Gude Gude Bubble Tea

NOMNOMNOM SNACKS GALORE.
I love their viet sammiches. Reasonably priced, and left me feeling satiated. They had curry fish balls and chicken wings on a stick. Also good.
When I left, I looked up and saw they had a sign for curly fries. I missed out on my favorite thing…
Oh well. I was pleased enough with my Bahn Mi!

Really good passion fruit ice crush bubble tea… for the initiated.

This is based on bubble tea alone. Don’t waste your $ 2. It’s super-​cheap, but just walk an extra couple blocks west on Hester to Teado, where the milk tea tastes good. It seems Gude Gude is benefitting from its proximity to Prosperity. The staff was very nice, and they had a wide range of teas and food, but if my milk tea is an indication of the other selections, I’ll just go elsewhere in the future.

Incredible deals. Might not be the best Vietnamese sandwich in NYC. But, for $ 3.75 it’s delicious. And, the staff is super friendly by Chinatown standards. Also, do not forget to try the milk shakes. Superb.

I love the food portion for it’s price. I love the chicken on stick.

I want to love every cheap hole in the wall joint in Chinatown. Unfortunately not all of them are worthy of my love. I suspected Gude Gude might be one such place on my first visit, when the Viet coffee I ordered was made with instant coffee. Why do it at all if you’re going to do it poorly? I remained hopeful when I noticed they had Vietnamese sandwiches for $ 3.50 a pop, and decided to come back someday to try one.
Today was that day, and I went for three: the BBQ pork, BBQ chicken and the pork roll. First thing I noticed? They’re made on huge soft hero rolls, stuffed heavily with pickled carrot-​daikon mixture. So huge that you can’t get all of the sandwich elements in one bite. One bite will be bread and pickled carrot, another will be cucumber, then you’ll hit the meat. Of the three meats the chicken was the best, but that’s not saying much — none were particularly good. In fact, the BBQ pork was pretty much sweet brown pork mush. And the sandwiches are dry; no pâté to be found anywhere, and only the smallest smear of mayo to lubricate the affair. A decent amount of food for $ 3.50 to be sure, but not a good example of a banh mi.
Perhaps their strong suit is bubble tea, but if you hang a large sign advertising your Vietnamese sandwiches in front of your business someone is bound to come along and judge you on the strength of those sandwiches. Today I’ll be that person, and give Gude Gude a thumbs-​down.

This place is pretty awesome, right by Prosperity all this time and I did not know about. Have to thank Sean K. for writing that review. I have come here a few times now and LOVE the bubble tea. Next time I will try the actual food here. Some of the pork sandwiches did look good, and the Onion rings too.

I shifted on over to Gude Gude tonight after grabbing some dumplings next door at Prosperity. I heard such wildly conflicting reviews on their banh mi that the curiosity alone sent me there to see for myself. I ordered the classic style BBQ pork one, along with a coconut bubble tea. Figured I’d kill 2 bird with 1 stone while there.
The banh mi was pretty good, but the way they stuffed the sandwich was kinda strange: It was not layered from bottom to top, but instead, from left to right (if that makes any sense). I’d have to open my mouth really WIDE, encompassing the entire diameter of the hoagie if I hoped to get a proper ratio of pork/​vegs, otherwise I’d have to just eat it alternately from left to right, taking a bite of veg, then a bite of meat, then veg, etc. Bah. Nuisance. Not that I’ve ever had any trouble opening my mouth widely for food, but it was Friday and I was tired and I just didn’t want to bother. I shrugged this off, though, since it serves me right to go to a teahouse looking for a banh mi.
The bubble tea was ok. It was indeed cheaper than a lot of C-​town boba joints, but it is made pretty much the same way, with powdered flavorings, etc. The cup wasn’t very big, but it was sweet, and had lotsa chewy little tapioca balls which shut me up for awhile (I’m told this is no easy task: shrug:I don’t get it).
I was gonna sit and have my stuff, but there was a gaggle of young girls (looked like regs) taking up every seat in the house, all shouting loudly across to the guys behind the counter, so I just took the stuff with me.
I might try another boba from Gude Gude one of these days if I’m next door getting dumplings. I might even try another banh mi from Gude Gude too. Not bad stuff.

