Tea Garden

A great little hole-​in-​the-​wall lunch spot that is still relatively unknown in the FiDi (thankfully). I got the beef noodle soup and it was tasty, salty, broth-​y goodness, with chewy noodles, plenty of bok choy and tender beef. It was way better than you would expect from such a dingy place. Seating is extremely sparse – 2 tables for 2 (seating 4 total) with an optional third table for 4.

I’m a fan of the boba milk tea!
A few years ago, when a co-​worker told me there was boba just a block away from work, all hell broke loose and I ran over here. But when I tasted the pearls and tea, it was just okay. Nothing special and I never went back. But just recently, I overheard a different new co-​worker rave over their boba milk tea. I was convinced that they had a new and improved recipe! So, on one of those warm sunny San Francisco days, I walked over there to see if it was true! POO POO! It was the same as how it tasted a few years ago… eh… it was just okay.
I’m such an easy target when it comes to boba milk tea’s. So, if ever another co-​worker talks positively over their milk tea, I may just do the same thing over again. I hope I’ve learned my lesson this time but in time, we shall see.

I need to try the beef noodle soup, but I have gotten boba here and it’s really good. It’s not as cheap as western SF or quickly, but it is fresh and pretty good. The place no longer has an sign and you don’t realize you are at Tea Garden until you are directly infront of it… otherwise it just looks like a parking structure.

At first was super stoked, the prices about $ 1.75-$ 3.00 a pork and/​or chicken bun in the display counter.
However the buns were easily 3+ days old… There is a point where quality control needs to come into play… I tried 4 different kinds, ate half of each and had to throw them away.
Someone let me know if they start making them daily and i’ll be a regular.

Okay, I have to update my review because I’ve tried most of the hot food menu, and have determined which my favorite dishes are: Spicy Pork Chop Rice (spicy pai gu fan), Pork and Preserved Vegetable Noodle Soup (xue cai rou si mian), and the Beef Rice (niu rou fan).
Again, I always get the Avocado Tapioca because it’s so smooth, tasty, and not overly sweet.

Hmf. On recommendation of fellow Unilocalers, I tried the shredded pork noodle soup with the pickled vegetables.
This is what I got: Several cups of greasy, bland beef stock; less than half an ounce of shredded pork; about 2 ounces of bok choy; about 1 ounce of pickled vegetables; about 4 cups of noodles.
All in all, incredibly disappointing.

Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross Gross
Come here if you like:
— Fruit Smoothies made with expired watermelon
— Boba Teas with nasty, over-​cooked tapioca balls
— A Pushy Cashier with a tendency to short-​change

Great tapioca grass jelly drinks. Also, great hot dog and bbq buns.

I stopped in for a quick tea and was on my way. The store was hidden behind some construction, but their sandwich board outside made it easy enough to spot. I enjoyed my passion fruit green tea bubble tea on my drive back to San Jose.
A-​OK.

Tea Garden is a total hole-​in-​the-​wall that reminds me of cheap noodle places back home in Taiwan. The location is convenient, and service is fast. I’ll probably come back now and then for a greasy noodle fix.
* Noodle soup with shredded pork + Chinese mustard greens (xue cai ro si mien): I liked the broth, which had a white peppery kick. A bit sparse on pork and mustard greens and a bit heavy on cilantro and green onion.
* Beef noodle soup: The beef pieces were tender and had the right tendon to meat ratio for me. The broth was flavorful but definitely on the sweeter side. I prefer my beef broth spicier.
The noodles used here are white and doughy, a bit soft, and have an ever-​so-​slightly powdery texture. (I don’t think these noodles are very common in the US.) I find them tolerable, but they are not my favorite type of noodle.
There are a handful of counter seats here and no tables.
Cash only.

I ate this while I was sick. so my taste buds could be a bit off. However, the beef noodle soup was just ok in my opinion. The beef itself was tender and not very chewy, but I just felt like it was lacking something. Compared to the beef noodle soup I’ve had down in South Bay, i think there is a lot of room for improvement here. I didn’t have a lot noodles in my bowl either =/
Although, on the upside, they sell HUGE BBQ pork buns.
This place is cash only.

I was excited to check this place out because some of my coworkers like it, but I had a pretty so-​so experience, and probably won’t be coming back.
I had the spicy pork over rice, and my brother had the beef noodle soup. The soup looked better than the spicy pork, and had a little more flavor. At the end of the day, though, the food just wasn’t all that tasty or appetizing, and there are better places nearby.
The staff is friendly, and the service is pretty good. The space itself is a little sparse; seems like most folks get take-​away, and the steamed buns in the pastry counter look pretty tasty; I might grab one of those sometime.

