Average place to grab bubble tea, food, and hang with friends. I'm glad they have all sorts of bottoms for your bubble tea and their popcorn chicken is crunchy and has the right amount of seasoning to counteract the sweetness of my bubble tea. The price was similar to most other bubble tea joints. Even though my friend and I came quite late on a week day, the place was still pretty crowded. Everyone seemed very comfortable talking aloud and playing games with each other. Quite surprised and excited to know they have comics, though it would be pretty hard to study or read at a place like this. It's more as a decoration, which isn't bad. Only criticism is to maintain the cleanliness and update the games, but besides that, I enjoyed my time here and would come again. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Popcorn chicken avocado and taro boba - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Their beef chow fun, sesame balls and other pastries are what draws me in on a regular basis. Since this spot is in the U District, it's filled with students and I enjoy mingling with them since I'm an older person. I always feel welcomed and it reminds me of a home away from home a long time ago for me! read more

Great service, fantastic food. Congee reduces head colds to just two days time. Popcorn chicken is addicting. This place helps me live a delicious life, I can't be more thankful for serving it up so long and so well read more

Meesum Chinese restaurant located in the University Ave. love the food and service was great! Restaurant manager provided great service and took the time to listen when I was trying to decide what to order (so many awesome selections). She gave few recommendations and decided to go with them- they were all sooo good. Will definitely will order again. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Their basil popcorn chicken meal is my go to lunch meal around here. It comes with the the basil chicken which has an addicting seasoning and are nice and crispy. It also comes with a side of rice with pork on top, pickled veggies, and steamed cabbage. It's usually paired with a hot and sour soup, which is super tasty. . Their taro blended tea with tapioca which is a solid treat too. . If they have a BBQ pork hom bao, grab one of those for later too. read more

Went in earlier this afternoon to satisfy my usual bbq pork howbow craving, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Meesum is now offering steamed bbq pork buns(and shumai)! If you've ever had a bbq pork hombow from meesum, you know that they are HUGE. And the steamed bbq pork bun was no different. It tasted really fresh, warm, and fluffy with lots of super savory bbq pork stuffed in the inside. Service was really fast and friendly as usual. Good steamed buns are hard to come by, especially around UDistrict. So it's awesome that Meesum has steamed bbq buns now. I will definitely be back for another one soon. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - New steamed bbq pork bun (right) and baked bbq pork howbow for reference. YUM!!! - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

After I ordered and paid here, I was asking for a recipient. The cashier totally ignores my request and left me to wait for more than 3 mins. When she returns, she asks me unhappily why you are still here. I told her I would like to get the receipt, and the only remaining table is dirty, I kindly asked her to clean it up. When she started to clean the table, she educated me everyone needs to bus the table. I am not the one who leaves anything behind obviously. Very bad service here. read more

Even if they just served Okinawa Boba and curry ham bao, they'd be worth the rating. But they have even more than that! Way better than all the "fancy" new chain places opening up in U District; show 'em some local love (they've also done things for community like mask donations) read more

I ordered a delivery and it arrived quick. Ordered Japanese curry with Pork katsu and it was delicious. Def recommend.

The $3.03 curry bun is such an awesome and well executed with plentiful hot and tasty curry wrapped in a well-made Chinese milk bun with a sugary crispy crust. The $1.98 red bean sesame ball was also really enjoyable. read more

Walking down the ave, when you pass by Mee Sum you're like "Alright. Do I trust this place?" Oh YEAH you trust this place. Let me start off by saying yeah, I've literally only tried three things here, but that's already a fantastic start for me. I had the pork belly rice bowl, a red bean sesame ball, and my friend's hot and sour soup he didn't want to eat (score!). YO! When you're homesick like me and all you want is something carb heavy, legitimately Asian, taste-like-home goodness in your mouth, Mee Sum hits the spot. Their pork belly bowl was a huge portion, and for about $7 bucks it is a HUGE steal. I love that they add the egg that is cooked to literal perfection. The red bean sesame ball tasted good and satisfied my homesick feels, but it was a little on the thicker side and very thin on the red bean side. Where is the proportion at? I don't know, but I was still happy. Lastly that soup tho - I believe it comes with the rice dishes they serve, but I was very pleased to find that their soup was actually enjoyable. I hate when I go to Chinese places and their "hot and sour soup" tastes like water. This was the bees knees up here in Seattle. I'm definitely coming back because I will always be trying to fill that Asian food void. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Pork belly rice bowl!!! Super filling for a good price! - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I like the food and bubble tea here! So far I've only tried 3 dishes from their menu. Japanese style curry pork chop is AMAZING! Their curry is even better than those served in some Japanese restaurants! Fish fillet w/ corn sauce is on point. Cooked and seasoned perfectly. The pop corn chicken meal is among the best that I've ever had! The meals also come with complimentary soup. Their bubble tea taste similar if not slightly better than local competitors. They also have pastries shelf where they display some of their signature pastries. The service is hit and miss depending on who's working at the time. There were couple times where the staff was super friendly and even cleaned our table after we're done eating *considering it's a bus-your-own-table restaurant* There were also times the staffs barely smile and ignore you when you're standing in front of the ordering counter. But overall, a nice place to hang out, not so much for studying. read more

