Meet Fresh

I remember walking past this place when it first opened. The massive line that formed outside piqued my interest so I asked someone lining up what on earth was going on… to which I got a reply of «duh, Meet Fresh». Sounds like a butchery? Or a new organic, vegan food store?
Fast forward a couple of months later, the queue has disappeared and I found out that Meet Fresh — with its somewhat deceiving name — is actually a popular international chain known for its Taiwanese desserts. Their specialties are their taro balls desserts, which are basically glutinous balls made out of taro served with a combination of toppings. They come either hot (drenched in a sweet red bean syrup) or cold (with shaved ice).
I went for the taro ball dessert 4 (creative name, eh?), while my dining companion had the signature herbal jelly, one of the most popular menu items. After ordering, you’re given a buzzer contraption that buzzes and flashes when your order is ready. The dessert items range from about $ 7 to $ 8 — pretty pricey, albeit a generous portion. Neither of us could finish our desserts. Taste-​wise? Like Aimee said, the taro balls are quite bland. Overall, I personally thought there was nothing too exciting about it… odd given the long queue and its popularity overseas.
It’s good to see a new variety Auckland’s dessert scene, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

Neat new dessert place that friends were talking about– had to visit it since we were already in the area. A huge range of Taiwanese desserts– that I’ve never seen before. Wasn’t sure where I wanted to start– they had taro balls, herbal jelly, tofu puddings, teas etc.
Recommended their Taro Balls– specifically No 1 which was mung beans, pearls and lotus seeds. A huge bowl– we shared amongst three. Not sure how one person alone can finish it after lunch, but maybe as lunch itself. Was quite surprised by how big the portion was– but enjoyed it. Was an interesting mound of shaved ice with very yum sweet syrup topped with pieces of mung bean sprouts, pearls from milk tea, gelatinous taro and sweet potato. Great summer kind of dessert.
Would definitely like to return to try their other offerings– quite interested in their summer special with mango!

I feel now I have to write an update for here as our past few experiences have not been up to the initial one, which was by all counts near faultless. We have been lucky enough in recent visits of still not having to wait for table… but…one time just when they opened and was placing order was informed sorry we have not got all ingredients ready yet, so you cannot order that. So order something else and after waiting for it then I am told we don’t have that ingredient would you like to add something else? Why did you wait so long to tell me? !!! So yeah ok I choose something else, so I end up with not what I originally ordered. Then I get my drink in takeaway cup when I am having it there. Come on people!!! And they cannot blame their English understanding or speaking… the person I dealt with could understand and speak perfectly fine. And still could complain about the cleaning of tables, though it seems to have improved some. All in all not overly impressed with the last few visits. Come on Meet Fresh, pick it up or your business is gonna go down not up.

Have been to this Taiwanese dessert place twice, desserts are okay, however we are very disappointed with its customer service.
First time we ordered a hot green tea drink but it turned out to be ice cold, when I asked for it to be simply heated up, I was asked to provide the receipt to show I indeed asked for a hot drink! Rather than simply heated it up for me I was told they can’t do it because my receipt says cold!
Thought we would give it another chance so went in again on a Friday night, again we ordered one hot drink and one dessert, the hot milk tea turned out lukewarm and lack of flavor, we couldn’t finish it because it’s so watery and plain so asked for a takeaway cup, was told we have to pay 50c for it! We totally gave up on this place. Although it has a good concept and okay food, the customer service is shocking and really put us off.

