Tea (rec.drink.tea) Discussion relating to tea, the world's second most consumed beverage (after water), made by infusing or boiling the leaves of the tea plant (C. sinensis or close relatives) in water.

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Default Cambridge, MA restaurant tea

The Boston area is wonderful in all ways, from relaxed pace and
intellectual humility to simplicity of street navigation and mild,
predictable weather. We are, however, a little short on decent tea
purveyors in leaf and brew. And all the usual complaints about
intransigence and equipage of Asian restaurant staff apply. Hence the
pleasant surprise reported here.

My favorite Chinese restaurant hereabouts (no vested interest; in fact,
I'm not sure I ought to be promulgating this intelligence) is Royal East
on Main St. I've been eating there since it opened around 1985, while
laboring next door for a now-defunct imaging company that got started
coating the crystallized urine of quinine-fed dogs onto plastic sheets
to make sunglasses. (Would I lie to you?) Later, it became the only
venue mutually agreeable to the disparate tastes of my entire family
during the extended psychodrama of our reunions.

In the past few years, I've gotten to know the owner/founder, Otto,
fairly well if superficially. (He even recommended an outstanding and
underpriced traditional Chinese doctor/bodyworker nearby, one of whose
credentials is that he treats a notable rock star when the latter is in
town.) But we never got into matters of religion until recently.

A few months back, I asked about the ranks of well-seasoned Yixing pots,
metal canisters, trays and other implements of mass consumption arrayed
around the bar. Otto said that he's equipped for serious tea tastings,
but declines to put this offering on the menu. Americans get upset at
having to *pay* for tea, people don't know what real tea tastes like,
etc. He apparently serves the good stuff regularly to a few
knowledgeable customers, but won't offer it. I threatened to bring some
of my own favorite teas if he'd share a cup, and he accepted.

Today I had the pleasure of visiting Royal East with Corax, in town for
an convention on something-or-other to describe which I lack sufficient
classical education - he can fill in over on http://chadao.blogspot.com,
perhaps with pix. Otto kindly agreed to come in a couple of hours before
dinner to meet us. So Corax and I arrived early and lunched on a very
nice trio of spicy pork with peanuts, garlic beef and baby bok choy with
whole fried garlic cloves. Waving off the usual pitcher, we got a pot of
hot and threw in a chunk of 2001 YiWu Zhen Shan wild tree shu Puer from
Fu Hai (via Yunnan Sourcing), which made a nice balance for the strong
and varied food flavors. This decided me never to go to a Chinese
restaurant again without my own tea - life's too short.

Otto arrived as we were plowing into this bounty. He complimented our
tea, then came back with a 20-year-old shu of his own. After a couple of
steeps of this in a porcelain pot, we brought out one of the new Tea
Gallery Lung Jings. He admired the tea's freshness and leaf shape, then
produced a package of West Lake he'd just received from Hong Kong. This
was excellent, and a nice contrast to the two Puers.

At this point, we'd consumed most of the vittles, so Otto had the table
cleared and brought out full Gong Fu regalia. Since his own favorite
tipple is Tie Kuan Yin, we had a fairly rarefied one of these (up in the
$500/lb range) that he'd just had sent from a family friend's plantation
in the old country. With the TKY he brought a couple of exquisite books
on master tea pots and tea-making from his large collection. Over the
next few steeps, we got some useful insight and humorous anecdotes on
the Chinese numbered-factory Yixing teapot production system, and the
challenges of buying even medium-quality merchandise without an inside
connection.

After that, we went on to three from Silk Road Teas: an unusual, (to me)
seaweedy oolong from their "Special" collection called Guo Jiang Xiang
No.2, a year-old but still terrific Songzhong dan cong, and their
delicate but powerful Drum Mountain Clouds & Mist; the latter impressed
him enough to ask for a sample. Early on in this round, Otto got hungry
too, so Corax and I were forced by politeness to endure a second lunch
of pea tendrils and cold chicken with an aromatic dressing of freshly
chopped ginger and scallions. The chicken bears special mention: looked
pretty mundane; cold boiled chicken on a bare plate. But one assumes
that the boss of the best restaurant around gets OK treatment from his
staff, and in fact the bird was extraordinary: not only cooked
perfectly, but with about thrice the flavor of any other chicken I've
tasted. Turns out that for this dish - like many wonders not on the
menu,including the pea tendrils; always worth asking a waiter about
specials - he sources unusual ingredients, here a little-known French
strain. (But to strain the rara avis concept to the limit, he said that
we should call ahead next time for double-steamed black chicken, an even
more unusual subspecies with white feathers and dark skin, like unto a
polar bear. Who knew?)

While I fondled the Yixings, Corax collected the Chinese names with
Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations for tea, equipment, procedures and
ethereal attitudes; I'll let him report as only a gastronomic
philologist can.)

There may be two salient lessons here. One is that there is great tea,
tea service and tea conversation available in (great?) restaurants, but
apparently the Tao Te Ching is as relevant to fine tea as to all else:
those who advertise don't always deliver, and those who deliver don't
always advertise. The other is that despite a truly ab-initio
relationship with this fine establishment and its owner, my relationship
and experience there have experienced a step-change upward as a result
of asking about tea. A salutary event indeed. May you have such fortune.

-DM

PS - That wasn't decadent enough, so we strolled down the block to make
sure that Toscanini's still has the world's best cocoa-pudding ice
cream. Corax, ever the classical loyalist, is holding out for gelato at
some little shop in Rome, so we'll just have to have a re-match.
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DogMa wrote:
> There may be two salient lessons here. One is that there is great tea,
> tea service and tea conversation available in (great?) restaurants, but
> apparently the Tao Te Ching is as relevant to fine tea as to all else:
> those who advertise don't always deliver, and those who deliver don't
> always advertise. The other is that despite a truly ab-initio
> relationship with this fine establishment and its owner, my relationship
> and experience there have experienced a step-change upward as a result
> of asking about tea. A salutary event indeed. May you have such fortune.
>
> -DM
>
> PS - That wasn't decadent enough, so we strolled down the block to make
> sure that Toscanini's still has the world's best cocoa-pudding ice
> cream. Corax, ever the classical loyalist, is holding out for gelato at
> some little shop in Rome, so we'll just have to have a re-match.


Great stuff. As for the Tao Te Ching, it is a perfect match with tea
and life. I began reading and following the philosophical teachings of
Taoism over 8 years ago, and it has enhanced my love for and enjoyment
of tea and life. To me it is simple, to the point, real, and as
applicable today as it was when penned. I don't get preachy or on any
soapboxes for any religion or philosohical teaching, but between my
love of art, Taoism, and tea I can take a step backwards in time and
remove myself from the hustle and bustle and technology and appreciate
a lot of things that go unknown to many today in favor of shopping,
money, and the endless pursuit to get ahead (of what I'm not sure, but
to just get farther ahead than the guy next door at any cost.).

And as for the cocoa-pudding ice cream vs. the gelato, I'm with the
gelato every time.

- Dominic

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Default Cambridge, MA restaurant tea

Sorry, OP pulled for minor legal reasons. In (very) brief, it was a
report on a delightful tea experience at the excellent Royal East
restaurant, where owner Otto will serve (and share) wonderful tea and
stories, but only if asked.

-DM
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