Asian Dessert Cafe Debuts This Weekend in Mira Mesa

A global dessert chain with over 500 locations around the world arrives in San Diego this Sunday, February 3. Making its first landing in the H Mart shopping complex on Mira Mesa Boulevard, Meet Fresh was founded in Taiwan in 2007 and serves a fast-casual menu based on traditional Taiwanese snacks and desserts. Franchise owner Roland Chan says the overwhelming popularity of its location in Irvine prompted him to bring the chain to San Diego. Its U.S. presence includes stores throughout California as well as Nevada, Illinois, Texas, and Washington.

Open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday, the cafe offers bowls of scratch-made desserts based on herbal grass jelly, taro balls, or tofu pudding that each can be served iced or hot with an array of optional toppings including barley, lychee jelly, and made-to-order sesame rice balls. There’s warm red bean and purple rice soup, a selection of snacks such as egg pudding with boba, mung bean cakes, and peanut mochi, as well as shareable-sized shaved ice that comes topped with “eight treasures” including melon jelly, ice cream, kidney beans, and peanuts or in seasonal flavors like mango and strawberry.

And what would an Asian cafe be without tea drinks? There’s milk tea with pudding, oolong tea with a fluffy cream top, green tea with lychee jelly, and more. Many of the drinks and desserts can be adjusted to your preferred level of sweetness. For Sunday’s opening, Meet Fresh will offer winter melon tea or herbal tea for just $1 with any purchase.