CHA-OLOGYお茶とお菓子 (RESERVATION ONLY) — Restaurant in Manchester

Firstly, let me re-quote your "rules" to you. "Photo taking is limited to decoration, the tea or the sweets. Please refrain from taking selfies or photos with people in. And please spend less time in photos but more time to enjoy this space with your senses."

Now, during my visit I distinctly remember arriving 15 minutes early as your rules asked to arrive on time. But I stood outside and waited as you set up your shop for opening prior to 2pm. I am an architect/photographer so i enjoy the finer things in life and would like to have a memory of them. But since you were so quick to pass judgement, let me share some of mine to you and the world. While waiting outside my partner already told me of your rules therefore I already read it FYI, and as we had 15 minutes to kill, I proceeded to take pictures of the surroundings and some of your signs which I quite liked. However, you constantly glanced at me which made me uneasy to even stand outside. At one point, I then proceeded to the window and took a picture of your interior where the seats were and immediately you rushed towards the window and used your arms as crosses to signify no photos to be taken. So I waved to sign sorry and took a step back. When your doors were opened, instead of greeting us in a friendly manner, you immediately came at me and told me about your "rules" and that I should read prior to visiting. Which I already did. You then proceeded to tell me that if my MAIN reason for visiting is to take photos, that I should leave... "Who darn pissed in your cornflakes this morning?" So let's revisit your "rules" shall we?

Now let's break it down, "limited to decoration"; I was taking pictures of the seating area which I deem to be decoration, well in my industry anyway. "Selfies or photos with people in"; your shop was not open therefore no one was in there yet and you were at your bar area. "Spend less time in photos"; I took photos outside so I didn't have to when I came in and I could truly enjoy myself. Hmmm, wonder where I went wrong... But again, I didn't want to ruin anyone's day so hence you are getting this now.

Next up, in your whispering voice, you explained your menu to us and ended with "If you have any questions about the menu, please do not hesitate to ask". I see... Either my English isn't very good after leaving the UK for 2 years or I must have a hearing deficit as when my partner asked a question, you sharply replied with annoyance "I have already explained just now"........ At this point I truly was holding myself back from giving you a piece of my mind...

You preach zenism with "minimalistic interiors, soft and beautiful sounds, peaceful atmosphere", Oh these were quoted from your web page under concepts incase you forgot again, don't wanna get a scolding again now do I, so I got my facts right. However, what I saw, for someone whose job is to be acute to details in design, was the pile of mess in the form of cleaning products to the left of your refrigerator. The soft and beautiful sounds were mostly in the form of cars passing by (might I recommend triple glazed window and blinds so people and cars passing by are not visually distracting?). The peaceful atmosphere was completely ruined by you before we even stepped in the shop as you made my partner extremely nervous even to want to take her phone out to check and show me something. We sat there constantly paranoid and felt uneasy even wondering if I was breathing too loudly for your liking.

Your absolute talent in creating these teas and sweets were completely lost in the environment you cultured for your customers before they even step foot in the shop. Judging from the other reviews, I don't think I am the first to comment on your "hospitality". And you probably don't care as I can see from your responses, so PLEASE don't bother to respond to me. That is my RULE to you. I don't want to read anything you have to say as your response approach to others are mostly self-centered and the most unsincere apologies I have ever seen.

P.S Photos from your webpage for...