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One of the best Beef and Broccoli I've had in my life. FYI, their boba is also non-dairy so if you're lactose like me, you good. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Really good Beef and Broccoli - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I have just had the spicy beef noodle soup. And, unfortunately the soup is not tasteful. I've never tried any beef noodle soup that close to a bit sour taste for no matter Taiwanese or Cantonese noodle soup. But it just taste strange. Plus, the beef is also so-so. Not recommend. read more

UW has more bubble tea shops than coffee shops so how does this long time shop keep up with giants like ShareTea and Chatime. They do it by being a jack of all trades, Mee Sum is a shop where you can have both solid tea AND food options. Must Try dishes: Japanese Milk Tea (hot or cold), pork meat over rice and fish sauce chicken wings Food IG: Jarred.Goods After attending UW for over 5 years and having an older sibling that went there for 4 years before i started. In our collective 9+ years of UW experience we have seen the Ave go through many changes, but Mee Sum has always had a hold on the bubble tea market. You have your day 1's: Oasis, Mee Sum, and Wow and your new kids on the block: Chatime, ShareTea, and Boba up. With new industry trends in bubble tea and plentiful competition how does Mee Sum stay in business? By consistently having great food and drinks. So I need to talk about the drink selection, they have all your standard choices of both tea and fruit flavors. But the king of drinks here is their Japanese Milk Tea. It is very similar to royal milk tea but I have never and I mean NEVER found something like this drink in a different bubble tea shop. For all I know Mee Sum is the only one on The Ave selling this delicious elixir. If you havent tried it out yet you are missing out! Food is primarily Taiwanese with some notable exceptions, I was very impressed with their fish sauce chicken wings and their pork sauce over rice is insanely cheap, if you are looking for a good quick lunch get that with a Japanese Milk Tea and you will be all set! read more

An awesome new(er) outpost of the classic Chinese bakery down at Pike Place. It's great to see this old favorite expanded into a full size space. While they have a full food menu, to me the highlights are the humbows and treats from downtown (Char Siu, pineapple buns, and red bean cake). They also have dozens of bubble tea options - I tried the mango and was impressed with the quality. I have been enjoying their baos for many many years and am so happy I don't have to go all the way to Pike Place to get them (although I think they still make them there and just cart them up, so if you want to get them as fresh as possible you still need to go downtown.) Happy snacking! read more

It seems like the cashier has been having a rough day or spit out a sour patch before it got too sweet. The rudeness started with getting in line and being shushed to wait without saying a word. But alright, it's whatever. But it seem to get worse after giving her my card when the reader was in front of me. But okay, I'm dumb whatever. Finally, I get half of my order and I ask about the other drink and now I know she's just being rude and grumpy. Looked at how she treated other customers. In case maybe I was reacting strongly for no reason but that seems to be her whole persona. Great way to charm customers! I'd like to think she just doesn't want people to think they have to tip. Besides the shitty customer service, the drinks we got had 4 ice pebbles that serve to only water the drink and not cool it. Would not go again if I see them working the counter. read more

It'd been a few years since I'd been to this place, and while I generally like the renovations they've done, it has make the place feel more restaurant-y and less cafe-y. I enjoyed that it felt more like a hangout place, whereas now it feels more like a place you have a sit-down meal at. But other than that, the food and prices are still as solid as ever. I recommend the Japanese milk tea (which was my favorite up until I became lactose intolerant during college) as well as the minced pork over rice. The popcorn chicken meal is also very good, although it always seemed like slightly too much food to me. read more

My boyfriend and I have been coming here for YEARS. Even after we moved out of the neighborhood, we come back just to go here. I personally love the congee, beef chow mein, and the eggplant with rice. Every entrée comes with a side of soup--such a nice touch that we look forward to every time! Besides food, Mee Sum has a great selection of customizable, yummy bubble teas. I like the avocado milkshake, rose bubble tea and the Okinawa milk tea. read more

