For Tea-tolers With Balls

Now, we’ve all been to a Starbucks at least a million times in our lives, right? If you say no, you’re probably lying (and also probably addicted). But that’s neither here nor there. What is here (in downtown Jersey City), is a little place called Babo Teahouse. If you’re from NYC, I know what you’re thinking: Babo sounds like a fancy Italian restaurant owned by a famous Food TV chef (Mario Batali, anyone?). But, like I said, this is Jersey City, not Manhattan. Here, Babo Teahouse, or Babo for short, is like an Asian alternative to those bloated coffee chains although –what a surprise — Babo is located directly across the street from a Starbucks. Trust me, skip over the green monster and head across the street instead. I’ve been there several times myself, sometimes more than once a day.

On a cold winter day (or, at this rate, a cold spring day), you might step out of the PATH station behind the Newport Mall and decide you want a coffee or tea. While there are several choices, what makes Babo so different from other cafés is their balls…tapioca balls, that is. The balls (or pearls, as some call them) at Babo can be placed in almost all of their beverages, and there are quite a few (their tea list is especially expansive). You can choose from hot tea, to smoothies, to milkshakes in all sorts of flavors. Even the flavors themselves range from your everyday strawberry, my personal favorite, to lychee, or even Thai Iced Tea, which is somewhat odd to me, but my girlfriend loves it. The tapioca balls might take a while to get used to, but they quickly become an added bonus, almost a surprise. As you sip your drink, you also have to chew, which changes up the pace.

If you’re not thirsty but have a hankering for some ice cream, Babo also offers a wide variety of Italian-inspired gelato. Much like the beverage choices, there is an interesting variety of gelato flavors too. I am not the biggest fan of chocolate ice cream, but the Bon Bon flavor, which is obviously reminiscent of its candy cousin, wins me over every time. Its chocolate flavor is just enough for me and has a great crunch to it. Along with the gelato and beverages (commonly called bubble tea), they also serve many food items from various parts of Asia.

Now if you’re looking to have dinner somewhere, Babo may not be the place for you. It’s really just a café and the food is much more in the realm of appetizers than anything else. That’s not to say it’s a bad place to eat, but you would have to order a considerable amount to tide you over. That being said, if you did eat here, the check really wouldn’t be all that bad since most of the menu items don’t pass 8 bucks, which is never a bad thing.

Babo has a warm Asian vibe, thanks to the food and pastries, and it’s totally acceptable to grab a drink and hang out. There have been many times that I have found myself seated at one of the tables or lounge chairs with my laptop, discussing life issues and such with my friends or people passing by. To answer your question, they’re not an internet hotspot, but you can “borrow” bandwith from one of the many apartments located just above the place.

The one thing that may turn you off from the place is that on a busy night, you’ll be fighting to make yourself heard over all the whirring blenders.

If parking is an issue, there is a garage conveniently across from Babo.

This is the place to go if you want more than your run-of-the-mill, half-caf-mocha-frappa-latte. Come on, espresso shots or not, Starbucks coffees and teas lack balls.

Babo Teahouse
10 River Drive South
Jersey City
(201) 626-6006

— by Angelito Yambao, Jr.
Angelito is a 22-year-old Jersey City native and avid professional wrestling fan working on a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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