A unique Japanese experience in the UK. The location of Cha-ology is quite central, just a bit outside the city centre. It was my first time visiting Cha-ology on Thursday - Ever since the café opened a few years ago I have always wanted to try the desserts and drinks as a matcha lover. After having heard mixed reviews of the Japanese café I was quite sceptical of how things would go but most the bad reviews are based on their experience of the service. Despite this I still decided to give it a try. So first thing to know is that I had to book a reservation in advance, I did this a few weeks in advance to ensure my chance of visiting. There is a deposit of £4 which gets taken off the total bill. It is best to book for 2 guests and you have 1 hour and 30 minutes to enjoy your time at the café. After having booked with the café, a few weeks later I managed to attend earlier than the required timing of the reservation. Upon entering the café me and my partner decided to take a photo of the outside of the café as we were excited to visit the café we had waited so long to visit. Unfortunately, we quickly discovered upon entry (from who looked like the manager) that you cannot take photos of people inside the café to maintain the peaceful experience and this included from the outside. We were reminded of some of the house rules before ordering food and/or drinks. The main rules are that photos of people are not allowed and that the volume should be kept to a minimum. The other member of staff that was working described the various desserts and drinks available in decent detail. I had ordered the Matcha - Usucha, Hakuji which is a matcha drink made from white tea. I had ordered it cool so that it would be less bitter. My partner ordered a iced houjicha soy drink which tasted amazing and authentic. I also ordered the warabimochi, it comes with a syrup to add more sweetness if needed. The mochi tasted nice and it was very soft, it is unlike traditional mochi in that it is not as chewy and instead in squares pieces. I also ordered a summer special dessert, the Amitsu dessert. It comes with either a scoop of matcha or genmaicha ice-cream which has a nutty flavour. It is also accompanied with other topping such as red bean, mochi and strawberries. I ordered the genmaicha version as I have never tried genmaicha before. I enjoyed the taste of genmaicha. The best dessert was the houjicha cheesecake, it was so soft in texture and the base was perfectly baked. Amazing! Before being seated, it is part of Japanese culture to remove your footwear before entering the rooms of a building, this was one of the house rules in the café. After being seated, I was served with the drinks first and the manager first described the matcha drink to me in detail before making the matcha drink in front of me and my partner, this was something quite unique to watch. It gave me a glimpse of life in Japan. The matcha drink was accompanied with a traditional Japanese candy which was recommended to be eaten before drinking the matcha. After receiving all of our order, I had time to enjoy the desserts and read part of a book I wanted to read for a long time. Overall, I enjoyed my experience at the café. I can see the type of experience the manager wants to convey - A peaceful experience, an escape from the busy and often noisy world. A form of art. I would say the prices of the items are on the expensive side being that they are authentic products from Japan. If you want to experience a nice, short, peaceful getaway from a busy life then try visiting here. Bearing in mind there are a bunch of house...

Short version, Amazing place, amazing atmosphere, helpful and respectful staff, very clean and organised. The tea was something so tasty that I did not expect to like as much as I did and the Sakura Mochi was just as delicious. You will highly likely see me again in the coming weeks!

Longer version for those that want more information. I took the time to look into the website as it requests in its description. This is where you make your reservation and read the basic rules they have (do note this is a niche place so please read them and follow the rules!). I personally had some questions before I made my reservation and the person that replied was very polite and responded to my query in a matter of minutes after I posted it (it was well after the hours of the tea house having closed)(Also worth noting this query was posted via a direct message on their facebook group) After the queries were resolved I booked and showed up. What happened next was in short a great experience, a gentleman went ahead and explained the various teas they had available, how each one would be unique and what sweets they had available on the day. As a first timer I had no idea where to start and the staff member went ahead and gave out some recommendations. After selecting one from the various ones he mentioned I decided on the Kabusecha, then proceeded to select a sweet which was the one in season (Sakura Mochi). I then proceeded to sit at the specific table. The staff then prepared the tea and a lovely lady brought it over in their Traditional Japanese Tea Set. She went over how the tea infusion worked and how you can get different rich flavors given different temperatures and times to extract flavors ( as well as how they grew the plants so that they could have such rich tastes, fascinating stuff!). So as indicated I went over the process described with the lovely staff and proceeded to have my tea and Mochi. Also worth noting that the time flew by, even though a reservation is an hour and a half, it felt much shorter, this is probably due to the amazingly relaxing surrounding, from the quiet music in the background to the calm and soothing decor. It's definitely a place you visit to break the cycle of stressful city life with relaxing tea and sweets. Overall it's a worthwhile experience to have at least once and would definitely recommend! See you next time! :D

NOTE: Please note that this is a niche tea store, so there are behavioral rules in place like not making too much noise. Just make your way to the website, they have all the information there that you...