We love love love this place SO much!! Best bubble tea around, the people are so nice, the plAce itself is so cute-even a Fooseball table upstairs! And the food is also delish. We got at least once a week-has become part of our family routine! read more

Yummy bubble tea, lots of good snacks and bites to eat and a comfortable environment to watch cute animal videos and hang out downtown near Moore Square. I like that they also offer cocktails. read more

Have been to Budacai multiple times and have never had a bad experience. Employees are friendly and and the place is clean with outdoor seating. The boba is the best I've ever had and highly recommend the milk tea flavor it's the best! read more

The food was fine but overpriced, I've had better at other local restaurants. The cleanliness was what put me off. The person at the register barely acknowledged my order and it was hard to know if they were even talking at all. The floors were sticky, bathrooms unclean. And we went on a Monday night (as in, not super busy). I asked for someone to wipe down the really dirty outside tables and they offered me a dry rag. I asked if they could at least wet it and they handed me a barely wet cloth. Perhaps takeout is better. They brought out the food with a whopping 2 napkins (for 4 people) and no utensils. It was all a bit odd. Not going back. read more

Loved coming here and ordering my food. It was easy, quick and the cute boy was so sweet. I ordered the cold spring rolls with tofu and everything was fresh and priced perfectly. Great place to get a quick lunch or snack. It wasn't obnoxiously crowded, like most things are in downtown and ridiculously priced, like most things have become in downtown. Can't wait to try the other dished. read more

The best Tea I ever had. The selection is great. The toppings are great. Great atmosphere and customer service. You should come! It is delicious and you can add alcohol with your tea. Try the chicken and waffles! I'm taking my mom here. read more

Amazing customer service the staff is so friendly and polite!! The drinks are bomb asf!!! Definitely recommend!

Phenomenal Bao. You can't go wrong with the Vietnamese grilled pork. Amazing boba tea as well

Ordered this via Grubhub. Was curious and had a good variety to choose from. It was delicious. It's always a toss up if something is going to be as expected after delivery. Even if it's something you've had and is amazing there, travel time makes all the difference. We were not disappointed. I ordered the pho tai. It was ok. The noodles had congealed into a solid mass and never really separated in the soup. My bf ordered the pork belly bowl which also cl came with noodles that did not have this issue, strange but true. In addition we ordered the pork dumplings, the budacai bai, and the traditional bang mi. The pork belly in all things pork belly was amazing. Rendered perfectly, the right mount of seasoning and smoke. The pork dumplings were great WITH sauce, unfortunately the dumplings themselves were underalted while the sauce that came with them was like the Dead Sea and you could never really get the right balance of under seasoned dumpling and crazy salty sauce. The budacai bad were so good. Wish there had been a sauce with them to help with the dryness. The standouts were the pork belly and Katsu bao. My Bahn mi was also delicious. It's always been one of my favorite things and it's so hard to find a traditional bahn mi that has pate on it and this did not disappoint. Overall despite the negatives I would not hesitate to eat this food again which was the household consensus. read more

Absolutely delicious. The boba tea options are all so good and don't even get me started on the bahn mi. Mouth watering.

Haven't tried the food. Just the bubble teas. Creative teas, all kinds of combinations. Taiwanese Boba tea meets America. Kind of like a boba tea version of Japanese sushi meets America (California roll, Philadelphia roll, Spider roll...). It's fun. read more

Nifty place! Popcorn chicken is amazing!! The steam buns are great! However the bulgogi has something left to be desired. Got the nachos and sent them back, never have I ever had bulgogi with black beans... Huge disappointment. The katsu noodle bowl was not bad, the veggies and chicken were perfect, but the big lump of dry noodles left us disappointed again. If there was some of the sauce or broth that could be put with them, it would be sooo much better. Not bad, but nothing remarkable, just not enough to bring us back for the $$ read more

The service is great ! The boba tea is really good and I would totally recommend, I just think that the service could be a little faster I think someone forgot my order it took 8-10mim to get out. Other than that no complaints from me ! read more

This place was underwhelming, particularly their bubble tea. I fell for the Instagram hype and was disappointed. The lavender milk tea was watered down - I don't think I'll be coming back. MilkLab and Kung Fu are leaps and bounds better. read more

