DogMa wrote:
> 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

Royal East, eh? I've never even heard of it before. Odd, since I
live in Cambridge. Nobody I know seems to know the place. Will visit
for sure. What kind of food do they serve?

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN