The food was very good. If you are accustomed to actual Thai heat, you need to go on the high side to get heat here. This is a very Americanized heat level. The service was slow but courteous.
The jasmine tea was excellent! It was a bagged tea, and I have no idea what brand it was. It had Chinese characters on it and it said TEA across the top of the tag in orange letters. The flavor was full and well rounded. Not bitter and not overpoweringly floral. Almost a buttery character. I would happily have had another pot of it had we not been so tired and ready for bed.
Very meh. It’s a restaurant that also does tea. We had a table in the middle of all the other dining tables, not a very tea room feel.
We were told when making reservations that various teas were available and included with the basic tea service but when we arrived we weren’t given a choice other than the house blend black. It was brewed far too strong, more like coffee than tea with bitter coffee undertones to the liquid. When we asked if there was another option the server told us about 3 other blacks but no greens or whites at all. We were also told that a flavor other than the house blend would be an additional $5. We didn’t ask for clarification, but it sounded like that additional money was per person!
At $18, you get what you pay for to a certain extent. There were the standard foods in the standard amounts. Three sandwiches, three sweets, three scones/breads. The banana bread with cream cheese was very good. The mini chocolate eclairs were tasty and very much dark chocolate. The clotted cream wasn’t – it was basically sweet cream instead. The scones were interesting – small dropped scones with not much sweetness to them. Not bad. The sandwiches were on a large crumb artisanal type of bread and were okay.
The service was unimpressive, bordering on lackluster. After we finally got the host’s attention to get new or different tea, it improved somewhat, but it felt like our group of 5 was an imposition on the staff. They were not full when we went and they were just finishing a large tea party in the backroom and some girls were putting up decorations for another tea of about 15 in the front room. Maybe 5 people were just beneath their notice.
You have to try different places – maybe some will be good. We won’t be back to this one. I’m glad it wasn’t more expensive than it was.
Very traditional savory menu, scones were good, and the pastry selections were excellent. The house blend tea is very, very good – an Indian black tea with babaco fruit (kiwi, pineapple and one other kind of fruit taste). The staff is marvelous and the server I had was knowledgeable about teas. The live harp music was wonderful. The tea room itself is small and in a side lobby but despite being open to the larger lobby it still seemed quiet and set apart.
The price seemed reasonable for DC. The price of 3 ounces of their house blend tea, however is definitely high. I bought some because I want to share it with friends, but I will have to think about buying any more, despite the fact that I really, really like it.
Reservations are required, though when I arrived early, Julie, the hostess, sat me immediately.
Picture of their tea: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25072757@N04/6899774279/
I have more, but am only linking this one. You can find the others in this same photostream.
A lot of inventory, more spices than teas. But their teas are all displayed on the wall in clear prepackaged plastic bags and the teas are pretty pricey for 1 ounce bags. They are very nice, and seem to have a wide experience with their products but maybe not a wide knowledge of teas.
Definitely knowledgeable staff. Friendly and helpful. A little pricey, maybe, but the whole area is pricey, so it may be in line with everything else.
The teas do not appear to be kept in a good manner. They are in clear glass jars that are not sealed tightly. Their black tea base doesn’t appear to be very high quality and the girl vending the tea didn’t know anything about what she was selling. The upside is that the tea isn’t expensive.
This is simply an amazing place to while away the afternoon. Gorgeous setting, lovely live music provided by violin and cello duo, fantastic service. If you live in New Orleans and haven’t been there, go, go now. If you visit New Orleans, make time to do this. Well worth the time.
The food was wonderful and beautifully presented. Real Devonshire cream! They have two menu options. One is the standard tea sandwiches/scones/sweets and the other includes alcohol and possibly caviar, I can’t recall. Lots of choice in teas.
My only quibble is that since I was there by myself I only got to try one kind of tea. There was plenty of it and I could have stayed an hour longer, simply having my cup refilled. But I do like to try more than one tea when I go for an afternoon tea service.
Tasty chocolate cake balls. Beautiful tea room setting.
I love this shop. Wonderful stuff in here.
