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Having discussed the severe lack of good tea in this area, Jitesh and I had decided that we needed to go out and search for a great tea house. A large variety of the tea houses tended towards frilly old English style complete with lace and reservations required. Not really our style. Looking for places on Yelp, I found the Samovar Tea Lounge which had a location in the Castro District, about half way between our apartments. Success!

There was a bike rack directly outside, which is always a plus for us. Jitesh was waiting for us in the outdoor seating area, also a bonus. While very busy, it did not take long to be seated and suddenly we were on our fancy tea adventure.

 

The menu was extensive

I was thoroughly pleased with all the options they provided. A wealth of pu-erh tea (aged, low tannins) along with amusing and tantalizing descriptions were available for drinking. They also had all the green teas, varieties of Black Teas including several types of Yunnan and white teas on the menu. Normally you run into a coffee house and are faced with Earl Grey, English Breakfast and then a host of herbal tea not worth bathing in. So, this was a lovely change of pace. Five stars for the selection.

Samovar Tea Lounge

498 Sanchez St

San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 626-4700

 

The waiter was very helpful

We were not entirely sure what to order given all the options. I was stuck between a Yunnan and a Pu-erh called ‘Maiden’s Ecstacy’. Jitesh was looking for a full recommendation and Dustin was only interested in water and dessert.  In a reasonable amount of time to consider the menu, the waiter returned and asked Jitesh what his palate was like and what types of teas he’d enjoyed in the past. He settled on a Golden Yunnan that required no steeping time at all. I was urged to go with the Pu-erh based on having liked them in the past. They have a distinctive earthy flavour from the ageing process that does not please all tea lovers. We all decided to order dessert. Both of the boys got a dark chocolate brownie topped with matcha foam and I decided on a coconut rice pudding topped with pistachios.

The food and tea were excellent

We were prepped on steeping time, everything came out quickly and it all tasted heavenly.

But then they had to suck.

So close Samovar!! We were almost at the ideal review stage with full on tea bliss and then the waiter came by to tell me that I was not allowed to take photos of the food. He qualified that we were indeed allowed to take photos of each other, but no food - it was the Lounge policy. Personally, I hate this. You have only to go to a restaurant to see how they display their food. You cannot tell ingredients from a photo, but you can tell content if you eat and smell the food. I have reverse engineered many a dish by simply eating it. So, by this logic, they shouldn’t be selling anything for fear of it being duplicated somewhere else.

I had managed to get my snaps of my rice pudding just as I was being chastised for taking photos. One would imagine that posting photos of tasty foods or pretty tea set ups would encourage others to visit the establishment. This is free marketing, it should be taken advantage of. But too many folks are following old models of business that do not encourage social involvement.

It was a house full of lies.

This is a total contradiction. They have pod casts, blogs and even tea TV. They want to give the appearance of being a forward thinking media savvy company, but still control all the media that surrounds it.  Left a bad taste in my mouth which was happily consuming tea minutes before.

Now I’m torn between a fundamental need for tea that doesn’t suck and business policies that are not restrictive. Samovar Tea Lounge just doesn’t fill all my needs. Tea isn’t just for the belly, it’s for the soul.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Restaurants. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.