The Tao of Tea — Restaurant in Portland

They have tea and food, but none of the tea spirit. I had a lot of love for the Tao of Tea that got destroyed in 1 minute flat.

I’d been visiting their leaf room since 2019, even driving for 15 minutes before I lived nearby. I’ve bought hundreds of dollars worth of tea, as well as tea wares from them.

I also love tea rooms. I have visited a lot of tea rooms in Japan and love the spirit of hospitality, of harmony, peace and tranquility.

Since moving close to Tao of Tea, I even modified my dog walk so I could walk past the windows of the tearoom - it makes me happy seeing people having tea and I vicariously feel I’m sitting there on the wooden tables by the window, enjoying the view. But I din’t often have the chance to go in because I was either with my dogs, or the tea room was closed.

Finally, today, the stars aligned. Or so I thought. I didn’t have my dogs, it was lunchtime, the tearoom was open and I delightfully spotted an open table by the window that had my name on it.

I walked in, spoke to the sweet lady who recommended some food, and decided to stay for lunch. I asked her if I could sit on the table by the window, and she said with a smile “sit anywhere you like”. I noticed that the only other open table was in the back of the room, flush next to a larger table that had a group of 9 people on it.

I sat down, made myself comfortable, opened the menu and even took this photo of my arrangements. I was feeling happy and peaceful.

The friendly lady came over to take my order and I started saying “I’ll have the dal with…” when a blonde guy who worked there interrupted my order and shoed away the server.

He said he needed me to move to a different table. I looked to the door and noticed two people standing and waiting. They had come in after me and apparently they weren’t happy to sit at the table in the back next to the large group (who would?).

Recovering from my initial shock of being asked to move tables while placing an order (I’ve never had this happen at a restaurant), I asked where he was planning on moving me.

I was on a table with two chairs and he explained that he needed that table for the two people that had just walked in and he was going to move me to another two person table in the back.

I patiently explained how I had walked in because I had liked the table by the window. He didn’t let up. He started telling me how I would be more comfortable in the back with chairs that had seat backs.

When I hesitated and he saw I wasn’t going to move he inquired: “Is it going to be just you or are you expecting someone else?”

That was the final straw. I felt so unwelcome there with the two people at the door staring at me impatiently and the guy looming over me, obviously determined to move me despite me saying “no”.

In that instant, the magic of the tea room disappeared and I was left feeling like an unwanted guest. I picked up my stuff, said “maybe I’ll come another time” and walked out of there.

I cannot describe the feeling of sadness and disappointment that I left with.

I hope the extra $30 of lunch revenue from the second person in the couple that kicked me out was worth the negative review and pissing off a long-term customer.

As for me, I’ll be moving my patronage to Hibiki-an (for Japanese green tea and matcha), Crimson Lotus Tea (local PNW family owned importing the best puerhs), Sonia Masocco (for Ayurvedic teas) and Eco Cha (for ecologically clean Taiwanese oolong). And as far as tea houses go, it’ll have to be the tea house at the Japanese Garden and at home in the backyard...

This is a must do when visiting the Lan Su Chinese Garden. It is such a Zen experience to enjoy their fabulous teas and maybe a snack or two of homemade goodies.

There is an assortment of a good variety of teas to chose from and they pot them all specially depending on the tea you order. The presentation is just so elegant and majestic. The service is so peaceful and gentle when delivering the tea service once ordered. The staff frequently checks on you to see if you need more hot water added to you pot to continue you tea experience.

For a snack, we ordered the almond cookies and have never experience such wonderful almond cookies like that before. Perfectly crisp and fresh. Most almond cookies are drowning in the fake almond flavor from excessive almond extract, but these had the perfect light hint as to not overwhelm the flavors. Also got the roasted fava beans that added for a nice neutral flavor crunch to the experience.

One thing that really stood out to me on this experience was that the price was very affordable. You can do tea for 2 and a couple tea snacks for around $20. That to me was also exceptional and well worth the stop during the tour of the Chinese Garden.

If you do go, visit first thing in the morning when they open so you beat any crowds or noisy tourist who don't know how to keep quiet in such a...

We've been going here since they opened in 1997-1998. It was an amazing place then, filled with lustrous Indian raw silks on the cushions and amazing decor. The food was mainly Indian, and had a lot of Indian combo plates, like the stuffed parantha plate with salad, raita, and tamarind chutney. The Tea Shop next door had Indian silk teapot covers for sale and a Japanese-style tea room. Simply beautiful. It was one of my favorite places to go in all of Portland.

Twenty years later...the Tao of Tea is STILL very good, as is the Tea Shop next door. Everything is a-la-carte now on the menu, and it's less Indian-focused...more pan-Asian now. After twenty years, the restaurant has lost a little of its luster, and the Tea Shop doesn't usually offer handmade beauties from India any more. Please bring them back!

Personally, I'm hoping that the owners will rejuvenate Tao back to ALL the splendor that it used to have, along with the menu! But then, I was born and raised in Portland, and I miss all our wonderful quirky places that have all-but-disappeared thanks to the crazed developers, billionaires who bought up large swathes of Portland, and the driving force behind it all: the recent tsunami of...