Cha-An — Restaurant in New York

Here is the TLDR for my review:

Waiters didn’t seat us for way too long or talk to us to communicate anything even though a seat was open the entire time and that was the seat they actually sat us in after making us unnecessarily wait The water cut was shot sized and they refilled my cup only once The food was too expensive, didn’t taste good, low quality but overpriced. $50 for two desserts that I could make better. The wafer thing on top of the food was expired or something bc it was stale af The space was too tiny. If my food is expensive I wouldn’t mind if the space was very good vibes— it wasn’t. It was too cramped and bathroom was just ok and usable.

Final verdict: I seriously do not recommend it here. There is no aspect that is even good here. I wish someone had told me this because I literally cannot get over just feeling robbed spending $50 on my two desserts that weren’t good but instead instagram is filled with liars. I’m here to tell u guys the truth. I know so many places with cheaper, better desserts. I know so many places that do pretty desserts and pretty vibes and ur paying for the vibes but literally Cha An is neither but charging upscale prices and it’s daylight robbery.

Longer review:

I had a really bad experience here. After an entire day of taking family around, our feet were tired. Going on the stairs we waited for someone to seat us and we had to wait over 15+ minutes around 6:30 pm on a Saturday. I saw an open two seater which is my party size right in front of me, yet waiters/waitresses passed by me at least 10x, multiple same people over and over again who totally ignored me. This guy even pushed past me and my brother twice in the narrow waiting space and spoke nothing to us at all, it was so rude. Other waiters avoided eye contact or saw us but didn’t say anything at all from afar. Then 15+ min later when they finally seat us act like they were pushing past us or ignoring us for the entire time ???? They sat us right at the empty two seater I was staring at the entire time dying on my feet and wishing I could sit down or at least be told how long I would have to wait to mentally prepare myself.

I understand if u are busy but at least come to the customer and greet them and tell them it will be an X minute wait? Or it’s literally not that hard to say “just a moment”, they couldn’t even spare to speak three words to us despite paying $50 for 2 desserts.

Next, the food was horrible. I got a black sesame crème brûlée but I have no idea what part of this is crème brûlée. What part was brûlée? It was more like half ice cream melted into pudding…. There was no burnt crispy sugar part. It was just a mush. It wasn’t bad, it was the better dessert if the two but bruh.

The matcha parfait mix a big bowl of disappointment. I can literally make something better. I was actually on Amazon looking up parfait glasses to buy to take matters into my own hands after feeling robbed. The ice cream tasted like low quality grocery store brand, the red bean was too sweet, nothing paired well together. It was honestly so subpar and not worth $20. The fact that it’s $20 is so ridiculous.

Also the chip on top of them both was so weird and random and chunky and it must have been expired because it was sooooo stale. When u chewed on it there was no snap. It was chewy and very stale. Did not taste good at all and brought the desserts down even more which I didn’t know was possible.

Overall recommendation STAY AWAY AND SPEND YOUR MONEY...

I hate to leave a not so stellar review because I've had great prior experiences. This review is for the Matcha Afternoon Tea reservations. The booking policy required a ticket for a child as no sharing is allowed, which I understand from a business perspective. I made a reservation for 4, 2 adults, 2 children. I e-mailed in advanced regarding food allergies, but did not get any response. Two days before the event, I get an e-mail reminder which suggested the latest arrival time since service concludes in 1.5 hour. This was the first time service time was mentioned ,and I was surprised it's not even 2 hours as I'd like to be able to chat and catch up with my girlfriend and not feel rushed. We arrived on-time, but we were the last table to be served, despite arriving much earlier than the table next to us. We have 2 kids so the unspoken restaurant policy is that we'd like to be served sooner, rather than later, esp. when desserts are involved. It's kind of a torture for kids to watch everyone else eat, and we are still waiting for our tea. Also, since kids are required to have a purchased ticket, I was disappointed that there were no caffeine free tea options available. I'd be nice to have an herbal tea offering since this is a tea service. Since a 20% tip was already charged at time of booking, I didn't even have the option to give a 18% tip instead. To charge tip up-front was just poor taste.

There was plenty of food, some really good, some ok but the service was so lacking, such as having to get the attention of the waitress to get water refill constantly (bc they served in a tiny glass) was disruptive to the entire experience.

Didn't have as nice of an experience as other afternoon tea service. To give perspective, there were 7-8 tables? and only 3 staff members; one preparing, one runner, on waiter. Clearly understaffed resulting in a...

We stopped into Cha-An on a cold rainy day which made the desserts here even more perfect. As a Japanese food and dessert lover I was ecstatic to find a place like Cha-An so close to where we were hanging out.

We ordered the hot matcha latte, dango, salmon box, anmitsu, and rosemary orange tea (not pictured).

The hot matcha latte was easily the best matcha latte I’ve had in my entire life. Let me say that again. This was the best matcha latte I’ve had in my entire life. The matcha flavor was amazing and the sweetness level was literally perfect. Paired with the cold and wet weather outside and I could not imagine a more perfect matcha experience. I still think about this latte from time to time, crushed by the fact that thousands of miles separate us.

The anmitsu was also extreme tasty. The hojicha ice cream paired well with the chewy mochi, crystal jelly, and sugar syrup. I’m not sure what the maple leaf was but it was chewy and had a very mild flavor that I didn’t particular like but didn’t mind.

The rosemary orange tea was quite interesting.

I only had a bite of the sweet yam dango but the mochi texture was amazing and had a perfect sweetness level.

I did not try the salmon box but was told it was also amazing.

Overall I was extremely satisfied with my visit to Cha-An. The flavors of everything were amazing and it has earned them a spot in my must-try NYC list. My only complaint is that the prices are fairly expensive, even for NYC standards. At the time of our visit the hot matcha latte was $15 and the anmitsu was nearly $20 for that little cup of dessert. All that being said, I 100% see myself here again the next time...