Bubble Tea and ramen. They are pretty rare things when it comes to living here in Fairfield County. The only places we’ve seen Bubble Tea is NYC, Port Chester, and New Haven. So, to have a local shop in Stamford that’s pouring this cult concoction is pretty awesome. Bubble Tea is served cold and is made with iced tea, sweetened milk, different flavorings, and has “pearls” or bubbles made from tapioca. We’ve never had it before, so we can’t wait to try it out at the brand-new opened The First Kitchen.
While you might not recognize the name The First Kitchen, you might remember the location. Just a few months ago Saigon Cafe had opened in that spot on 80 Atlantic, offering Stamford some authentic Vietnamese. Unfortunately, we waited too long to try it out, and now it’s gone, but we have First Kitchen in its place.
Like we first said, they’ll be serving Bubble Tea at The First Kitchen, so take a gander at the variety: Milk, Taro, Mango, Strawberry, Vanilla, Thai, Coconut, Green Tea, and even Cantaloupe. They are also serving up some Asian and Vietnamese classics. You can pick shrimp or chicken spring rolls, fried dumplings, or take things up a few levels by ordering lemongrass grilled pork or chicken, and even Vietnamese beef or chicken. If you’re in the mood for soup, they’ve got you covered too with Udon Noodle, Spicy Ramen, Japanese Tonkotsu Ramen with Chicken and Egg or with Jap Chashu and Egg. There are some other speciality dishes on the menu and a few sushi rolls if you want to roll that way.
Perhaps one of the best things about the menu are the different combos that are available. You can get a Bánh mì sandwich and a bubble tea for $10.95, Unagi Don and Bubble Tea for $15.95, Udon & Fried Dumplings for $11.55, and a few other options. This will make First Kitchen a great place to stop for lunch or even for a quick fun bite for dinner. We just hope that the curse of that location doesn’t haunt The First Kitchen because that spot has opened and closed a countless number of times.
So, what do you think? Have you had bubble tea? What is your favorite ramen or dish to order at a Vietnamese restaurant?
The First Kitchen
Cost: $$
Noms: TBD
Address: 80 Atlantic Street
Stamford, CT
Delivery: free delivery for orders $10 and over
Phone: (203) 883-8208
Hours: Monday-Friday, 10-10 pm
Saturday-Sunday, 11-10 pm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ctfirstkitchen
Dan and Kristien Del Ferraro
OmNomCT 
The First Kitchen is gone too. Very odd. My first guess as to why this place failed twice would be the location, but I don’t get the whole ownership/renaming thing.
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Yeah, not surpised based on comments people gave about it. Tough locations!
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I’m a huge fan and have gone so far as to journey to Chun Shui Tang in Taichung, Taiwan, the birthplace of bubble tea. The best you are going to do in our area, though, is Chinatown or Flushing where there are multiple chain shops to choose from. Ten Ren is my favorite.
The Asian restaurants in Stamford who serve bubble tea use a lot of powered mixes. Fu Ji, I think, uses Lipton’s Milk Tea for their black milk tea version. Their tapioca is prepared well (which is hard to do), though.
I did try Saigon Cafe’s Green Milk Bubble tea and didn’t even finish it – gross. Here’s to hoping that First Kitchen ups the game in Stamford.
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Damn Ryan, that’s hardcore! So awesome. We definitely admire your devotion. Fake packet anything can’t be good. It’s a shame. Why not do it right? It’s basically the same thing as using a microwave or defrosting premade meals from the kitchen.
We hope to try Bubble Tea soon and hope it doesn’t disappoint.
THANKS Ryan
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I tried this place last month after Arts On Bedford. The Spicy Ramen was pretty solid.
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Bubble tea is fun – the tapioca pearls are slightly sweet and (if done right) chewy, and you’re given a thick straw to slurp them up with whatever tea flavor you’ve chosen. I particularly like taro milk tea. By the way, CN Station in Bridgeport serves bubble tea, as well, but I agree it’s hard to find.
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Thanks Meg! We are excited to try and it’s great to know you can get Bubble Tea in Bridgeport, too!
Thanks for reading, commenting, and helping us discover something new.
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I did get to try Saigon Cafe a few times and I LOVED their bahn mi sandwiches. I was about halfway through the list when I saw that they were gone! Any idea what happened?
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No, not sure what happened, though the ownership did change hands. Not sure of the details of that. Well, we do hope it’s awesome. :)
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