On Jul 20, 8:54*am, wrote:

I have been to several tea venues in New York, and they are all less
than satisfactory~
Franchia was a total letdown, I went there 3 times and they couldn't
brew a green tea right; T Salon & T Emporium, I would be surprise if
they are still around! The tearoom upstairs was like a Harry Potter
set, and the white tea in the jars might well be older than my
granny. Teany was the doom of tea drinkers.
As for Tea Gallery, I didn't have a good experience with the place in
the beginning, but that was because I went there twice (once in the
torrential rain), and found the place closed on weekdays! Then I found
out that I have to all ahead to inform them, which I subsequently did,
and the time I spent there was wonderful.
The Tea Gallery does not profess itself a place that sells ready made
tea for you to drink, it does not expressively sell you tea, and there
are no serving staff around to show you to the table. If you like
looking for a tea place like The Tea Box @ Takashimaya, Wild Lily Tea
Room, where it is a commercially established with full set of staff in
waiting and tables where you can sit down and drink tea undisturbed,
you have probably gotten a wrong impression. There are only about 2
tables in The Tea Gallery, where guests sit around and Michael or
Winnie brews tea painstakingly for the guests to sip and sample. You
probably have misconceived ideas that The Tea Gallery is a regular
teahouse. It isn't.
It's like walking into Urasenke Chanoyu Center and ask for a cup of
tea because you are thirsty.
Kevo