Fresh Side

Wonderful tea rolls. My favorites are the basil with beef and spicy chicken. The pad Thai tea rolls are good as well.
They always have friendly staff working here. Service can be a bit slow during peak hours so just be patient.

Love the chicken teriyaki and pad Thai tea rolls! Make sure to get the peanut sauce. The shiitake mushroom fried rice is also super tasty, but I haven’t been very impressed with other dishes I’ve had. they are generally pretty bland.

First time here with a friend for a late lunch. We opted to sit outside because it was so nice out. Downside to outside seating-​tables are so close to each other. We could hear everything our neighbors were saying. Also-​giant fern plants reaching their long fronds out to touch the back of every seat against the building. All I kept thinking was there had to be bugs coming from them onto me. Ick.
Anyway we each order a tea roll and an entrée. I also had the ginger honey iced tea and it was good. Not sweet at all with ginger shavings at the bottom. My tea roll and cold Thai noodle salad arrived together while my friend only received their tea roll to start. Sigh. Why would you bring an app and an entrée to me all at once? The table barely had enough room to fit all these things. And on top of it, the salad was poorly plated. A rectangular dish topped super high with salad and chicken so any movement I made within the dish, forced a lot of greens and chicken to fall off onto the table.
My spicy Thai chicken tea roll was good. Not spicy but good. The noodle salad while a disaster to try and eat, was very good. The fresh basil and scallions work really well with the light gingery vinaigrette dressing.
While service could use an improvement as well as logistics of outdoor seating and meal plating, I was happy we chose to have lunch here and would definitely give it another whirl!

Fresh, inexpensive and far more filling than expected. Got a couple two-​piece rolls and was surprised at their size and heft. Ginger Honey iced drink was refreshing and the perfect complement to the spices. Yum!

I would not normally post a review with fewer than three stars, but today, lunch didn’t really have any redeemable qualities. I wanted to give this place one star but I just feel rude doing that.
Today we came in for a quick lunch and were seated at a nice spot right next to one of the windows. We started out very strong. Reading the menu, everything looked good and it was so hard to decide what to eat. When it came time to order drinks, my friend and I both decided to get the Thai Iced Tea, which is one of our favorite drinks to get when we go out. One thing that confused me when we ordered was the lack of any sort of uniform or even type of clothing that the waiters and waitresses wore. That is in a way nice for being able to express yourself, but it makes it confusing for customers (in my opinion.)
The Thai Iced Teas looked more like «carrot juice» as my friend said, which isn’t that bad considering Thai Iced Tea is normally pretty orange in color, but this just looked watered down. To live up to such an appearance, the iced tea was almost flavorless and was barely sweetened. To me, Thai Iced Tea is a creamy, sweet drink and this was neither and was $ 3.25. Crazy Noodle has better.
We ordered a Seaweed Tea Roll (2-​piece) and were given rolls with about 85% white rice, 10% teriyaki sauce on peanuts and more rice, and 5% seaweed on top. After a few bites my roll was out of all but white rice, and with no sauce on the table I decided to stop eating the roll. The roll could’ve been very good had there been some care put into making it. I realize it’s only $ 3, so maybe that’s all I’m supposed to get for $ 3. Seems silly.
My friend had the Coconut Chicken noodle soup which was salty but in my opinion inoffensive (she got sick of it after she ate about half.) I got the Teriyaki Chicken and Udon noodle soup. The teriyaki chicken was fine, but I don’t think that’s a hard thing to master anyway. The udon noodle soup was almost inedible. It was extremely hot and I had to wait awhile before I could eat any of it. When I finally got to taste it I couldn’t believe how bad it was. Fish broth doesn’t sound like it would be a terrible thing but I guess at Fresh Side it is. There was no salt in the whole dish and since the waitstaff doesn’t check on you while you’re eating and there’s neither soy sauce or salt on the table, I had to just decide not to eat it. When the waiter finally saw that we were done, he didn’t ask why my soup was still full (and still steaming, too), he just asked if we were ready for the check. Over $ 30 for a terrible meal.
Don’t come here unless you know what is good on the menu, apparently.

It’s like Fresh Side is depressed which is making me a little depressed, too. Cold peanut noodle salad barely had sauce on it and the service was inexcusabley slow. In its heyday Fresh Side was amazing, but now it might as well switch to cafeteria-​style. I had to ask for silverware, sauce, and the check. No one checked in on us. That said, Fresh Side has delicious recipes. The tea rolls continue to be a treat, however the past few visits have me worried. I will try again in a few months to see if the zip is back, but in the meantime, be prepared to request everything and expect to wait.

Pad Thai with peanut sauce!!!

I’ve been coming to Fresh Side for YEARS. I have used it for several dates, and for solo tea time, and friendly get togethers. It always shines.
The food is always yummy. I love the tea in the cast iron pots. (This place is what made me get cast iron for home. It’s perfect for tea.)
I usually get 2 rolls (Typically curry and ginger.) Sometimes I’ll get the peanut noodles.
The only thing I’ve not liked as much from here is the Jasmine tea (but that’s more a failing of my taste than the tea itself.) and the mochi. (Because once a friend of mine and I ordered all the varieties they had, and eating all of them was a bit overwhelming and has put me off mochi since. But this is not a fault of the places mochi.)
The service can be… Odd at times. But, I’ve never had a BAD experience with them. The last time they put all of our orders in with an iPhone.
Also: I’m not sure why, but I had not noticed the teevee in the dining room area before… Has it been there long? It was off.

