Rose Tea Cafe - Pittsburgh

I visited this restaurant to try a smoothie with tapioca. The taste was average, and the tapioca pearls were smaller than expected. However, the staff were polite and attentive. The restaurant is in the process of expanding, which is great to see. Overall, the food is tasty and it's a nice spot to dine with family and friends. It's conveniently located on the lively Forbes Avenue. Their lunch specials are quite affordable, and I would definitely recommend giving them a try. I'm attaching the menu with my review.

It was really surprising that we could find authentic stinky tofu here with Taiwanese kimchi. The boba tasted like Taiwanese breakfast milk tea.

I ordered from this restaurant via Grubhub, and I was pleasantly surprised when my food arrived 30 minutes early. Everything was really fresh and tasty, and the bubble tea was delightful. We tried the Almond Black Milk Tea, which was nice but not overly sweet, and the Lychee Tea with Green Tea, which was on the sweeter side. I added some sriracha to my Ma Po Spicy Bean Curd, but it was great even without it. Overall, a fantastic experience!

I chose the hong shao niu rou noodle soup based on the waitress's recommendation. I believe it’s braised beef noodle soup, and it turned out to be an excellent choice. The broth was very flavorful, the noodles were delightful, and the beef was good as well. While much of the menu features typical American Chinese dishes, they also offer some less Americanized options. Overall, I really enjoyed my meal!

Dining partner and I ordered the Taiwanese Chunk Chicken, mango tea, cuttle fish balls, mapo tofu, and almond black milk tea. The food was good, I thought there was room for improvement in terms of flavor. It was not bad, just closer to bland. Good enough for a 4 star rating but not quite hitting that 5 star. I wish I could put a 4.5 because that is what they deserve. However, it was nice not to eat something coated in a sugary, sticky syrup. When I return, I will grab a drink and skip the food. It was good but the drinks are a lot better.