We just came in for a traditional boba tea and it met all of our expectations and needs. Not too sweet, great tea flavor and friendly staff and great ambiance. Looking forward to coming back in for a meal, everything sounded amazing! read more

(6/2/2019) Was looking for a quick lunch between sessions at a conference at the convention center down the street. This was a touch far, but not too, and just far enough that it wasn't overwhelmed by hundreds of convention goers at lunch time. Got the bao sampler, of course, because that's how I roll. The Pork Belly was definitely the best. It was fatty, tender, salty, pork, slightly awkward to eat with the thick slice of cucumber, but the crisp, cool, contrast to the fatty meat was welcome. Enjoyed the Bulgogi and kimchi (a modern classic combo these days) and the Katsu, crispy, touch dry but moistened with slaw. The Fried Tofu was just a waste of a good bao bun. The tofu was fried hard like a brick and seemed totally unseasoned after I hacked off and ate a tiny broken off corner, not helped by slaw at all. Milk tea is on the sweet side, specify less sugar if you need to (I should have, I would've gone 25% sweet seeing as they have a heavy hand). Shrimp Summer Rolls were sufficient. Cute place, enjoyed the manga vibe. Service is pretty inefficient, like your local college Asian club decided to run a restaurant, but I did appreciate a decent boba to break up my day. read more

See all

My favorite place downtown. Highly recommend the Baos, Vietnamese Coffee, popcorn chicken, or Rangoons. A tad pricey but super cute date spot, cute aesthetic. read more

great place with a relaxing atmosphere. i come here often after school or on a weekend with friends. usually just a drink or two but the food is amazing. if you're also ordering food i'd recommend a smaller sized drink as it could fill you up faster than you'd think. the workers have never been anything but kind :) read more

Budacai - Strawberry Lemonade with heart jellies and Strawberry Matcha Milk Tea - Asian Fusion Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

See all

Banana Milk Tea Cap; For milk tea regulars wanting to try something new! not a boba and dairy person so i tried it with almond milk + herbal jelly. read more

Alright service. Fries were undercooked and took forever to arrive. They charged $6 for a small bowl of "Japanese inspired" fries. Their sauce was nice, but they need to add more spices to those fires. I would say the main object of review is the boba tea. The boba tea was subpar to Milk Lab, but still pretty good. I got the dragon fruit tea. It apparently had chunks of dragon fruit! The interior was nice however, so it is a pretty boujee place to chill with friends. I am giving it 3 stars because of the price of food it was not made well. If I go again, I will update this review to see if anything changes. read more

Very clean Great location down town It was easy to find parking close by.Food was very fresh cooked to order. only caution I had was needed photos to see what I wanted to try. But will try once again read more

I'm so addicted to their Jasmine green tea and Honeysuckle tea with grass jelly. Best tea in town if your looking authentic brewed tea not made from powder like the rest. Nobody else has the honeysuckle tea nor snack foods like they do here. Of course it's not a standard restaurant so I won't hold them to that standards. Food is good and drinks are fantastic read more

See all

Ordered a bulgolgi bowl with half rice half spring mix and a pandan waffle to go. Unfortunately, when I got home and opened it there was no rice. Which was a bummer bc the rice would have made it taste a lot better in my opinion. I had a little bit of the waffle on the way home bc I was expecting it to be a bit crisp but I either got to it too late or it wasn't crispy to begin with. But it did have good flavor and I enjoyed it besides the crispy factor. read more

This place is so cute!!!!! If you are here for some cute pics and boba tea you found the place!!!!! Has good vibes and very sweet staff!!! I have been here about 5 times and once my drink spilled all over the place and they made me a new boba tea for free :D. Tried there food it was pretty good very appealing to look at just not my cup of taste ( I can't stand heat) there are long lines late Saturday nights but that's just downtown Raleigh in general. Overall I do recommend this place!! read more

Loved this cute little shop! I didn't get the chance to try the food, we went just for tea after a meal. They have awesome dairy free options and the staff was happy to help answer any questions and give suggestions. read more

