There really isn’t much to say about BTS(S), but that’s not surprising.

The semester had barely gotten underway when we learned that yet another dining hall was opening. We’ve hardly recovered from Chef Don’s, but here we go again.

How it works: There are two lines that aren’t the clearest. One is for sushi; the other is for bubble tea and dumplings. You can still order bubble tea if you get sushi—the tea-only line is really just to expedite the process for those who just need a brown sugar milk tea as soon as humanly possible. You pay with points, dining dollars, or Flex; no meal swipes (à la Diana). You wait as the sushi is made in front of you and then pay. For the tea and dumplings, you pay and then wait.

The vibe:

Lillian: It was so much quieter and more orderly than I anticipated. The ground floor of Milstein on a busy day is 80% of the way toward sensory overload (for me, at least) so I expected this to tip the scale, but it doesn’t! 

Vic: Sure, it was a vibe. I think it was quiet because, well… we’re in a library eating sushi. It was certainly entertaining because I believe the people serving the teas were on their 100th brown sugar milk tea by the time we showed up. As the queen of the Super Bowl once said, “That was quite a show; very entertaining.”

The good:

Lillian: The hours and convenience! Open Monday through Friday from 11 am to 11 pm and Sunday from 12 to 8 pm. Plus it’s literally in Milstein! It’ll be there at 10 pm when you haven’t eaten and still have shit due at midnight. Also, brown sugar milk tea (as I am not immune to the favorite drink of the Milstein masses) is tasty—no complaints there.

Vic: They make the sushi in front of you, so it’s always fresh! Also, they add complimentary ginger slices and dollops of wasabi in your roll pack, which was a surprising yet neat detail. Also, the popping passionfruit boba in my passionfruit green tea is so fun.

The bad:

Lillian: Why doesn’t it have a real name? Also, the tapioca. It just… crunched. That’s too strong a term, but it wasn’t the tapioca I, admittedly not a connoisseur of tapioca, am familiar with. 

Vic: Too many people ordering brown sugar milk teas… kidding! It was a bit stressful to wait for orders like dumplings, but that’s not anyone’s fault except for the people not paying attention to their orders being called. But then again, everyone except us ordered chicken dumplings and, you guessed it, brown sugar milk teas. Confusion and delays were inevitable.

Is it worth a meal swipe?: There are no meal swipes, so no. 

Final thoughts:

Lillian: Bubble Tea and Sushi Spot is the epitome of “what’s on the tin.” It says it’s a bubble tea and sushi spot, and, like, yeah. It sure is.

Vic: It’s both less expensive than and just as expensive as Café East. The sushi is less expensive (odd, because it’s fresher), but the boba is a little more expensive. A better way to say this is that they’re comparable, especially if you’re like us and have dining dollars and flex (not “points” or whatever).

Photos:

Photos via the food critics