I miss my boba. For some god awful reason, I haven’t willed myself into solo trekking for it since I moved to NYC — which means I haven’t had boba in almost a year. I don’t know how I survived.
Luckily, Gude Gude was right along our dumpling route, and I’m hoping that nobody minded that we stopped in. I ordered the lychee black tea with bubbles. So goodie goodie! The boba aren’t too hard and aren’t too mushy. Perfect to satisfy my craving!
Downside: I’m craving it again.

We loved their banh mi! Veggies were absolutely fresh and the bbq meat was perfect and not too chinese tasting (if you understand me ~ you know, five-​spice bonanza…).
The only thing is that the layering of ingredients in the sando was too separated, either you bite veggies or meat, it’s difficult to get a bite of both.
Spiciness is moderate and the chiles were zingy to perfection.
Price is popular, at least for a San Franciscan, but definitely cheap compared to Baoguette, Nickys and other more renowned locations in NY.
The guys running the shop were super friendly and overall, considering the neighboring Prosperity Dumplings this is a killer corner of chinatown for a delicious cheap-​eats…

Today I came to Gude Gude Bubble Tea twice. Once for lunch and once more for dinner. I’m writing this out in MS Word so if this comes out to be really long, its probably because its really two different reviews from two separate occasions all rolled into one. That and I generally write my life story into all these reviews anyway.
I stopped in before the lunch hour rush and picked myself up a Taro Bubble Tea as recommended by Christina F. Normally taro would not be a top choice when it comes to anything, especially drinks. I normally prefer cold drinks from places like this as either fruity flavored or just a plain old milk tea. I had the Bubble Milk Tea last time already so I was up for something new. I’m quite glad that I went with the Taro Milk Tea. It was deliciously sweet with the taste of taro. It actually reminded me of the Taro Ice Cream from the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory which is actually really good. Not surprisingly, Gude Gude also sells ice cream that comes from them. Whether or not it was used in milk tea is another question which probably could have been answered had I been paying attention and not busily punching away at the Unilocal app on my phone.
I went back to Gude Gude Bubble Tea later tonight with my friend Jenn W. We were originally heading over to Prosperity to grab dumplings for dinner. Yes, we get dinner here because we’re cheap, poor college students. Well actually, I spent the night watching her eat because when I said that we were getting dinner it was more like she got dinner and I watched her eat. Why? Because I had finally gotten myself on Invisalign recently at age 23 and am not allowed to eat with them on. Normally I’d just tear them off and stuff my face but I had just brushed up and put them on an hour before. Also being in Chinatown at night with all the garbage in the streets somewhat deters me from sticking my hand in my mouth to pull them out.
So we pass by Gude Gude on the way back to my car which happened to be half a car’s length back from their store front. I noticed the picture menu they had attached to their windows and started pointing them out. Jenn being the fatty that she is couldn’t resist walking in when I pointed out the Fried Scallops for $ 2. It was actually quite cruel. They looked and smelled so delicious and I really wanted to just snatch them away and pour them in my mouth. Alas it was not meant to be. I promise you this though, I will be back. And scallops will be mine. Mark my words.
We stayed so late that as soon as our order came up, the guy behind the counter turned out the lights and tore off his uniform ready to close up and leave. I think he was planning on closing sooner and our order unfortunately made him stay. I sure hope he didn’t exact revenge on us. For Jenn’s sake anyway. LOL
I think I can definitely see myself visiting Gude Gude Bubble Tea more often. Possibly every time I visit Prosperity Dumpling; and I visit Prosperity at least once as week nowadays. I’m even bumping them up to 5 stars now because my 2 visits today were so enjoyable. Their food menu is good for nibbling on while sitting around and chatting with friends over a bubble tea. I can’t believe I’m saying this but the Taro Milk Tea is a definite must have. Now I’m conflicted with either ordering that next time, a Bubble Milk Tea, or being courageous enough to try something new.
P. S. Dear Kendra, I dedicate the top half of this review to you. Because of course, what kind of failure reviews a bubble tea place and doesn’t review the bubble tea itself? Not me of course.