Had a sudden craving for boba after a trip to the museum and this spot was only a few minutes away by car or 10 minutes on foot. We decided to drive over and parking is quite tricky as only paid street parking is available and it's directly across the street from the bus station so traffic was wild. Luckily, we were able to snag the last spot and head inside. They're takeout only, but I loved how it was decorated inside with a Christmas tree. They had a seating area upstairs with a couch, a flower wall and neon sign that definitely looked Instagram-worthy. We each ordered boba and I went with the mango slush, while my sisters got the black milk tea and mango tea. We all loved our drinks, the boba was the perfect texture, chewy with the perfect bite and sweet. It was a little pricy around $5 for their "medium" size which is really a small. Each of the teas had a strong herbal aftertaste so you could tell that they brewed quality tea rather than syrup like a lot of places do. We also wanted to try the togarashi fries and the pork belly bao. The fries were amazing, super crispy, and well seasoned with a dipping sauce on the side that was to die for! It was so creamy and tasted like a cross between ranch and mayo with a special kick. The bao was alright, it was a piece of pork belly with a huge slice of cucumber and a little too much hoisin which overpowered the flavor. All in all, it was a pleasant experience and the perfect place for a drink and snack after exploring the museum. read more

I had the taro milk tea. Oddly I wasn't asked about sugar or ice content, but I was happy with what I was given. Very tasty and the boba was warm (not typical in my experience but I thought it worked). Worth a try. read more

This place is actually amazing. The aesthetic and the different variety of foods got me. They even have alcoholic boba!! 10/10 , wish this was closer to NCSU or maybe they can expand it to other areas!!! read more

I never write reviews but had to write one for this because it just opened and everyone has to try this! The bubble tea was good especially the budacai; it has a roasted tea taste that I rarely find in bubble tea branches. The popcorn chicken and pandan pancake was extremely delicious and they actually go really well together (like eating chicken and waffles). read more

The staff is awesome, I loved the teas, we lived in South Korea for two years and my husband and I loved the opportunity to reminisce. The katsu chicken was good but not outstanding, and the bulgogi on steamed bun had a lot of kimchi loaded onto it, so beware if you are not a fan. Overall, we will definitely be back, but probably for tea! read more

Great customer service and the atmosphere is nice and modern, By the way the food was delicious. If you are around the area you should stop by and give it a try..! read more

Budacai - Asian Fusion Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Fantastic! We are staying at a downtown Marriott in Raleigh and took a chance on getting takeout. Fresh, delicious avocado rolls, and tasty fresh vegetable noodle soup. So satisfying! read more

The boba tea is the best I've had in Raleigh and the snacks are pretty good too. Space is cute and nice to hang out but the only turn off was the guy at the register didn't seem to enjoy his job at all. Kinda rude too. read more

Tasted very watery and had like no flavor, tasted like water and almond milk tbh. You can literally tell by the pic it looks watered down ,Ain't milk tea supposed to be creamy/ milky?? For their signature drink Budacai milk tea, wasn't that special. King fu teas better read more

Budacai - Looks watered down - Asian Fusion Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

This is my go-to milk tea spot. They're consistent, have tons of variety, and their pork belly bao is so good. Try the chicken too. My faves: lavender tea with coconut milk and blueberry jelly, lychee tea with lychee jelly, rose tea with coconut milk and strawberry jelly read more

I like that they used real fruit and had aloe!! So many add dye and don't have fruit. I compare everything to my favorite spot in Greensboro. read more

20 minutes to make a drink and then it turns out I can't take the drink I paid 12 dollars for outside because it has some alcohol in it. Partly my fault to assume this (They always give other drinks in glasses that can be taken out!) but the service time itself was ridiculous enough for me to not want to waste any more time sitting in here. I live right next door and planned on coming here often. Gonna change that, this experience left a very bad taste in my mouth. read more

Best Boba in Raleigh. Love the super cute flower wall. Cant wait till they reopen dine in!

The milk tea with boba was great! Friendly staff and good service. The Thai tea with bubbles was delicious and refreshing. It is hard to get a good balance of soft but not mushy pearls but they do a great job. read more

I love this place so much. I wish I could live here. Relaxing atmosphere, GREAT service/employees, and the boba is so good.