Chinese tea

This Saturday I had a table reserved for the bf and I at a Chinese tea place. Because of some football game going on in the area we ended up getting there about an hour early. There was a lovely pub close to the tube station where we disembarked. We shared some nachos and had a couple of beers. Well the bf had beers, I had some cider and ginger beer. Ginger beer just screams summer/spring to me so I had to get some.

So after we spent just over an hour getting slightly tipsy we moved on to Chaya Teahouse. It was easy to find, but I was very glad for the directions we received from the owner. The tea house is tucked away in a residential area. In fact, I think the guy who runs it lives upstairs and has the tea room on the ground floor. It is one large room. In the back there is a kitchen, just like you would find in any other house and then there are four tables across the room. We picked a low table with a couch. And this is what greeted us:

On the left you can just make out an electric kettle that looks like a teapot. It would reheat itself whenever the temperature dropped below a certain point. After we had chosen a tea (a red variety) a red clay pot was placed on the wood tablet. It contained the tea and was filled with the hot water. After the lid had been placed on it some hot water was poured on top of the clay pot. It only sat for about a minute and then was poured into one of the white cups. Where it would sit. From there it was served into those two tiny tea cups that are on either side. They didn't contain more than a shot. Made us drink the tea very slowly. And there is a certain way you are supposed to drink the tea. You take hold of the cup with your thumb and finger next to it. Your middle finger then supports the cup underneath and tilts it when you want to drink. Very clever.

The little tray right in front of us contains cards. One for each tea variety they serve. As you can see we picked a red one. The menu next to it contains all the food items. We ordered one of each. First we were served two savoury dishes:

These dumplings were delicious. Everything was prepared freshly and neatly arranged on little plates and bowls.

The rice parcel was especially good. It was very spicy without being hot. I had a bit of trouble eating with the metal chopsticks. The rice would just slide right off it. 

 This is lime sorbet with tea jelly. Usually I am not a bit fan of jelly, but this was very good. The combination of sweet with sour worked.

All of these were heavenly! The marshmallows were so soft they melted in our mouths. Unbelievably good.

The scones were probably the most 'traditional' tea item. The jam was made from rose petals. Gave it a nice twist.

Here is the menu we were served. It changes every weekend. I think they are only open on weekends and you need to reserve a table. It's really worth it. We spend £20 altogether. Which was absolutely worth it. Try it out if you get the chance.

tea pâtisserie; sweets

wasabi matcha macaroons with pistachio butter

pomegranate marshmallow crème

coconutty gingery nutty chocolate fudge

jasmine tea jelly with lime sorbet

warm scone with clotted cream & rose petal spread

tea savouries

lo mai fan lotus leaf rice parcel

vegetarian dumplings with sze chuan chilli oil

Tea time!

A couple of weeks ago the bf and I went for afternoon tea. I love afternoon tea! I think it's one of the greatest inventions. So relaxing and so yummy. I had looked up this little place in Soho, Soho's Secret Tea Room. Little did I know that it was actually secret. Well, at least hard to find. It is situated on top of a pub and there is only a tiny sign pointing you towards it. You have to enter through the pub and then you have to ask staff to be escorted up to the tea rooms through the staff room behind the bar. Feels very James Bondish. We made the mistake of not reserving. But luckily were early enough so they could squeeze us into the corner. It was a squeeze but well worth it!

We were on the first room floor (second floor for you North Americans). They have a grammophone playing music and the staff is dressed in, I want to say 40s costume, but really I have no idea. It's some kind of period dress. But not over the top, it's more something you might see your grandma wear in old photos. Really lovely and stylish.

But what I loved best was their china. It's all mismatched.

Exhibit A: the 'vase'. And aren't those flowers lovely!?!?

 Exhibit B: the tea cup (you cannot see, but the plate underneath has a different design).

 Exhibit C: I love this cup. My grandma used to have a very similar set. Reminds me of being a kid. Aw.

The rooms. Doesn't look like much here, but they were lovely. Mobile phone is not the best camera option.

 The food! We could pick our slice of cake and cupcake (I had carrot cake and vanilla & lavender cupcake. Nom nom nom.)

 Scones. Who doesn't love scones?

Even our tea pots were not a match.

Overall I loved the place. We might be back. Though I love exploring. Already booked a table for this Saturday at a tiny Chinese tea house. Yay, very exiting for weekend exploration!