Awww. a Taiwanese restaurant owned by Taiwanese PEOPLE! Yayyy! :)
This little place has been a go-​to spot for a while now. I love how friendly they are (esp when you speak Mandarin), and how their food comes out fast. Its perfect for a lunch time grab ‘n go.
Note: The food menu is to the left of the restaurant and is propped up against the wall… so definitely check that out.
Oatmeal Milk Tea — this was really interesting and I can’t say I’ve seen this on a menu before. Definitely worth a try. but would I get it again? I don’t knowww…
Spicy Pork Chop over Rice — This is a spin on the traditional paigu fan that people are crazy over at A&J. Really good AND it comes with a Lu Dan. Yummmm!
Pork/​Veggie Buns — If you’re looking for something small or light, you should definitely try any of the buns in the pastry case. I liked the pork/​veggie buns and it was a perfect «after work» or midday snack.
Hardly any seating in this cute little hole in the wall, so I would prefer to pick it up to go instead. There is some counter seating along the wall, but thats about it.
Will definitely be back to try the beef noodle soup!

This place has the best boba I ever have. Its just the right texture and taste. All my friends who I introduced to this place agree. So, I got corroboration here. They are also the only place around FiDi with Avocado Smoothie. Yes, I am addicted to Avocado Smoothie. That’s the only boba drink I get, well, other than durian, which unfortunately this place does not have. Anyway, not only they are the only place with Avocado Smoothie, but they also make a real good one. I saw them with my own eyes scraping an avocado to make my smoothie. Slightly pricey — $ 4.25 for a small cup (one size only), but I have to feed my addiction.
I also tried their food. I am not into Taiwanese food that much (which is pretty much what they serve). But the spicy pork chop is good and I love eggs so can’t find fault with tea eggs. They also have dimsum — which I believe they re-​sell from Chinatown or something. Of course, prices are now much more than Chinatown once it is displayed in this place, but the Muni fare is $ 2. So calculate wisely before you make a decision where to buy your dimsum.
Lunch time is usually busy because of the students across the street will start gettin hungry around noon. So, some before 11:45 or after 1:15. Otherwise, prepare for chaos.

How did i not know about this place when I worked 2 blocks from here? O. o
that’s what I get for only walking in one direction, I suppose.
Anyway, cash only. So I had only $ 3, but that scored me a fan tuan (or a sweet rice roll), which was tasty. They warmed it up for me, and they used long grain white sweet rice. There was a chinese donut inside with some pork sung. It felt like it was homemade… if only my mom knew how to make chinese donuts :).

I ordered a jasmine milk green tea w/​half the sugar; usually most places will ask if i want tapioca or not and they didn’t, so when my drink came and it had boba in it, I said I didn’t want tapioca. The asian guy was pretty rude and just gave me a nasty stare.
So they took the tapioca out and handed me my drink, but it wasn’t half the sugar. I thought it was just me but i asked my coworkers to try it and they also said it was too sweet so I asked the guy if it was half the sugar cause it was really sweet and once again, another nasty stare. He takes the drink back and then I hear the two asian guys speaking in Mandarin talking smack. HELLO? Do I not look chinese enough to you? I can understand everything you’re saying!
My coworkers ordered the coconut tapioca and the almond tapioca, both which were pretty good, hence the extra star. I’m sure their food is decent but a restaurant’s customer service plays large factor in my overall experience and if you don’t know how to cater to your customers correctly, then sorry, that’s just not going to cut it. Enough said.

I got the spicy pork chop over rice. It came with minced pork, veggies, pickled mustard greens, and a tea egg ($ 8.12 after tax).
I went around noon and there was a long line of people waiting inside the tiny shop. After you pay for your food, you don’t get a receipt or an order number. You have to remember what you ordered, who was ahead of you and after you because the employees at Tea Garden seem a bit confused. They couldn’t figure out who ordered what and just shouted out the item while 3 people came up to the counter to say they ordered the soup noodle, or the porkchop rice. Chaos!
Contrary to other Unilocal reviews, I found the service to be very friendly. There was a middle aged woman and two younger guys working the front and another middle aged lady cooking in the back. The middle aged woman in front was trying to keep the younger guys calm, saying in Mandarin not to rush, rushing only makes things worse.
My spicy pork chop wasn’t all that. I did like that it came with sides, like veggies, pickled veggies, and a tea egg. I would have liked the pork chop to be warmer and spicier. The regular pork chop rice is $ 6.50 and this «spicy» version was a dollar more. My co-​worker joked that i paid that extra dollar for the cilantro garnish.
Tea garden by far isn’t the best Taiwanese food i’ve tried, but I would come back for lunch again and try something else on the menu.

