S A.

Korean food: 1-Star. Non-Korean food: 3.5-4. Really wanted to love their Korean food after a "pretty good" first experience with their bulgogi last year, but the menu changed and the wannabe Korean flavors were not authentic or up to standards. The classic Korean sundubu chigae was way too fatty, spicy and watery, not a stew. The bibimbop was mostly rice and less fresh veggies than the first time I ate here. For the first time in my life, we saw a restaurant serve up a severely burnt egg (on top of the bibimbop) instead of a simple fried egg. What's happening in the kitchen and their standards to mess up a simple fried egg? (You'll find better bibimbop and soondubu chigae in fast casual cafes and H mart cafeterias.) The non-Korean dishes were better - the fusion gochujang pasta alfredo with shrimp was tasty, and the butternut squash-quinoa-kale dish was surprisingly delicious. However, the true Korean dishes were not authentic and therefore disappointing. They're trying to capitalize on the popular Korean wave but I doubt the truly knows Korean cuisine or flavors. Also dining is on second floor. If you have anyone in your party who can't handle two sets of steps, know that there is no elevator here, and the restrooms are downstairs only where the floor tiles are peeling off and causing tripping hazards.

Nathaliah S.

I stopped by around 1:10pm during lunch and was surprised to find a parking lot behind the building, which it a lot easier than looking for parking on the street or parking garage, it's not typical to find this luxury in Princeton. Ficus was busier than I expected, with a good amount of people coming in and grabbing their drinks to go. A lot of customers placed their orders ahead of time for pickup, which is probably what I'll do next time I stop by. The person at the register was kind and helpful. After asking what they normally recommend, I told them I that was not a fan of tapioca or drinks with milk in it, and they recommended the Mango Hibiscus Tea. I went with that, and asked for less mango jelly to cut down on the sweetness. It was refreshing and light. I liked that the mango jelly had a texture close to actual mango. It had me wishing that I ordered the regular amount of mango jelly. I ordered the Ficus Beef Burger with a side of waffle fries. The burger was delicious, the patty was nicely seasoned, the brioche bun was soft and toasted, it had the perfect amount of secret sauce, and the cheddar cheese was nicely aged. The waffle fries were lightly seasoned and crispy. I would definitely order the burger again, I am so happy that I mistakenly said burger when I repeated my order out loud to the person taking my order. The food was packaged nicely, with two rubber bands to secure the lid to the food. The only downside with that I waited a total of 31 minutes for my order. I waited 16 minutes for my drink order, and another 15 minutes for my food order. It's not convenient when you want to just run in and at least quickly grab a drink. I would definitely visit again, and order the mango hibiscus drink and ficus beef burger again, along with trying other menu items.

Stephanie L.

May not be a totally accurate review of the food here since their entire kitchen and downstairs were under construction when I came. However, we were not notified of this while making the reservation. I sat outside on their rooftop patio and it was a really pleasant atmosphere. The pistachio matcha smoothie came out really good and was refreshing on a hot day. I got the bulgogi mahn mi sandwich and it was wayyy too salty. The fries were also covered with salt so that was disappointing.

Sumi K.

American with Korean flare @ Princeton, NJ We made reservation for Sunday brunch to try out their price fix lunch but it was only available for weekdays this week for the Princeton restaurant week. The restaurant was on the second floor and was spacious but needed some updates. We sat near by the window and it was kind of chilly. There were out door sittings for the summer month and parking lot in the back of the restaurant. We ordered bulgogi taco with lettuce, pickled cabbage and feta cheese. The tortillas were freshly made and loved bulgogi flavor. The egg benedict with canadian bacon and potatoes with Cajun seasoning were cooked just right and was delicious! But the cappuccino came out lukewarm. I made reservation to come back to try out price fix dinner!

Mia K.

Dined upstairs, not warm enough for outdoor seating. We were seated without a reservation and service was attentive even with a large party there. Wines by the bottle were all surprisingly modestly priced and the one we picked was pretty smooth. Sampled random items to share and everything was delicious (not all photographed though!) I don't remember the decor so much, so either it was too dark or it wasn't outstanding. What I do remember is that the menu had a nice variety of uncommon selections, so this place was a pleasant surprise.

Lindsey M.

The food was tasty and the ambiance of the restaurant was good but it was completely empty when we went. Not super accessible with all the stairs but I like that it doubles as a snack/drink restaurant downstairs. The food took a long time to come out and was decent. Not a ton of options for dinner but the flavor and portions were good. I would come again for brunch or for bubble tea but probably not for dinner again. The jjigae was super tasty and there was a lot of seafood in it too.

Karly K.

