This abstracts a longer post at http://chadao.blogspot.com/. Leaving out
detail and whimsy, I wanted to share a very positive tea experience at
what I consider to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Boston
area, Royal East, at 782 Main St. in Cambridge. No commercial
affiliation, except for the couple of hundred fine meals I've enjoyed
there.

I've been eating there since they opened a couple of decades ago, and
admired all the tea-ware above the bar; but only recently thought to ask
about gong-fu service, there being no mention of such on the menu. This
led to an interesting discussion with manager Otto Chang on the
difficulty of educating Americans to the joys of Asian-style informal
but serious tea culture (as distinct from Tea Ceremony). This eventually
occasioned a wonderful double-lunch and extended tasting session with
Otto and visiting Corax, a lot of great memories and a path to future
delights.

The purpose of this posting is partly to advise local or visiting
tea-lovers of this excellent venue, since Greater Boston is impoverished
in serious tea salons - i.e., those that focus on the tea, rather than
decor, accompaniments or other distraction. (As friends know, NYC's Tea
Gallery is my paragon for such; every time I'm there, I plead with them
to open a northern franchise. But it's too personal a management style
to be cloned.) No aspersions on the English tea room or the
cafe-with-interesting-teas; I just think that this part of the
tea-ecology is under-populated. I hadn't expected this caliber of tea
service at a Chinese restaurant, and am pleased to add this dimension to
the Royal East experience.

Moving from the specific to the general, I also wonder how common this
un-advertised opportunity might be. Do others here have comparable
experiences to share, in any geographic area? Perhaps both natives and
transients would benefit from guidance to top venues for tea that are
not directly promoted as such.

-DM