CHAEN TEA Experience — Restaurant in Khlong Tan Nuea Subdistrict

I am a tea lover and I have been a tea drinker for many years. Since there is no authentic tea culture in Thailand and very few teahouses, I was happy to find this teahouse on Google Map and went to try it out, which was a bit disappointing.

Instead of ordering those tea drinks with milk and sugar, I ordered Japanese tea leaves made with hot water. It was served in 2 mini cups, which were very very small, about 30-50ml per cup, and I consumed the cup in just 1 sip. When I asked the staff if they could give me a kettle of hot water so that I could refill it myself, the staff informed me that I could only refill hot water twice in total, which meant that for a 280 baht set for 2 people, one person could only drink 60-100ml in only 2 sips…… 😓

I've been to a lot of high-end teahouses out of Thailand but haven’t encountered a restriction on refilling water. Is water really expensive? How much does a kettle of water cost? The policy of restricting hot water refills makes me think the shop is quite petty.

I want to say to the shop owner that if you’re confident in the quality of the tea, you can totally double the price, but please use more professional tea sets, offer a larger size, and allow customers to brew and refill on their own, and just charge them again when they feel the flavor is bland and need to change tea leaves again instead of restricting customers to refill water, because such a mini size would stop them to buy another set anyway, as it doesn't feel worth it. If you want customers to revisit again, rather than go once to take pictures and never come back, I suggest you can be a little more generous in doing business. For tea lovers, you can simply raise the price, but please make better quality and more welcoming and...

First of all, it is important to understand the expectation of a Japanese Style Tea / Dessert House - the Ambience + Staff Service + Food Quality are combined as a single Experience. This is how I based my review on, as a Japanese Style Tea / Dessert House (and not just a regular cafe).

Good concept, but execution not quite there yet.

Ambience : Nicely designed, especially good with a secluded “garden” style space at the back, but (a) the background music only came on after I seated, and (b) there was a stale smell; which shattered the planned Japanese peaceful ambience.

Staff : friendly, but apparently they did not have adequate knowledge of the types of dessert, which again shattered the Japanese attentive service etiquette.

Quality : the local staff also served as the maker of the drinks, the matcha seemed adequate, but lacked pleasant surprise. The Hojicha ice cream was creamy and good, but again lacked pleasant surprise. In net, the food did not make lasting impression for me to return (at this Price level).

Price : the Japanese Style Tea / Dessert House as expected was positioned at the high end pricing. The Usucha dessert set was 320 baht, and one scoop Hojicha ice cream was 120 baht. Total 440 baht which could be a meal. The price was as expected, but lacking in price-performance (with this Quality level), because of inadequate execution expected from a “Japanese Style” Tea /...

First visit here with a group of friends, so we got to try many different teas: macha, sencha and kabusecha (all from Yame just south of Fukuoka, quite famous tea growing area) and also hōjicha ice cream with warabi mochi. I was very pleased by the sencha (very umami and slightly sweet taste) and the kabusecha (more subtle flavours). The macha was more flat to my taste and compared to the other 2 teas, did not stand out. The ice cream was quite good, more subtle flavouring. The owner prepared our teas and he is quite knowledgeable. It is possible to have a deep conversation about tea with him. The place itself is a quiet relaxing place, nicely designed. I...