had enjoyed my experience here better. There’s a lot of promise but the execution was poor.

Had the Combo A which came with a Teriyaki Chicken riceball, Taiwanese popcorn chicken and bubble tea. The rice ball was stuffed with a variety of ingredients (seaweed, chicken, and dried pork) which made it very tasty! The popcorn chicken was very flavorful, but it was also a bit too salty and crispy for my taste. The bubble tea helped balance out some of the saltiness with its sweetness. The bubbles in the bubble tea were also extra soft and chewy.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal so I will definitely be coming back to eat and chill. The only problem with hanging out in this place is that it gets way too hot! They need to turn on their air conditioner or something because I am melting as I am eating my meal which is not okay…
Otherwise, this is the place to go to if you want to enjoy comfy seating and a good mix of Asian and English music!

This place has a really good variety of tea! I tried their mango green tea, honey dew slush, and bubble milk tea and they were delicious! They were very sweet and thirst quenching! The bubbles were nice and not bothersome to chew on. Their teriyaki chicken and popcorn chicken were very delicious. My friend said «their eel riceball is a masterpiece!» She claimed to have eaten 4 at once! There is an abundance of eel, seaweed and dried pork in their riceball. Together it tastes exquisite! The popcorn chicken was a little crispy and quite tasty, i personally like the popcorn chicken more than the riceballs!
The atmosphere here is amazing. The establishment is very dim and simple. There are plenty of seats and they play mainly mandarin songs but there is another radio playing english songs at the same time so you won’t be left out. The establishment sort of mimics a bar but promotes bubble tea instead! The bathroom is extremely clean.
Would I come back here? I already did!
Would I recommend to a friend? Definitely!

This place is not bad for a new store. Ordered a passion fruit tea and it was not bad compared to other bubble tea stores. The food seems delicious but I didn’t have a chance to try it. The place is quiet and wasn’t crowded. Will definitely come back for more.

While the ambiance inside of this place is pretty nice for Chinatown. It’s clean, there is wifi, ample seating, simple modern look. The bubble tea is un-​drinkable. I ordered a taro bubble tea. The tea is cheap $ 3 for medium. I guess you pay for what you get. The tea tasted so gross.
so they were pretty nice when I told them that the drink was pretty nasty. They gave me their regular milk tea which I thought that it is made with real tea and not powder. I was wrong though. The powder that this place uses must be the crappiest kind but it tastes like plastic. I let my friend try the drink and she compared it to the smell of band aids. Needless to say I just didn’t bother with another drink and tossed it out.
Gross makes me not want to try their food too.

Really awesome rice balls here. If you’re not Chinese, don’t be intimidated! This place is so much more than boba tea drinks.
I tried the chicken teriyaki and shrimp tempura rice balls and the chicken teriyaki was better. According to the guy behind the counter, it’s their best one and I had to agree. It came with a spicy mayo type sauce while the shrimp tempura rice ball came with a ponzu based sauce.
Come here for the rice balls! They are only $ 3 for the small ones and they are quite large and great for a snack.

Walked past this place a number of times but never really bothered to step in before today. I still remember when this place was still a hole in the wall fujianese restaurant.
I had the regular bubble tea, pudding milk tea and the chicken katsu and grilled eel rice balls. The milk teas tasted a bit on the powdery side and a bit strong. The rice balls were mediocre. They also provided free spicy mayo and yam yam sauce, so that’s a big plus. Other places would just charge you extra for sauce.
Other than that, this place has a vibe that resembled that of an Asian KTV bar. Black seats, dim lighting and LED lit boards. There’s also a great amount of seating.