Samovar Tea Lounge

Good food but poor service. The quality of food is consistent with the Yerba Buena location but this spot is severely understaffed with pretty bad service. I wouldn’t normally grade a restaurant down for poor service as long as they have good food but we had to try very hard before we were able to grab the waiters attention every time as they seem to avoid eye contact.
Tea is excellent as usual though! The main selling point at Samovar is definitely their tea and I love all of their green teas. The jasmine lemonade though is always my guilty pleasure. The food is also quite good as well, albeit a bit hipster, so it is a bit pricey given the portion size. I most recently had the poached egg bowl with duck and it was a healthy comfort food that I would go back whenever I’m feeling… healthy. The duck sandwich here is also really delicious, as is the Japanese tea set. The scones are also superb.
This location seems smaller as there is less outdoor seating than Yerba Buena but it’s very zen-​decorated and suitable for meeting with groups of friends with the communal tables and backroom.

what wonderful service for my friend and I! We ended up getting the lovely cushioned window seats where we ordered the English service, the butternut squash dumplings, a side of salmon, two selections of iced teas (the jasmine lemonade and the schizandra berry) and both were absolutely refreshing! The food left us feeling full but definitely with no regrets. It tasted fresh and we left incredibly satisfied after a day of strolling in the mission! You’re also allowed to switch the tea from any of the tea/​food pairings for a tea of equal value! I switched the tea from the English service for the iced berry :)

Loved! Great tea and food pairing. I’m a vegetarian and I loved the options. I had the chinese tea and squash dumpling pairing. I definitely want to go back and try more.

Great place for a Sunday lunch. Warm and cozy, with a wabi sabi style to it. I met up with a new friend through her suggestion. We had tea to start off with I believe I ordered the Cacao Mint? It comes in a small glass tea pot, with a Japanese style tea glass and a metal cup of water. The tea was delicious, slight cacao and dominant mint taste, full of flavor. This was a non-​caffeine tea.
The place has large windows all the way around so you get a nice view, only slightly obstructed by the window tint, but it does get warm inside. With the back and front door open you get a nice cool draft running through.
I tried a few different options; the vegan lentil soup had a very nice umami flavor, with mirin and soy sauce base. Very savory and satisfying. It also had onion, and some other vegetables in it along the green, red and brown lentil.
The squash steamed potstickers were nice and rich buttery flavor, complimented well with the citrus, mayo, wasabi dip. So good!
I also tried teriyaki Tempe. Not the best think ever, good, but you can’t do much in using the Tempe in its native out of package state. Cook and add flavor.
Lastly I tried there there seaweed broccoli salad. It was lightly dressed with a citrus Asian dressing. The bowl was filled with seaweed. My friend couldn’t finish it.
The service there is excellent and the staff is super super cool and friendly!

Come with an open mind, some of the pairings will surprise you, be ready for something in the lines of green tea paired with lentil soup, kale salad, seaweed salad, baked butternut squash, rice, some seaweed paper and smoked duck costing you about $ 36.
I am generally a fan, I think their tea selection is great albeit expensive. I like how they broke down the different categories and mentioned how much caffeine you should expect in each tea — labels «low-​caffeine», «mid-​caffeine», «high-​caffeine» are helpful.
I am still trying to understand their theme; the name «samovar» is a Russian traditional teapot, their interior design is more or less arabic or middle eastern, and their menu highlights are Japanese aged teas. All of these, although great on their own, don’t take on a cogent form.

1 star for the customer service I got, 5 stars for the amazing food.
I’m not a stranger to samovar. I’ve gone here a handful of times, usually at the Yerba buena location. I came here on a Sunday afternoon around 130pm. It was completely packed. The male server let us know it would be a 35 minute wait so we went to philz to kill time.
My two sisters and I came back after 30 minutes to check up on if a table would be available for us, or rather I did. Only one host/​server was there, which was the brunette lady with the accent and braided hair. I really wish I got her name. She did not acknowledge me standing at the door when I came in. I awkwardly stood there for a good 5 minutes waiting for somebody to approach me or welcome me. When two customers after me walked in, she quickly welcomed them (WTF??). She did not say one word to me, just looked at me funny. I assume it was because I do not look like their usual customers that come in, I look like a teenager.
I was seated by the male host/​server. Come to find out, the brunette lady with the accent would be my waitress. She changed my cup of philz coffee into a mug because she said «we don’t like when it’s not in a mug» okay lol. But that’s not why I’m mad it was whatever. When i was ready to finally order, she asked me if I had any questions insisting that I didn’t know the menu and I am unfamiliar with the food. During our meal she did not check up on our meal.
I just got bad vibes from her. Unwelcoming like she did not want me and my company there. I felt very uncomfortable. Will not be coming back to this location because of her I don’t think she treats customers fairly based on how they look. Rude

I recently held a tea meetup here and had wonderful experience. The ambiance was great and we had a really cool sunken table with cushions. Ben was our tea expert and led us through 6 different types of tea. It was so cool to learn more about tea and the flavor notes in each type. The cheese plate was also great. The fig jam and house made hummus were a huge hit. James was very accommodating and made the planning experience a breeze.
This is a great place to do a group event and the tasting is a unique experience everyone will enjoy. I will be back!