Delicious brunch--Sat & Sun until 3pm. Affordable prices, nice portion sizes, and great flavor. The ambience is so cozy and charming, especially upstairs with the outdoor patio in the summer. Great menu selection and high quality teas with all sorts of flavors and sweetness levels to your liking. They even have a free small parking lot around back which comes in handy in crowded downtown Princeton. A must try!

Julia L.

Oddly enough, the main reason behind my low rating for Ficus is the very poor packaging. I ordered a chicken katsu for takeout. The wait time was a bit long, but it was made fresh (I assume, from the sounds in the kitchen). However, immediately upon receiving my takeout order, I noticed that the bag had a very large rip in a location concerningly near the bottom where the food was pressing up against/right next to. The rip also extended around a full corner. Whoever packaged it had taped up the bag, but was there a reason they did that instead of just putting the food into a new bag with actual structural integrity? (I don't think it's for sustainability purposes, since you could always recycle a paper bag. Plus the tape looked and felt plastic.) Furthermore, I disovered on my way back that my food began leaking and found that despite (or maybe because of) the rubber bands, the lid was not properly secured on top of the bowl, which had become misshapen. The food itself ranged from meh to fine. Some pieces of the chicken katsu were super hard and dry, but the non-dry pieces tasted good. The portion size of the bowl was large, matching the higher prices at this place. The tomato soup was good, but nothing special. The same applied to the butternut squash soup. Would recommend not getting takeout here and instead dining in, judging by the (lack of) quality of the packaging.

Taylor G.

Cute place with tasty and semi healthy options. The smoothie was great and loved the salad with chicken and added goat cheese. The portions were pretty big too, great for when you're really hungry and not looking for anything too fancy!

Latoya G.

Had a wonderful Mommy/Daughter brunch date with my not so little one! I love that parking is an option at Ficus... it is not plentiful, but is of great value in Princeton! We walked in on a Saturday at 12 pm... not many people at all, surprisingly. We opted to sit upstairs which was nice and cozy.. there is a rooftop that I'm sure gets lot of use during the warmer months. Johnny was out server and he was very friendly and professional. We ordered scrambled eggs, avocado toast, a hot matcha latte, and a mocktail called the Aloha. Everything was delicious and fresh! LOVED the avocado toast -- topped with confit tomato, balsamic glaze, and a poached egg.... it was just so good. I think it was the sourdough bread--I love sourdough. Matcha was perfectly balanced with the right amount of sweetness and milk. 10 out of 10. Can't wait to return on our next date!

Linda G.

This place was friggin delicious. I came in expecting your standard cafe style food but the menu was very unique and flavorful. They also offer Boba tea, coffee, smoothies and alcohol too - they've really got it all. Great atmosphere, more cafe-like downstairs, and more upscale upstairs. There's also a rooftop patio for nice days! Our waiter (who appeared to be the only one there), was quite attentive, despite having tables upstairs on the patio and downstairs. He was great! I'm not usually too fond of the restaurant options in Princeton but really enjoyed this place. I'll definitely return!

Manish C.

Ficus is located in its own little nook away from the main hustle and bustle on Nassau Street in Princeton. The interiors are quite cozy with artwork on display. I had been looking to try out their spicy chicken sandwich for quite some time after seeing some decent reviews for it, and a Yelp experience was just the impetus that got me to try it out. One of the ladies who rang me up (perhaps a co-owner?) even commented "you've heard about our spicy chicken sandwich?" which made me think I was in for a decent food experience. The spicy chicken sandwich took a good 10 minutes or so to prepare, as I saw a kitchen full of people hard at work preparing food for customers. I did visit in their final hour before closing on the weekend; they didn't bother asking if I wanted to dine in, and just assumed I wanted the sandwich to go, so it was served to me in a paper bag rather than on a plate. Still, it looked great when I took it out of the bag, with breaded chicken served on what looked to be a high quality focaccia bread along with red cabbage, kale, and chipotle aioli. Sadly, as I bit into it, I realized the 2 pieces of breaded chicken on the sandwich were over 90% breading. As I proceeded to eat, some bites didn't have any chicken at all, and it felt like you were just eating breading. It was really unappetizing, and I wound up throwing most of the sandwich out (and I rarely throw out food like that). While I didn't find the chipotle aioli all that spicy, all the other ingredients seemed good and had all the makings of a great sandwich if it weren't for the severe lack of chicken. I'm not sure if I caught them on an off day or if they're cutting corners on serving breaded chicken with mostly breading, but my first dining experience with Ficus was overall pretty disappointing.

Louis L.

Great ambiance, wonderful service, short and to the point menu with a good variety, and half bottles of local wine. A great setup! We had the Korean Bolgogi tacos to start, and then the ribeye and salmon. The salmon was perfectly cooked, and so was the fatty and delicious ribeye.