Joyride Pizza - Yerba Buena Gardens — Restaurant in San Francisco

I've been to Samovar at other locations before so for Mother's day, I decided it was a suitable place for brunch. The one at Yerba Buena Gardens is at the top of the fountain and has a wonderful bright and airy space with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. It feels decadent and luxurious. The menu prices are as well.

All the food and teas I've had here have tasted fresh and well-made. The menu is a mix of international cuisines with items like dumplings, Chinese rice porridge (jook), Japanese tea soup (ochazuke), and the tea service offerings are divided into choices of Japanese, Chinese, Russian, English, and Moorish. It also has typical cafe offerings like salads, sandwiches and soup.

The favorites for me are the smoked duck jook (rice porridge) and scones. I mean, the salads, sandwiches, waffles, soups, and such are all good quality gourmet food but I want something novel yet tasty. I like the jook because it's different (and better in my opinion) than traditional jook at a Chinese restaurant and I haven't found it served this way elsewhere. The jook is a white rice porridge with toppings of smoked duck, peanuts, nori, cilantro, carrots, ginger, scallions and sriracha and tamari soy sauce. Mix it together for a delicious combination.

All of the tea service plates have variety and are quite filling, although I'm not so sure about the English one which just has frittata, scone and fruit. For example, we ordered the Russian tea service which came with a bowl of borscht beet soup, chicken salad sandwich, and kale salad. Two ladies could split a tea service item which comes with tea, and have it be enough for lunch with room to sneak in an appetizer or a scone or green tea cake for dessert.

For the tea, we got Tolstoy's Sip which was paired with the Russian tea service, and also the Velvet Cacao pu-erh. The Tolstoy's Sip is described as, "Traditional Russian-style smokey black tea with dried blackberry, strawberry, currants." It was indeed very smokey and unique! Definitely pair the strong flavor with savory food. The Velvet Cacao pu-erh is described as, "with roasted dandelion, yerba mate, coconut, vanilla bean." It smelled sweet from the coconut and vanilla bean and paired best with sweet food like the scone. I was quite happy with both of our selections, although for 2 people, we could have also shared one tea.

Menu order: -Russian tea service with Tolstoy's Sip black tea -Smoked duck jook -Velvet Cacao pu-erh tea -Scone Total spent including...

I LOVE tea. I grew up drinking tea, and even though I have an appreciation for the subtle art of brewing coffee, tea will always remain my first true love.

Fast forward to just last week, when I was in San Francisco. I didn't have too much time on my hands since it was a work trip, but I made a point to come to Samovar Tea for some tea and lunch. It's a very convenient and short walk from the BART Powell St Station. As I made my ways up the stairs, I was met with this gorgeous vista of Yerba Buena Gardens and the San Francisco architectural landscape which Samovar overlooks. You can't get a more picturesque location for a lunch in the city.

Although it was busy, the restaurant still had some seats available both inside and outside on their terrace. I took a small table by the wall with numerous bags of teas that they sell in-house. I ordered the Green Ecstasy ($14) and the smoked duck jook ($13) with an extra poached egg ($2.50). The smoked duck jook has white rice porridge, peanuts, nori, cilantro, carrots, ginger, scallions, with a side of Sriracha and tamari soy sauces.

While waiting, I couldn't help but admire the decor and ambiance. The ceilings and windows are very high, so there's a ton of natural light that pours in. The wall I was sitting against had a full wall of various tea paraphernalia like teapots, tea canisters, and teabags. The view of the skyline and Yerba Buena Gardens is so picture-perfect.

The food and the tea are fantastic. I really enjoyed the smoked duck jook. It was ideal for the slightly chilly San Francisco weather. The colors from the nori, carrots, and cilantro are so vibrant, and the taste of the porridge is the epitome of a perfect breakfast. Highly recommend this dish. I also really liked the Green Ecstasy, which is a combination of Japanese sencha tea with organic matcha powder. It's very rich with some umami-flavored grassiness. I personally really liked the taste of this tea. The color is also very bold.

I will be back to Samovar Tea Lounge anytime I'm in or around San Francisco. I was actually staying in Berkeley, but I made a point to stop here before traveling further east. That's how much I...

My bestie and I were in need of tea, and we were lucky to be near Samovar Tea Lounge. She ordered the Velvet Cacao, and I got Turmeric Spice. I originally ordered Turmeric Gold, which is supposed to be milder in flavor, but I was accidentally given Turmeric Spice. I didn't mind because I really like it, and didn't mind the bolder flavors of licorice root (which is why I didn't order it in the first place) and ginger. The Velvet Cacao was sweetly aromatic, with hints of vanilla in every sip.

We also ordered the butternut squash dumplings and Nutella toast. The dumplings were delicious! They were sprinkled with green onions, and served with a tahini-sriracha sauce on the side. The dumplings were good on their own, but the sauce is what gives them the wow-factor! The sauce had a distinct flavor because of the sriracha and garlic, but didn't overpower the delicate butternut squash. I could eat an entire bowl of those dumplings!

The space inside is small. Most of the seating is outside, which is great during a sunny day. But we dined there in the evening, and it was getting cold. So if you don't have a reservation for indoor seating, be sure to wear warm clothes to eat outside.

The woman helping us with our questions was enthusiastic and nice. She pointed out which teas were her favorites, and checked up on us.

I would love to come back for brunch!

Oh, the bathroom situation is weird. It's a unisex restroom with stalls, but there's a sign at the door stating to lock it when you enter. I don't think it's cool to lock the door when there are individual stalls with their own locks.. I guess it's for those who don't feel comfortable being in a restroom with the opposite sex? After living in college dorms, I'm just used to seeing all genders...