Once More Zaipin — Restaurant in New York

once more zaipin is a cozy shop located in the more southern part of chinatown. They sell a large variety of wheel cakes and boba! The wheel cakes were very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The perfect texture. The guy that was working was very nice and let us try a lot of new flavors (not on the menu)!

oolong milk tea with toasted creme brûlée on top: i personally LOVE oolong tea and I really liked the combination of that and the creme brûlée moment on the top of the drink. It was sweet and had little sugar crystals. that was awesome.

thai iced tea with black tapioca pearls: i was actually craving thai iced tea a few days ago so this was perfect. the tea was perfect, not too sweet. the tapioca pearls were chewy and had good flavor. honestly, pretty good boba!

all the wheel cakes had good solid crunchy texture on the outside and super soft on the inside. we were given 4 different flavors, many of which didn't exist on the menu yet!

egg custard wheel cake: this was our favorites by far. the classic egg custard taste was delicious to us. not too sweet and super tasty. very filling!

matcha green bean wheel cake: this one reminded me of my childhood. i ate a lot of green bean soup as a kid. the texture and taste of green beans is not for everyone for sure. not exactly acquired taste, but for a lot of people hit or miss. the matcha taste was there and the green beans were the most prevalent. it was the right about of sweetness and i really appreciated the taste!

cheese and corn wheel cake: this is one combinations/flavors they were getting us to try (not on the menu) - i think personally, i am not the biggest fan of savory wheel cakes. Beyond that, i kind of liked the cheese and corn combination together. A bit sweet and a bit savory. I think less cheese would have been better because it overpowered the sweetness. I also think if there was ham in the mix of it, it also would have balanced out the flavors more. again this was a flavor they were testing on us!

overall, the texture and taste of the actual wheel cakes were DELICIOUS and i enjoyed...

Can I just preface this by saying…..

I LOOOVVVEEE this place. I actually stumbled here because I needed to use a bathroom so bad and it was cold, this was the only place that looked welcoming at the time (I was having a bad day)… but Ison (he told me it’s like season without the S) was so welcoming and nice. I ordered those wheel cakes and they were actually so perfect for the cold weather, and they had both sweet and savory ones.

One cake is less than $5 and so filling, it seriously is so satisfying and tasty. Can I just say how much I appreciate the quality of the ingredients for the price? The taro coconut has real steamed taro root in it, it’s not too sweet and is DELICIOUS. The shrimp and seaweed (my favorite) doesn’t skimp out on the meat and is sooo satisfying and tasty. The boba one had that lovely chew and was really warm, and I seriously recommend this place.

My favorite though… of all time.. was the persimmon milk tea with crystal jelly. They use real, fresh, ripe persimmons and let me tell you, on my 21 years of life on this planet, that is my new all time favorite milk tea ever. 11/10, seriously.

Last but not least, Ison was so curious about the customer feedback on his matcha flavors (I found out he uses real matcha powder, not the matcha flavor powder with sweetener and stuff) and he really cares about what we like or don’t like. He’s been very receptive on customer feedback to really make the business a better place. I appreciate him so much from a customer standpoint and also admire him as a business person.

I LOVE THIS PLACE EVERYTIME IM IN THE AREA I...

As you can see from my profile, I'm a frequent reviewer, although my recent activity has been low due to sticking to familiar haunts. Today, however, while running errands in Chinatown, a particular place caught my attention from the corner I was standing on. Deciding to venture in without any strong expectations, I checked the menu. The cheese and ham wheel cake stood out – a combination I hadn't encountered before, so I decided to give it a try.

The first things I noted were the cleanliness and the nice decorations. My order was taken by very polite staff members who made me feel welcome. When my order was ready, it was presented to me with a lovely smile, which was a great start. But the crucial question remained: how would the food measure up?

I was pleased to find that my order was freshly prepared and had a wonderful aroma. And the taste? Absolutely amazing! The ham was delicious, and the amount of cheese was just right. This is definitely a place I'll be...