Since Meet Fresh opened a few weeks ago on Lorne Street, my Facebook feed had been flooded with dessert photos. Those raving about the traditional Taiwanese desserts that they would normally have to travel on a 13 hour flight for. Or at least, a few hours to Australia.
Word is, the brand Meet Fresh is not so welcomed in the home country Taiwan but the quality is actually better in overseas countries that it expanded into!
I normally have to travel to Howick for my dose of Asian desserts and after posting the photo on Instagram, many locals asked me what actually is in that bowl. Nothing fancy but seeming like a deconstructed dessert, it deserves an explanation.
So let’s deconstruct this. Starting from my favourite: the shiny and jiggly substance is grass jelly 仙草 (xian cao) which you can normally buy in cans at your local Asian supermarket. You’ll also find this on bubble tea menus as an alternative to pearls.
The authentic grass jelly is made from the leaves and stalks of the mesona chineensis plant. It doesn’t have a strong taste itself but is slightly sweet with a tinge of bitter aftertaste. I went through a grass jelly phrase where I slurped my way through cans of grass jelly one after the other because it isn’t too sweet like regular desserts. Traditionally this would be the go-​to summer dessert for cooling you down, and for the females (and males) it’s also apparently beneficial to your skin and health.
In this popular shaved ice combo, you can add tapioca (pearls), peanut, taro chunks, taro, and yellow sweet potato balls which are soft and springy.
The Meet Fresh Signature Herbal Jelly is a simpler dessert with ingredients as mentioned above: taro and sweet potato balls, grass jelly and condensed milk that you can add yourself.
Both of the desserts were served cold over shaved ice but you have a choice of having it hot with sweet syrup.
When Meet Fresh first opened, lines were literally out the door and a spot at the end of the queue meant waiting for 30min before you got to the counter. Because everything is made to order, there was another long wait time before the buzzer vibrated in your hand.
Authenticity: Compared to Asian dessert places in Auckland that serve this dessert like Istorm and Bubble Tea Café, this seems to be a winner. However there have been mixed reviews with the taro and sweet potato balls with some saying that it was fresh and bouncy while others say it was gritty. If you’re missing the Asian style desserts from home — this would be the place to go once in a while, though don’t expect it to be same stuff that grandma used to make back home.
As inconvenient as it may seem, don’t go there after dinner. Even when I went at dinner time there was a small queue. Needless to say, the buzz will soon die down. Until then, it satisfies my craving for desserts somewhere in the CBD. If the strange ingredients haven’t left you feeling bizarre, I recommend going there for a culturally different dessert!

Service: ²⁄₅
Food: ¹⁄₅
Price: ²⁄₅
Environment: ²⁄₅
The first time, queued for 30 mins. Maybe because it was newly opened. Yer, our turn for placing an order. Can I please have red bean tofu jelly? Sorry, no tofu jelly. Can I please have hot red bean soup? No hot dessert today. Finally, we bought something funny. Everything is very chewy here.
The second time, queued for 30 mins. Do you have tofu jelly? No tofu jelly. Got something CHEWY again. No other option.
The third time, no queue. I guess no one want to eat chewy stuff all day long. Do you have tofu jelly? No tofu jelly. Thanks bye.
Tip: if you stomach is not strong, please don’t go to this place. You need a very strong stomach to process their food.
I found out later. Next door has tofu jelly for a cheaper price — The downstairs place.

I’m giving 2 stars for now because I didn’t get to try any of the items I wanted… It was all sold out !!! I really wanted the tofu jelly (豆腐花) and the green tea with milky cream topping. That’s nearly half the menu sold out yet there was still a line and no seats available. Unbelievable… So sad. No luck on my 3^rd attempt!!! (First 2 times were waaaaaay too busy and full that I didn’t have time to wait…)
So instead I ordered the meet fresh signature herbal jelly dish which consisted of herbal jelly, taro and mango glutinous rice balls, cream and syrup ice base. Quite bland and not that satisfying. Not much flavour to the glutinous rice balls either. It definitely need something else.
I also got camellia green milk tea (cold) but I asked for no ice and less sugar however they forgot everything and added even more ice. Trolling me. It tasted quite bland too (and not because they didn’t add sugar because they forgot about my requests) but the flavours just weren’t that strong.
Service is hectic. But understandable I guess… Because they are busy the whole time they are open. But if the system is good then even if they’re busy, service would be top notch too? Tables were dirty and we had to clear them ourselves, even afterward no one came to wipe down the spillage on the table. But at least the waitress knew English and knew what she was talking about.
I’ve actually tried this brand in Melbourne and it was delicious!!! I loved it and couldn’t wait for them to open this shop in Auckland… But sadly was quite disappointed. Apparently the menu is slightly different too? Less options? Maybe 4^th time lucky???