tei by OBOND — Restaurant in Xinyi District

I was lucky enough to get a seat on the day of my reservation, only through instagram or Facebook messenger (which typically isn’t allowed). I guess there weren’t that too many people that were coming at my timing of 10:30pm as there were still quite some open seats next to me.

Although my time slot was 10:30pm, I was only let into the bar at 10:45pm, which felt like a total waste of time coming earlier, since they only wait for 10 minutes until they cancel your reservation.

I would say that most of the drinks are premixed, with added foam or garnish, so don’t go in expecting they’d be made in front of you. The tweezer work of the garnish is also pretty simplistic, requiring just its placement on top of the drink. The taste of the drinks were not too bad, but after seeing that it’s premixed made me a bit disappointed, especially when they charge around 450NTD per drink.

The bar food was on worser side to say the least. One of the meat dishes was unavailable, and two meat dishes (chicken & pork) had the same base of vinaigrette marinated onions. Also their jasmine chicken didn’t taste like jasmine, and both meats were essentially boiled, not cooked in any particular fashion.

Service wise, the staff explained each dish/drink well, but sometimes it felt a bit too long and impersonal. There were also waiters and waitresses communicating with earpiece. For such a small space, I don’t think it’s necessary, as it only disrupts the atmosphere. Lastly, since there was only one bartender who was taking all the orders, it seemed as if he was the busiest in the house.

Personally, the interior design of the bar was the nicest, but I still felt that the entrance was too small for such a giant exit.

Take note that requirements of this bar are strict: minimum order per person is 900NTD excluding service fee, you can’t be too loud, and internet at the bar is not provided.

Also, if you’re coming here alone, you would be more of a cocktail enthusiast, not so much so of someone who wants to socialize, since most people here seem to reserve...

I was really intrigued by the premise of this cocktail bar - all based on local, Taiwanese teas, with a play on the tea ceremony. Sadly, I didn't think the execution was quite there.

The whole experience seems to be created to be very exclusive. There are two entry times per day, with allocated finish times. You arrive at the front and are told how a gate will open when your glass of tea fills up from a machine, it sounds so grand, yet you only get one glass per table and once you know what to do, it's done. We all thought it was a demo, not the real deal, and then we were disappointed that we had to share a single glass.

Onto the menu - my partner and I are both vegan, meaning that we also don't consume honey as it comes from bees. 80% of the cocktails contain honey! The waiters told us they change nothing in the recipes, meaning that a lot of the offering was off limits to us. Why not replace it with sugar, maple syrup, agave nectar, literally anything else that's sweet? I got the sense that this is again one of those 'special' 'exclusivity' type of things - and sadly it is at the expense of animals, which holds nothing special for me, quite the opposite. Please think of the environment, the animals, and your diverse customer base. Luxury is not demonstrated through exploiting animals. Not to mention the food menu doesn't include anything vegan.

Overall, the cocktails are interesting, yet we found that for a tea-based cocktail bar the tea aromas get lost when blended with strong alcohols like whiskey or bourbon. I did really enjoy the one with star anise and allspice, but again, the tea is so much in the background it's really a shame.

I also found that this bar aims to market itself as a luxurious place of mystery when you arrive, but that entirely dissipates when you enter. The main room is sleek and simple with a clean look, but you are so close to the other customers that it loses that sense of feeling special. It ends up like just the average bar, with an extremely high price tag with a minimum order of...

What a shame that the experience this bar aims to create falls short of its promise. The decor, grand entrance, award-winning cocktails and even the minimum charge all set the stage for something special. However, the hospitality fails to align with these expectations. From the greeter at the door to the other servers, the staff relied on routine scripts — adequate, but lacking the finesse needed to elevate the overall experience.

The much-anticipated door opening, intended to be a unique highlight, instead felt like a theme park group tour. The greeter grouped 3 parties together for a single introduction and neglected to offer the welcoming tea to each party as expected. Throughout the visit, the servers could have made more effort to understand our preferences, offer personalized recommendations, or engage with us to create a memorable experience.

The tea-infused cocktails, mixed with a variety of elements, offer unique flavours, though they may overshadow the original tea taste. Ultimately, it’s all about personal preference.

The bar shows great potential but needs to refine its attention to detail and service quality to ensure that the overall experience delivers value for money and aligns with the renowned quality of...