Tea Houses

In the city where I work there is this AWESOME little cafe called ‘Hos Sofie’s Forældre’. This translates directly to ‘At Sofie’s Parents’. Needless to say the owners have a daughter called Sofie. :p

Anyway, they have a reasonable selection of black and green tea and a couple of whites. Strangely, no oolongs. This stunned my boss and me severely one day. My boss and I have this tradition of going to Sofie’s every once in a while, ideally once a month, and share a large pot of tea. We even have a favourite table that we always sit at if it’s free, and so far we’ve only had to sit elsewhere once, and our favourite seats around it. They also have a good selection on cakes, and you get BIG pieces. Half a large pot of tea, usually Assam, one scone with jam and one piece of cake later, we don’t need dinner. (What we DO need are bathroom breaks every 45 minutes)

The cafe is kept very much in what I’d call grandmother-style. Old fashioned plushy furniture and the tableware is oldfashioned painted porcelain. It’s a super-girly place and they welcome people with babies, so you get a lot of children there. It’s a huge note to the atmosphere of the place that this doesn’t bother us, considering none of us really like small, screaming children much.

It’s my favourite cafe in the world.

When we were all in New York (I’m in Michigan temporarily), we’d occasionally work out of Radiance Tea in Midtown, Subtle Tea in Gramercy and Sanctuary Tea in Soho. I happily recommend all three.

When I was visiting China with my father, we took a tour of the Yu Gardens while in Shanghai. Gorgeous scenery, really – I wish I could have spent hours wandering. In a tower, there was a teahouse, where they served exclusive buddhist teas (apparently, you can’t get them anywhere else). Gorgeous interior, and I think all the teas were actually herbals, but they were very good. And we had a cute server. If you’re ever in Shanghai, it’s really worth the experience.

Out here in LA I’ve been to a few. My fav so far is www.highteacottage.com they rock! Elegant, not stuffy and the owner knows her loose leaf teas VERY well. She turned me onto the Nine Bend Black Dragon from the Metropolitan Tea Company. Food is made fresh to order, and they don’t rush you.

I have three favorite tea spots at the moment. My top pick is Radiance is a very cool place in Manhattan, previously mentioned in this thread by Jack Cheng. My second favorite is Cha Ma Gu Dao, a modern/Asian tea house in Montclair, NJ. I also really love Anna Beall’s Tea Room in Westfield, NJ. It’s more of an English style tea room but it’s not all ruffles and doilies.

If you ever visit Halifax, NS drop in to see Mie Mie at www.sawadeeteahouse.com
With over I believe 150 different teas Mie Mie will provide you with a relaxing and inviting atmosphere to enjoy a cup of tea. As well, I really like this – there is no pressure…just plain tea.

I’m jealous reading about all these tea places!

Alice’s Tea Cup in Manhattan (several locations – I’ve visited the ones on the upper west side and upper east side and loved them)!! <3 Citispot in Clinton, NJ has always was my high school hangout and now I meet up with old friends there. Love the matcha there.

Connecticut is the pits need I say more?

There is actually one I know of but it seems to me the emphasis is on the food rather then on the tea.