I am a longtime fan of this place. It tends to run a tad on the sweet side but that is fine by me. I have had many things on the menu and everything is just great! Faves are the chili tofu and the asian peanut noodle salad. Tea rolls are always fun to add to it as well! And there are plenty of options for vegetarian/​vegan as well as gluten free.
My favorite spot in Amherst.

Fresh Side is simply adorable, with delicious and unique Asian fusion food and a lot of variety. The menu is huge and the prices aren’t bad either, especially if you end up splitting dishes and tea rolls with friends. I really don’t recommend ordering the sangria pitcher, because it’s the only item on the menu that is a total rip off. Around $ 20 for a tiny pitcher that barely has 3 glasses in it. I do recommend ordering the mochi, because they have lots of cool flavors, like peanut, taro, and red bean, and it’s super yummy!

This place has a cult following in the five college area. It really caters to vegans/​vegetarians with their options, so I can see why they are popular. However, it just doesn’t do it for me. Their vegetables are very fresh, and I give them tons of credit on that. But they try to touch on so many different kinds of Asian cuisine that it makes it just OK overall. Like I said, if you have dietary restrictions this is definitely a high recommendation, but as far as Asian cuisine, there are better places to visit.

We love this place. We wish they would open in Boston. This is out first choice whenever we come out from Boston. Their soups and tea rolls are creative and delicious. they take the Vietnamese spring roll to another level using it as a base to add a variety of Asian inspired fillings. And no better place to experience an assortment of loose teas. We will be back.

This is the best vegan food in the Amherst/​Northampton area. They have an entirely vegan menu you can ask for, and almost everything is incredibly delicious. They also have cute alcoholic and non-​alcoholic drinks. The portions are giant, especially for the fried rice and noodle dishes! Try the pad thai!

Not that impressed with Fresh Side for the following reasons:
— Service
— Speed
— Overall flavor
A group of 6 of us came and were immediately informed that they would not be able to split the check whatsoever. Appreciate the heads up, but that doesn’t mitigate the inconvenience.
Service was sloOoOoOow. And then the food finally came and what should have been warm was cold, what should have been hot was SCALDING hot and burned my mouth, just mis-​timed completely.
I had the shrimp tea roll and it was COMPLETELY flavorless. The sauce it comes with was spicy but because the roll was totally bland all I could taste was spicy sauce. Not excited. The texture was good and my friend got the curry chicken which actually tasted good, so I guess you need to know the menu to score at Fresh Side. I also had the curried apple cinnamon chicken dish, and — despite it being SO HOT I almost spit it out, the flavor was actually pretty good. Nothing to write home about, but good.
I had the vodka ginger lemonade, it was great. Highlight of the meal.
The check came, and we gave the waiter cash for some and the rest on one card. He said nope, needed to be all one form of payment! Never heard of such a thing. Really REALLY inconvenient for anyone other than couples in whom ONE person is paying for the entire meal. Seriously?
I might come back to try the curry chicken tea roll, but that would be it. Not worth it for me.

I. LOVE. THIS. PLACE.
Whenever I visit my alma mater (Mount Holyoke), I always make a trip out here. I miss their tea rolls — I’ve never had it as good anywhere else (even in NYC).
I always order the chicken teriyaki tea rolls and the pad thai tea rolls. You can order alot and just snack on it during a drive ^_​^
The only thing is that they don’t deliver, and they take a while. The other stuff on the menu is not as good as the tea rolls.

Nice, hip place with a good atmosphere, but mediocre vegetarian options. Be warned: the peanut tofu on their online menu looks like it will be a hot dish, but it’s actually served cold with soft tofu, not firm. Made for a nasty surprise. It was still okay, but definitely not at all what I expected when I ordered from the image on their site. They should specify that it’s served cold.
The person I was with enjoyed their chicken noodle soup, however. I might go back again and try something else, but overall it was disappointing and underwhelming, and in a town like Amherst there are plenty of better options.

I returned for a weekend lunch. Oh, the curse of the second visit… First strike, the lunch menu was not offered on weekends. Second strike, I ordered a miso salad and the lettuce and was old and brown, the carrots were cooked? and the tomatoes taste like freezer burn. Only the tofu and turnip slices? we’re edible.
Oh Amherst, when will discover the virtues of quality control…
Also I got an iced Moroccan mint tea which I’m not a huge fan of.
Overall, overpriced and disappointing.

Two words: Tea rolls
Three more words: Vegan Pad Thai

After hearing my co-​worker rave about this place (specifically the tea rolls) and missing out, I was determined to try this place out for myself.
The first time here I went for the boring ol’ Pad Thai along with sharing some tea rolls with my friends. I believe you can get either 2 or 4 and they are a rather decent size. If you aren’t starving I think you could just order a plate of those for yourself to satisfy your appetite. The meal itself was pleasant, but not too memorable.
Restaurant ambiance on the other hand begs to differ. The seating was uncomfortably close! It seemed like they tried to squeeze every inch of available space. The back of my chair was touching the chair of the table right next to us! Definitely don’t expect any intimacy in this restaurant. I overheard the conversation of the neighboring table and getting in or out was a bit of a hassle.

Tea Rolls? Why didnt I think of this before? They are so good that I ordered 3 different kinds just to try. Curried Chicken Tea Roll, Curry Tofu Roll and Pad Thai Roll were all great! A little heavy on the filler items and not enough of the protein but thats ok.
I also ordered the 5 spice beef rice dish and I definitely was not disappointed. However, between the 3 tea rolls and the generous portion sizing of the entrée I was beyond full. I had to take the beef and half of each roll home as leftovers.