I’ve actually been to The Steeping Room a few times now, but have never written a note about it before today. I have to say, both myself and my boyfriend have been very impressed by both the tea and the food.
First off – the tea. They have a surprisingly diverse tea list, offering a variety of both straight and flavored teas of all types, including black, green, white, oolong, puerh, and heicha teas along with maté, rooibos, and herbal tisanes. In most cases, there are several different single origin teas available in each category. For this visit, I tried the Noble Concubine (gui fei) oolong along with the White Tea #18. The gui fei was very good, with honeyed dried fruit notes. I was less enamored with the white tea, it was enjoyable but much less complex.
One thing I love about this tea room is that they present you with the steeped leaves along with the tea itself. I enjoy being able to see and smell the wet leaves, and they can also be resteeped multiple times.
The food menu is also quite diverse. There are multiple different tea services available, from the traditional English style to more modern takes on afternoon tea, such as the Asian-inspired Zen Tea Service. Personally, I particularly enjoy their selection of scones. They also offer a myriad of sandwiches, soups, and salads, along with more unusual plates such as Buddha bowls. There’s also a breakfast menu, and a brunch menu on Sundays, though I have not personally tried either of these items.
Definitely try out The Steeping Room if you ever find yourself in Austin, Texas!
I found the Whistling Kettle here on Steepster, and decided I wanted to go. So my boyfriend and I drove over to try their afternoon tea on a Sunday afternoon. Their afternoon tea consists of your choice in three categories: savory (sandwiches, premium salads, crepes, quiche), sweet (scones, tea breads, sweet crepes, cake), and either a house salad or a cup of soup. My boyfriend and I were both very impressed with the food, and the quiche and soups in particular were very good. He didn’t get a tea, but I chose their Ancient Forest black and found it to be tasty enough. From what I can tell, they resell blends that they purchase online (they have several teas that I’ve seen before at many online retailers such as ESP, Culinary Teas, etc.). I don’t find this offensive, but I consider this to be more of a food establishment and not a tea blender.