To the girl with way-​too-​much-​side-​bangs: If you hate your job so much, i suggest you quit. Giving unnecessary attitude to customer is absolutely uncalled for when we are the one bringing business and well, essentially paying for your paycheck.
Food was 2 stars while service was seriously a negatvie 10. Noodles is absolutely my favorite dish ever and i’ve had various kinds of noodle soups before. Fortunately, Rachel L is a friend is just as obessee about noodles as i am and Tea Garden happen to be 3 blocks away from both of our work. We decided to try our Tea Garden given the fact that today is probably the coldest day in SF this year!
First thoughts on the place: Wow, it is tiny, even smaller than i had imagined from reading fellow Unilocalers reviews. There was a bar area with 4 stools and one pull out plastic table with 2 chairs. Needless to say, probably best to get take out.
Rachel Ordered the Beef noodle soup and i was thinking between the veggie or the seafood.
me: «Hi, what kind of vegetables comes in the veggie noodle soup?»
girl: *gives me a dirty look* and writes down veggie noodle soup as my order.
me: «No, i didn;t want to order that yet, i would like to know what type of vegetables comes with it.»
girl:” Another dirty look” vegetables? A lot of vegetables“
me:” ok, well that’s good that theres a lot, but what type?“
girl: no response
me: «for example. broccoli, cabbage carrots…»
girl: «cabbage»
me:” Ok, well i would like the seafood noodle soup then.“
girl: *third dirty look* sighs and changes the order. Takes the money and practically threw the change back at my face.
The same girl brought us some chopsticks and napkin. She drops the napkins on her way, didn’t pick it up and didn’t bring us more napkins until we asked for it. She was also talking crap about me in Chinese to her coworkers. Well, sweetheart– i understand Chinese.
The noodles was just ok. I think i would have enjoyed it a lot more if it wasn’t so oily. There was about a half inch of oil floating on the noodles. Both the beef noodle and the seafood broth was rich without being too salty. Too bad the service was absolutely terrible. Good luck!

I feel like I walked into a Taiwanese home and had someones mom cook me lunch… which is think is exactly what this little CASH ONLY hole in the wall is. Maybe some 1^st generation college grads who were sitting at lunch at home and had a genius business plan– «Lets sell mom’s cooking!» Young guys run the register, drinks, and pastry case. A motherly woman runs the kitchen.
The noodle soup is five-​spice, oil, soy, beefy, MSG goodness. Noodles are simple and homey. Impressed with the freshness of the bok-​choy in my noodle soup. MMM! I’m reminded that some fish cake is actually pretty good.
Be prepared to abandon any meat related dietary restrictions. Cows and pigs are what mom puts in food. I’m reminded of my room mate who told his mom that he was no longer eating meat. She served him pork saying «It’s not meat, it’s pork!» Same applies here.
Location wise, you can’t beat the price for sheer volume of food. Trust Mom to not let you starve! And perhaps call and order a head of time, Mom is not an assembly line.
Take it to-​go for quality desk munching! Minimal seating if any.

Say, wasn’t this an Oh-​La-​La! kiosk a while back? I know that coffee chain is dead and gone, but I keep thinking I can get a latte and croissant here. It’s kinda like when you lose an arm and then you assume you can still do your dishes until you realize you have no place to put on your Playtex gloves. The generically named Tea Garden is like a pair of Playtex gloves. I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds meaningful, so go with me on this, will ya?
Last week, Tea Garden became my back-​up plan for a quick lunch when I saw that Perilla, the Vietnamese place across Mission, was closed during the holidays. Sure enough, it’s still a kiosk, but the owners have turned it into a claustrophobic lunch counter serving up pre-​packaged Taiwanese food and a few hot plates. Now you may recall the streets were deserted last week with the holiday break and all, so it wasn’t like people were gunning for the one table in the place.
So I sat there with the cold wind blowing against my back and ordered the $ 6.50 Pork Chop Noodle Bowl (see my photo). It was decent with one deep-​fried chop floating on top. Thank goodness they cut it into pull-​away pieces as I would have been splish-​splashing with that broth much to the detriment of my light-​colored cotton shirt. The noodles weren’t bad either, though I have to admit it wasn’t that memorable either. Service was friendly enough, and customers came in and out getting their pork buns.
FOOD — 3 stars… not wildly amazing but no stomach pump required either
AMBIANCE — 2 stars… perhaps you would enjoy eating in a closet
SERVICE — 3.5 stars… a friendly couple who appear to yell at each other out of love
TOTAL — 3 stars… well, at least I got over my latte-​and-​croissant expectation… hey, where’s my arm?