Ordered the beef brisket soup, there were 4 bites of meat in it! The rest was all fat! It was disgusting! I realize brisket is a fatty meat, but they knew they put all fat in it! So for $10.50 I got broth, angel hair noodles, and 4 bites of meat! DISGUSTING! read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Beef brisket soup! 90% fat! - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Good food for very reasonable prices. Lots of students dinning here. Tables are generally full quick service and friendly staff. Ordered the beef chow fun, side dish of salt and pepper calamari, and hubby ordered salt and pepper pork chops over rice. Our friends ordered chicken chow fun and a fried rice dish Bathrooms are clean ones very casual atmosphere read more

This place gets 3.5 stars out of 5, and that extra half a star is for the popcorn chicken. While this place is probably the best on the Ave in UDistrict and has fairly good quality of bubble tea, there is something about it that is missing. First, when you look to outside the Ave like in Redmond or Edmonds, it cannot really compare to Tapioca Express because TE definitely has more bubble tea flavors. Sometimes I just want some more unique flavors like blueberry or smoky oolong or okinawan---honeydew is good some of the time, but other times it just doesn't cut it. Just with the lack of variety, for some odd reason Mee Sum does not let you combine different milk tea flavors. Other places let you mix flavors, which, if there is so much demand for it, does not make any sense. Mango and strawberry milk tea is bomb from bomb dot com. Mmmmmmmm!!! Finally, I know the place gets busy when school is in session, but it gets dirty. They need to clear the back area with the dirty dishes more because it just doesn't look very appetizing when I walk to the bathroom and see half eaten food next to where the girls make the boba. #gross On a side note, this does not really affect my rating of Mee Sum, but I thought I would share it for giggles. One time, I saw a customer complain to one of the girls that work there about the quality of the fish being low because it wasn't very fresh. Then, the girl complains to the rest of the crew that if he didn't like the fish dish he shouldn't have eaten the whole thing lol. read more

I recently got delivery from Mee Sum, and... I was so disappointed! I got the egg flower soup and mixed veggies with tofu entree. I was hoping for more... I don't know... flavor? Both the soup and entree were quite lacking in that one rather vital thing. I got full... but not satisfied. I might try their bubble tea or a pastry sometime, but I definitely don't plan to get any more meals from them. read more

I never want to write 1 star reviews but after my experience here I feel the need to share. This establishment is filthy and unsanitary. When I went to use their bathroom, I saw dozens of little black flies on the wall. I thought nothing of it since most public restrooms are dirty. I came out to the register and noticed LITERALLY hundreds of tiny fruit flies on the walls of the cafe. Before I could tell my bf about what I saw, he had already ordered a drink. He got a honey milk tea without tapioca and drank it on the way home. When I got home, I opened the lid and saw a DEAD fly floating on top of the drink. Absolutely disgusting & unsafe. Never again. read more

BEFORE YOU GO IN walk around to the back, one of Seattle's dirtiest alleys and look at the food sitting out in the open doorway, and ask if you want your food sharing the same air as that. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Will take this down once it improves. Update: 8 months later, no change. You may get sick. - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I'm surprised at Mee Sum's low rating. Now to be fair, I've never ordered any of their dishes, only their baked goods that naughtily tempt you from behind glass cases. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a well-made bao and theirs are lovely. Inexpensive and competently made, you can grab some buns for a long day and be nicely sated if not stuffed. Most recently, a good friend and I were queued up for Marc Maron at The Neptune. She offered to grab some jian dui to tide us over while we waited. After biting into that chewy pastry, I might go as far as call it the best sesame seed ball I've enjoyed in Seattle! It was liberally coated with sesame seeds, the glutinous rice shell was crisp and yielding against my teeth. Writing about them now makes me want to stuff my cheeks with them and impersonate a greedy chipmunk! Parking can be tricky but it's the location, not the fault of the business. Employees are nice and dining area is kept clean. If you're on the fence about their pastries, indulge in one single sesame seed ball or a coconut bun. You'll be glad that you did! read more

Looking for some good boba and snacks on the Ave?? You're at the right place. Mee Sum makes good drinks and the tapioca, although my favorite stuff to put in my drinks is Mango Pudding. I get Taro Smoothies with Pudding everytime I go there, and it has never disappointed me. They also serve foods, even though, it's like impossible to get good seats to eat here. The place is packed during lunch/dinner/latenight hours so that's basically all day?? I really like their kimchi-friedrice with bacon, pork belly over rice and popcorn chicken. I get the same thing every time, sadly, but that's because they are too good. I tried other things before and they couldn't beat my mains. Other than small seating area, this place provides everything else: Free-Wifi, TV, Asian drink products, Asian Bakery (BBQ Pork ftw!), board games and comic books! On top of that, the second floor of this building has Karaoke. ;) And they do serve Mee-Sum's foods. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Daily complimentary soup serving with entree - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Disappointed in the hot and sour soup, which tastes just like thick broth. The crab Rangoon was not good either. The cream cheese was clumpy and the outside was burnt. read more