Came as an out-​of-​towner looking for a place to see a friend and have dinner. I’m sitting somewhere between a 3 and 4 on this review, but closer to a 3.
The atmosphere, seating options, décor, cleanliness, menus, and other controllable assets were all great. Would love to hang out and study/​ready in a place like this.
Staff were friendly overall, but my feeling was that they came off as a mix of lacking in product knowledge and rather standoffish. We asked questions about foods and teas, but when they didn’t know the answers, it was sort of shrugged off. We also felt a bit unwelcome to hang around after we were finished eating.
Tea and food have a good range for variety, taste and presentation are above average, but the value is just not there (i.e. small servings).

A good place for brunch or tea. Not over rated nor too posh, no wait in general.
There is a good choice of teas and different type of food available (from english muffins to Japanese food)
Prices are reasonable.
The décor is ok but nothing crazy and service can be a bit long.
Good deal overall.

Man, not sure if I should update to a 3 or keep it at a 4 but maybe this review will encourage them to up their food game. My review for the tea and ambiance still stands, this place is a great place to catch up and the tea is pretty good… Albeit pricy. Service has been wonderful all the times I have gone.
I got the share platter for $ 17 and was sorely disappointed. It came with three cheeses, multigrain bread crackers, an assortment of picked vegetables, and condiments. Oh man those cheeses were not good. They were flavorless, textureless, and basically looked like square blocks of putty. The blue cheese was kind of a strange color (and I don’t mean because it was blue!) and my friend thought it might have gone bad (again, not the intentional going bad of good cheese but like bad bad.)
The bread crackers were good because they were made with multigrain and fruits but they seemed kind of soft or stale; they didn’t have the crunch you would have expected. The picked vegetables were ok. The cauliflowers were probably the best.
Although I know this place is a tea place and not a food place, considering that they are charging $ 17 for this spread, they could have at least tried to make it presentable. My friend and I were pretty disappointed and barely touched the platter. Goodbye $ 17…

Stopped by on a Sunday for a afternoon tea.
Tea was on point!!! I got the California rose and I tried my friends jasmine lemonade. Both were amazing. Tea is really pricey, 6 – 10 for one.
However, we shared the tea sweets platter and we were not impressed. Really was just fruit, cookies and a bunch of weird pudding/​mouse. But hey, I guess you come here for the tea? Thinking about trying the other scope platter next time?
I will be coming back again!

Some say people aren’t really dead
If you still love them
And loved ones don’t really leave
If you remember them
This was a main hangout
For a bunch of RLFs* & I
Before so many moved out of town
Miss you all!
I get that it’s a tea place first
Food place second
So I don’t mind the deeceish eats
3 ½? + 100 for cherished friends
*Rad Lesbian Friends

What a cute place with a Zen like vibe! They have great selections of loose leaf teas and lunch plates!
Met up with my BFF for lunch. We were able to make reservations online and avoid any waiting. The location is bright, friendly service and carry a great selection of healthy foods.
I went with the Japanese Tea service and choose the duck (the other choices are tempeh and smoked salmon), seaweed salad, brown rice, Kale, squash, nori and a bowl of butternut squash soup. It is paired with a Ryokucha green tea. I swapped that out with an herbal cacao mint tea and that was a bad idea! There’s a reason why they pair things with these meals. I just didn’t want anything caffeinated so I went with a herbal tea. The whole meal was great, especially the kale because it was seasoned with sesame dressing and cooked to a perfect texture which removed the fibery feel to most kale. I enjoyed it a lot. The butternut squash soup was light and tasty. The meal was very balanced and healthy. My only complaint was the duck was sooooooo salty it was hard to finish it.
The service was exceptional. The staff were knowledgeable and friendly. Will definitely be back. I’ve also been to their Hayes Valley location and they’re very consistent.

Tranquility and Zen in the heart of the Castro!
The teas are perfectly brewed. I love the Morrocan Mint and their English Breakfast, and have yet to try the matcha. Of their locations this one is the best. It is never too busy, and the atmosphere is relaxed and super chill. You could hang out all day here, and I have!
They lose a star for their recent menu changes. The Moroccan tea service used to come with edamame hummus and crackers, greek yogurt, and stuffed dates in addition to the salad and kabobs, then they lowered the price a couple bucks and took away ½ of the food, and the best parts specifically.
None the less I still like them and will keep coming back. This is a great place to hang with friends, or by yourself to destress.

Popped in for a glass of wine on a Saturday. Very bad first impression — solely due to service. We waited at our table for a good 20 minutes without being noticed. Once my husband decided to go in, our server stopped by 5 minutes later. We place our order, and contued to wait another 10 – 15 for our one glass of wine. Hope it was just a fluke and service is better normally — have been hoping to stop in for lunch sometime.