Just noticed this place recently and wanted to try it because they sell banh mi for only $ 3.50. Now my current fav. places for banh mi sandwiches are Paris Sandwiches and Banh Mi Saigon. Well, the ones here are ok at best. Yes it was stuffed and filled with the perfect ratio of veggies to meat. However, the bread was nothing like it should be. It was dry, looked and tasted stale, untoasted (very surprised by that!) and basically is the only reason why this sandwich is mediocre. You get lots of carrots and daikon with the right amount of sweetness just like at Banh Mi Saigon and the BBQ pork was actually meaty pork unlike Saigon’s fatty pork nuggets. It was a bit salty though. But while eating the sandwich I cannot get pass the taste of the bread, I’m sorry. I hope this is a one time thing and I’m willing to try this place again. I also bought a taro bubble tea ($ 2.50)which was absolutely delicious — even better than Quicklys. So I give this place 4 stars.

I’m not usually a 5-​starrer but this entry already got two of them and I hate to be the joy killer. This place is pretty ridiculously awesome tho:
1. It’s near my apt.
2. Their Vietnamese sandwiches are DELISH. I had the bbq pork one. It’s good quality Vietnamese style bbq pork with loads of pickled carrots and turnip, cilantro, jalopeno (if u want spicy), a slice of pork roll, and toasted bread. It’s not proper baguette– it’s more like Italian bread. But as long as it’s toasted I don’t mind. Plus it holds more things in it! It’s huge and has a ton of meat for $ 3.50.
3. Bubble tea is tasty. I got the jasmine one. I only wish they have the jasmine black tea one but I’m def getting into the creaminess of the milk tea.
4. It’s a nice place to sit down.
5. People there are very friendly.
6. They have the buy 6 get one free card.
I actually like their banh mi better than that jewelry store on on Mott St. and Saigon Banh Mi. It’s nice that its Vietnamese style bbq pork and not the Chinese Cha Siu (sp?) that alot of other places use.
I’ve eaten there 3 days in a row already.

Thanks for the rec, Sean! I loved my Taro bubble tea, and am pretty excited for the sweet rice banana candies I picked up too. So reasonably price at $ 3.25 and $ 1.30! The service was really fast and friendly. Highly recommended!

Are you a fan of Prosperity Dumpling? Well, have I got some news for you… Not only do I find myself at PD at least once a week, but now I don’t have to walk all the way to ViVi to get me some good Bubble Tea after my dumpling extravaganza. I could just crawl over to Gude Gude Bubble Tea, if I had to.
Gude Gude (pronouned Goodie Goodie), is four doors down from Prosperity Dumpling, and I will be going here every time I go to PD.
Aside from the boba, they have ice cream, about 16 flavors, straight from the CHINATOWN ICE CREAM FACTORY. YES! Gude Gude has an entire case filled with the best ice cream in the city, as well as some great bubble tea.
The bubble tea is only $ 2.75, for a nice sized drink, which is the cheapest I’ve seen for this deliciously addicting beverage.
The staff is awesome, as well. All of the guys working there are very friendly and have great personality. The place just opened recently, about a month ago, but they’ve got their stuff together.
Nice open area to sit, if you please. Or, even better, get some dumplings at PD, bring them over to Gude Gude and get a bubble tea with your dumplings, and a seat, unlike in PD!
I’d highly recommend this place for anyone in the neighborhood, or for any of you Prosperity Dumpling fans. Go check out Gude Gude, you won’t be disappointed!