Xiao Mei Brown Sugar Boba Ice Cream – NYC

Previously, I wrote about the bubble tea ice cream bar from Haitai which I really liked. Well, HMart in the East Village now sells the original Taiwanese version from Xiao Mei (小美) that was sold-out everywhere last summer. So how does it compare?

The picture on the wrapper with lots of boba looked promising…

And so did the ice cream bar itself (pictured at top). One point of difference between this and the Haitai version though, is that this is a brown sugar boba ice cream bar. So like the brown sugar milk tea drink, this has no tea in it at all, and tastes of creamy milk and caramelized brown sugar. I did miss the tea flavor of the Haitai ice cream, but again, this is another animal.

As for the boba, Xiao Mei is far superior. The Haitai boba was a little hard, and didn’t have the QQ (chewy) quality to it. Xiao Mei boba is soft but still chewy. Interestingly enough, the reason why it’s soft is that it’s NOT made with tapioca, but with rice flour. The “boba” is actually “mochi balls.” Whatever the case, it works!

And there’s plenty of boba in each bite. By the way, are you an ice cream licker or biter? I do both apparently…

Xiao Mei Brown Sugar Boba Ice Cream sells for $9.99 for 4 bars, which make it more expensive than the Haitai version at $7.99 for 8 bars, but for the chewy boba, I say it’s worth it. I do wish Xiao Mei made a boba ice cream bar with tea, or if we could somehow marry the Haitai version with the Xiao Mei version, but you know what? Buy both. Life is short, and a little more ice cream won’t hurt.

Xiao Mei Brown Sugar Boba Ice Cream Bar
Rating: 5/5 stars

HMart (multiple locations, I visited the East Village location)
35 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003 (map)