Dobra Tea — Restaurant in Asheville

I have been frequenting dobra tea since they first opened.

Here are all of the things that I love and some tips for ordering.

The hummus plate is very very good, and the bread is gluten-free!

The miso soup has a much better flavor than your standard miso soup from other restaurants.

But the stand out is the raspberry brown butter tea cakes. These are so good that when my children find out that I have been to dobra and did not bring them raspberry brown butter tea, cakes, there is much sadness. They are so delightful and they smell amazing. It’s brown butter goodness! So hard to describe how amazing these are. They’re both at once soft and substantial, sweet and buttery, but not too sweet… they are, in a word, perfect.

Have some fun with the tea selection! I know it can be intimidating, but the people who work there can really help you out with what you want. Try something new. Branch out! Here are some fun suggestions.

Touareg. It’s green tea strongly flavored with mint. Touareg tea is served in authentic stainless steel teapot with real Moroccan tea glasses. This is such a special experience.

Clear communication. This one is lovely if you just want something soothing and herbal. “A soothing and mildly warming blend of marshmallow root, licorice root, ginger root, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, fennel and orange peel that nourishes the throat and encourages crystal clear articulation of thought and feeling. Sip on this tisane to sooth a sore throat, alone to explore your inner landscapes or with others to facilitate clear communication.”

Mix something herbal. Ask for a Tulsi basil with a little lavender thrown in and some honey on the side.

Be adventurous and try a pu-er. This is wonderful if you want to sip on the same tea for some time, order some food and relax. The flavor of the tea is changed with each pouring. It is served in a gaiwan with a glass pitcher and bamboo brewing tray.

The atmosphere of dobra is relaxing, while at once being a little bit social as you bump into people that you know. It is centrally located in downtown and is such a treat...

The food and tea was excellent, but the service was anything but. Upon entering the restaurant, some of the people I was lunching with had smoked a cigarette towards the side of the establishment. Very rudely, an employee asked them to move from the entryway. Said employee made my friends so uncomfortable, half of my party decided to leave and not lunch. Despite the horrible first impression, the other half of us decided to dine in. The same employee approached us for a second time, and again in a completely rude and inappropriate tone asked us to "Turn that (video being shown on a cellular device) down because the ENTIRE restaurant can hear it." Still, we obliged, turned down the video, and continued to eat. A simple "Could you turn it down," would have sufficed, and we would have been very happy to. The third time we encountered this employee was, again, horrible - a member of my party had asked for extra honey in their tea at the counter and said employee made a disgusted face, took the tea from their hands, and squeezed a copious amount of honey into their tea. Entirely too much, they would have gladly served themselves, and had made that clear to this employee. I've worked in customer service for 10 years and this was an egregious example of horrible hospitality. Will not be returning to this location and will be honest with all my friends to avoid this particular spot. Food and tea were...

Walked in to a beautiful tea shop with a wonderful concept to have terrible customer service...or should I say no customer service. We waited 45 minutes just to walk out. The sign up front reads to seat yourself so we did just that. 20 minutes later no one came to greet us. I ended up having to stand up front to get menus for us to order two teas. I rang the bell as advised after we decided on our order. Someone DID come up to take our order and was very kind and had great customer service skills, however 25 minutes later we still did not receive our order. I work in the food industry and have worked in customer service for well over 12 years, this would never fly with me! All the staff (minus the dish washer who had his back turned to the counter) were in the back. Such a terrible wait for a shop with only 1 table and 1 other individual who had their orders already. Very disappointed in the lack of customer service and urgency. Wish the 45 minutes I was there was worth the wait and trust me we waited as long as we did in hopes it would be worth it...it was not. Sad to say I will...