Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea — Restaurant in New York

We have been to Yi Fang LIC several times. Whenever we go we always ask about ingredients because of food allergies. We usually order the Lemon Mountain Tea for my kid. Today we asked about the Mango Pomelo Sago but the woman at the counter said there is coconut milk in it. We can't do coconut. So I asked about another drink. She recommended the Mango Sago and said it only contains mango juice, mango puree, ice and tapioca pearls, none of which my child is allergic to. I then repeated the ingredients to the employee and confirmed that it was just ice and no dairy. She even turned to her co-worker and conferred with him in Taiwanese. (I cannot understand Taiwanese but I presume that was what she was speaking about.)

Unfortunately, shortly after leaving the store and drinking half of their Mango Sago, my child had a severe allergic reaction!! This was extemely traumatic and scary!

After my child was treated and feeling better, I went to call this store but the phone only rang and rang. No one answered and there is no voicemail box. There is no way to contact this store. I ended up calling Yi Fang on 6th Ave in the city to ask about the ingredients and a woman at that location confirmed that they often add whole milk to the Mango Sago! It is not pre-mixed into the mango juice but a little bit of milk is added separately. I was shocked! We were specifically told that the Mango Sago was dairy-free. I also mentioned that we have many food allergies!

It's unfortunate there isn't another bubble tea shop nearby. But after the carelessness of the employees at this store and also seeing other reviews here about the lack of attention to detail, we are sadly never returning to Yi Fang LIC.

(I should also mention that the Kyoto Uji Matcha Latte I purchased for myself had chucks of matcha powder in it that were not blended at all. Very disappointing for a...

I finally decided to give this place a review, because of several incidents with this place:

3/5 for beverages. They are usually good, would be 5/5 if they actually.follow through the orders as opposed to just making them without thinking for even a bit, but they don't usually follow through with the orders properly.

1/5 for customer service for 3 reasons. Unfriendly in the first place and impatient. If the cashier is not having a great day, they shouldn't take it out on us. For instance, my beverage had whole milk when I specifically requested oat milk as I'm lactose intolerant. This has happened more than three times. Why bother paying extra if they aren't going to follow through? If you have any dietary restriction or allergies, I would think twice before ordering from this store. On top of that, they are not deaf/hard-of-hearing friendly as they keep turning their face away and constantly talk low, even though I've asked them a few times to speak up a bit and look at my face directly (so I can read their lips). To make matters worse, when I requested them to make my Green Tea Matcha Latte a bit sweeter, the guy had the gall to assume that I did not know what a matcha latte is supposed to taste like as he said "That is how matcha taste..." right after I asked "Hey, do you mind making my drink a bit sweeter by adding some sugar or simple syrup, whatever you have to sweeten this up, please?". What a p*k... I just want to get my proper drink (especially if I'm paying $7+ for ONE drink) and go, nothing more. I've had enough with this store.

4/5 for atmosphere. Aside from its terrible customer service, the place is nicely designed. Furnitures are mostly clean and comfortable. If you want to stay somewhere warm and comfortable while you wait for the bus, this place would be good to stay in...

I came here for the soft opening today (4/24/19), and despite the long line and wait, I'm pretty happy with my experience. When I arrived at 6:40PM, the line was a bit out the door, and I got to the front at 7:15PM. I got their large fruit tea which was the drink on promotion for $3! They just ran out when I got to the front but they made more; I had to wait an additional 10 minutes for it but the cashier was quite apologetic when I picked up my drinks. I also liked that I could get as many drinks as I wanted, so I got two. I didn't like that this was the only drink on promo though! I really like their pineapple fruit tea in Taiwan (and Hong Kong) but it's just way too pricey here. It's $5.50 for a large - including tax, and I could get a meal in Chinatown for that price!. Anyway, I was glad they didn't close their doors early, as their Facebook event said it's until 7PM. They were still open by the time I left around 7:30PM, and the line was still until the door. They were definitely highly inefficient for this, and I'm glad I got my drink today and not during grand opening which is this weekend (buy one get second one 50% off - soft opening is definitely a better deal if you want the fruit tea). Regarding the drink itself, it was a lot better than I expected. It was very fruity and there were lots of fruits in the tea (apple, orange, passion fruit, and pineapple). They definitely diluted the drink with water though as I saw them do it, and the tea flavor could have been stronger. That being said, it's the best fruit tea I've had in NYC. I was also thinking that this is very well-located, as there aren't any good bubble tea shops in LIC. This could be the one! It's convenient too as it's right outside the E/M/G Court Square train. I would recommend this place if you...