Yao Yue Teahouse — Restaurant in Wenshan District

Review: -0 (Negative Zero) out of 5 stars – Specifically to the man with the long tied hair

Disclaimer: This review is only about the staff — the food is great!

I never leave reviews, but I feel compelled to share this recent experience with my family. We traveled a long way to dine at this restaurant after reading many positive reviews about the food and the scenic views. While the location is indeed beautiful, the service was, unfortunately, a major disappointment. One staff member in particular—the man with the long tied hair—was extremely rude and seemed irritated with us from the moment we arrived. His manner was cold and unwelcoming. Shockingly, he even shouted at us just because we were calmly discussing whether to sit inside or outside. Then, he rushed through the menu as if he didn’t want to be bothered, making it uncomfortable to ask any follow-up questions. What made it even more surprising was that the restaurant was not busy at all—only two other customers were there—so there was absolutely no excuse for this kind of treatment. I honestly wanted to leave, but since it was a remote area and already late for lunch, we decided to stay. Dining out is about more than just the food—it’s about the overall experience, and hospitality is a huge part of that. Sadly, it wasn’t just this one incident. Throughout our stay, we encountered multiple staff members who were loud, unapproachable, and acted as if serving customers was a burden. This experience was especially disheartening for me as someone from the Philippines, a country known for its warmth, hospitality, and respect toward guests. The level of service here was the complete opposite—rude, indifferent, and lacking even the most basic manners. It left us feeling uncomfortable and honestly hesitant about returning. I sincerely hope the management takes this feedback seriously and works on improving the customer service. No matter how great the food or view might be, poor treatment can completely ruin...

At Maokong you kind of have two options for teahouses: city view or nature. Yao Yue is one of the best of the latter options. About a 20 to 30 minute walk down the main road (turning left outside the gondola terminal), by the time you get to Yao Yue, you'll have left the bustle surrounding the station well behind for a 24 hour tea house that never seems in a hurry about much. Even on occasions it is busy, it's situated on a rather large hillside, with tables cascading down on semi-private terraces punctuated by water stations inviting you to just help yourself. So it's usually easy to find a table away from the crowds, although the indoor tables fill up fast in cold, damp weekends. Still, most of the outdoor tables have plastic flaps to keep you dry -- and block a little wind.

The food isn't bad, with a dim sum menu as well as ala carte dishes and sets. Many of the dishes feature tea leaves prominently. An English menu is also available, and it includes clear instructions on preparing and enjoying your tea. Basically, you buy a small tin of tea for around 300nt. That one tin should suffice for several pots of tea shared by a group of four or five friends. You pay a water usage fee -- basically a service charge -- and can stay as long as you like. It's a good place to take a book or a board game.

When you are ready to leave, the staff can call you a cab or you can take the S10 bus (helpful instructions are at the back of the menu). But remember that the gondolas stop running...

Please reserve before you go, all the good seats beside the windows are occupied when we arrived around 12:00 for lunch. The place was way crowded, the view was really not that good with only trees outside. Food was above average, noodles was delicious, fried cabbage with garlic was sweet, tasting really fresh. The service wasn’t good, asked for utensils and paper cups, they just wave a dismissive hand and tell you to go up stairs and ask the counter lady. For a place for tea, the electric stove to cook the water doesn’t function properly, and the tea contains way too much caffeine, which made me have palpitation(for a tea lover like me never happens…) we had 碳培烏龍 40 grams $300 and an extra $70 per person, which is $510 for 4 of us. The amount was more than enough to have 3 rounds of tea. But the quality of tea wasn’t good, neither was the tea sets… All in all, I was very disappointed with this place, too crowded, far from the maokong gondola station, about 30 minutes walk, not relaxing at all. Can name 10 other better places to have tea at Maokong. Only thing you can enjoy here is the food, with...