My Birthday at Chado Tea Room
Hey guys, thank you for checking out my blog. Today I wanted to talk about my recent experience at the Chado Tea Room in Pasadena.
My husband took me there for my birthday. I might have dropped a few hints… Like flat out asking him to take me there. They boast having over 300 different varieties of tea, how can I resist?
Anyway, we decided to go with the standard tea service for lunch. Which gave us one pot of tea each and a delicious tray of scones, sandwiches, and cookies.
My husband got a pot of the butterscotch tea. A sweet black tea. I decided to get something a little different, a blooming tea. Peach Fairy, a fruity green tea. It was so light and perfect for the sandwiches. Blooming teas are fun but they tend to be expensive. Plus if you don’t have a glass pot (like me), you don’t get the full effect. Blooming teas are sold in a little hind tied ball. When put in the tea pot the tea leaves expand, blossoming into a tea flower.
Listening to our waiter we started with the scones. I totally hogged the whipped cream and strawberries. Since it was my birthday, my husband let me get away with it. Next were the sandwiches. My personal favorite is the limerick sandwich. I get a kick out of the name. It’s simple but tasty. Cream cheese and cucumber. My husbands favorite was the chicken salad.
Before starting the dessert portion, I decided to ask for a second pot. One of my personal favorites, Lavender Earl Grey. I will admit that Chado’s version of the tea was a little heavy handed in the lavender, but it was still tasty. While taking this order the waiter asked if we were celebrating anything special. So of course I exclaimed, “My birthday!” Because I’m a dork that still gets excited for things like that. “Oh really? Happy birthday.” He smiled.
In a few moments he returned with two champagne flutes containing iced hibiscus and lavender tea. The vibrant red color matched the strawberry garnish. It was tart and refreshing. Even though my husband normally doesn’t enjoy iced tea, he finished his in record time.
He also came back with an adorable ice cream and strawberries. ‘Happy birthday,’ was written on the plate. A single, surprisingly hard to blow out, birthday candle sat in the middle.
All in all it was a great experience. And with over 300 different types of tea, I have plenty of reasons to go back. Hopefully I can go before my next birthday. If you are ever in the LA area I highly recommend checking out one of their several locations. If not then you can check out the Chado website. They also sell their teas loose leaf for a fairly affordable price. My husband and I were surprised when we asked for the price of the butterscotch tea.
If anyone has gone please let me know what kind of tea I should test out next time. Thanks guys. I’ll see you later.