Mio K.
Yelp
A good addition to this strip mall which housed 3 chain restaurants that wouldn't be the first choice for someone looking for non fast food, but good food in a timely manner. You order at the counter, and they bring your food to whatever table you seat yourself at. You can also scan the QR code at your table which is specific to the table to order and pay. The inside is bright and minimalistic; they will bring you water cups, paper plates, plastic utensils, napkins and wooden chopsticks when you're seated and awaiting your order. You're also able to get up and get more of those items as you need, for a practical combination of counter and table service. They have a super cute dumpling mascot that decorates their wall (glowed up) and their plastic tea cups.
Did I mention they have boba here? They have all the standard drinks---milk teas like Thai iced tea, herbal and fruit iced teas, Vietnamese coffee, fruit juices, smoothies---and all the toppling options. I got a Winter Melon green tea with herbal jelly and it was refreshing and fun to drink/eat. You can ask for your drink be made with reduced sugar. 50% less sugar was a great level for my drink.
We shared the Pork Sanji (pan fried buns), Shrimp Rice Roll, Crab Meat & Pork Soup Dumplings and the Spicy Noodle Soup. The Shrimp Rice Roll were 3 rolls of plump wide rice noodles rolled with 3 pieces of sizable shrimp in an sweet savory soy sauce, perfect for sharing but more perfect to just munch a third at a time. We appreciated the Crab Meat & Pork Soup Dumplings for not tearing apart during transport to our table or with our chopsticks. The flavors of crab and fatty pork made for a lovely broth to slurp after the first bite into the dumpling. Soup dumplings, I have missed you. The Spicy Noodle Soup lived up to its name but still had a flavorful (but not overly salty) unctuous broth that I wanted to keep scooping and sipping. The noodles were thin egg ones that were plentiful and cooked just enough to retain the shape throughout the eating process. I will admit that I coughed a few times drinking the broth because it went down the wrong pipe, but the spice and flavor didn't stop me from eating! I'm glad we shared the dish and that the staff were kind enough to split and serve it in two separate bowls for us, as if we got two separate smaller orders of the noodles. The thick cut beef in the noodles was fatty, which I usually shy away from, but it made the noodle bowl right, especially with the chili spice.
The only dish we didn't finish was the Pork Sanji, which comes with 5 buns. We agreed that it tasted like it was not fully defrosted, since the inside of it was not very hot despite it clearly being well pan seared.
The service and the other dishes made it a worthwhile stop in this location. I want to return and try other dishes and boba!