Restaurant tea

hi,

it depends on what you call a "good" restaurant, and also if you mean a native restaurant (i.e. a Chinese restaurant in China or a Chinese restaurant in a western country).

in my experience, tea in what you'd call good restaurants is not a terrific experience. you may be served a good leaf, but sometimes with awful water (tap water, etc) which ruins the probably good tea.

you may also be served an overpriced mainstream good tea (i.e. long jing). i recall paying 3 euros for a mediocre "longjing" at shanghai central train station. but sometimes you may be surprised for good value at unexpensive places. if in China, you will probably be served a glass of moderately hot water with a moderate quantity tea leaves which may taste quite ok.

regarding Japanese restaurants, my perception tells me you'll be served more than decent senchas.

In China, the tea served in restaurants is generally the cheapest stuff they can find. My friends in the biz actually request water when they go out to eat unless the restaurant is specifically famous for tea quality or variety; some take their own tea. I know when I get Dimsum I usually take my own tea, teapot and water.

In the expensive restaurants they might bring out a tea caddy with a choice of Celestial Seasons and some British blends teabags. There is no guarantee youre better off bringing your own. They dont even know how to heat water or if they do you get the oily taste of water heated in a coffee pot. Most waiters consider a teabag like a cig butt. I do like Liptons unsweetened tea at the fountains in convenience stores. I wished I could get that in their bags.

Jim