A good place for a late night quick dinner. They serve pretty authentic Taiwanese and Chinese food which come in a large portion with reasonable price. Surprised by the quick service, the mushroom pork over rice I ordered was ready just one or two minutes after I sat down. They used good rice and cooked it well, neither too hard nor sticky, just having the texture I like. The pork was a little bit salty to me but tasted good with the rice. Finished the whole bowl in a few minutes:) The environment inside is comfortable and the bubble tea there is also recommended! read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Mushroom Pork Over Rice - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Mee Sum can be very hit or miss with food, and I usually go to Sharetea for my bubble tea nowadays, but Mee Sum's bubble tea is still pretty authentic and they have some interesting flavors you can't get elsewhere. As for the food, this is one of those places where you really need to know what to order. Their shanghai style chow mien is pretty good, and so are there Taiwanese-style rice bowls like the pork belly bowl. Others, like their Sichuan-style eggplant dish, are not so great. They have a very wide selection, though, which is impressive for a place on the Ave. read more

Food here is absolutely delicious but the customer service is pretty poor. Had to repeat what I wanted three times while ordering, didn't receive my drink until five minutes after I was done eating and it was the wrong drink. They said I'd have to wait ten more minutes to get the right one. Think I'll just be taking pastries to go here from now on and get drinks and meals elsewhere read more

the sticky rice is not fully cook, more peanuts inside, less meat and very pricey, i was disappointed read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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It's really bad service！！I waiting for 30 mins just for a milk tea, and there is no other customer. There are lot of waiter and waitress there, but they didn't do anything. My friend ask them two times about the milk tea, but one guy just keep playing the phone. It's my first time to write a comment on the yelp, because they really pissed me off！！I've never seen such bad and rude service. I don't think I will come back any more. DO NOT EAT HERE！！ read more

Coming from the Bay Area in California, tea is basically a standard there and if it's not good you find the next shop that's probably 5 minutes away from the one you're at. I got the Earl Gray Milk Tea with grass jelly and it's hard for me to compare this drink to a shop I love to get Earl gray from (GongCha), but this was not what I was expecting. It's a little more bland for my taste but not the worst I have tried. It is still good but coming from a high standard area I can find even better. I would still reccomend this place to others since it is one of the better tea shops in the area. The employees are nice and friendly. The drinks come out at a decent rate and you're not waiting for too long. They also have wifi if you're into tech that needs wifi!! read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Earl gray milk Tea with grass jelly - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Pretty sure it's the best place to get Taiwanese popcorn chicken 鹽酥雞 in the Greater Seattle area. Their takeout is always good quality (separating the sauce from the protein is an added plus). A solid go-to Chinese/Taiwanese restaurant. read more

It's definitely worth the wait! I work close by and was dying for Chinese. A coworker suggested this place. There is a reason this place is crowded....great food! I'm planning to try the tea and milk shakes next. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Honey sesame chicken meal - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

The manager seems to hate her job and shows it on customers. Update: I got a call from the manager where she asked for my story and apologized which means a lot to me. Updating review since I think its a nice and welcome gesture. read more

This review update is for the baos especially. I recently had the pleasure of eating three different types of baos from Mee Sum: curry baked bao chicken baked bao porked steam bao I enjoyed them all! While I still prefer the Baos coming from the Pikes Place location, the baos at the Udistrict location hit the spot. Their baked baos have a sugary topping that makes for a distinct sweet and savory flavor that's uniquely Mee Sum (I've never had a bao like theirs). I think what makes these baos so amazing is the bread! The filling of the curry bao was underwhelming, but it was saved by the bread. It has an airy, pliable consistency (almost like airy play dough) that makes it fun to put in your mouth! Deliciousss. The chicken baked bao and the pork steam bao delivered. Also, if you plan on not eating the entire bao, I recommend ordering the baked version. The steamed baos do not keep well (I had leftovers the next day). All in all, a good bao experience. read more

Love it love it! Reasonable price with great food! Strongly recommend! I ordered a popcorn chicken meal and a naked soda with grass jelly. The chicken is sooo tender and well flavored. Will come back!! read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Popcorn Chicken Meal - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

My absolute favorite bubble tea place. One, the owner knows my drink with an extra serving of egg pudding lol and order because I go there so much and always bring a new group of friends. She's super nice. The food always comes out at a decent fashion. Nice environment to chill, they have jenga. read more

Mee Sum Pastry - Chinese Near Me - Seattle, Washington