Visitors

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Samovar Tea Lounge


Samovar Tea Lounge is on the second floor of the building, and faces a nice open plaza. The outside seating looked interesting, but full.


Russian Chay Platter & Bottomless Samovar House-Blend Black Tea.

Tarragon-Marinated beets, Smoked Whitefish & Horseradish, paprika Devilled Egg with Caviar (wild for lunch?), wheat Crackers, and fresh fruit. The menu states that "They say that Tolstoy fueled his creativity by drinking Russian tea from the samovar. See what it does for you."

So, I received instructions from the waiter on the use of the savarka from the samovar, diluted with some hot water, and some additional sugar and milk.

The tea was "bottomless" but I had a table that was behind two other tables. I needed to wind my way through the other tables to get to the samovar. But it was quite fun, and I liked the tea. The taste of the caviar was overshadowed by the devilled eggs, which tasted more like curried eggs than paprika. Maybe the curry on the table next to me was overwhelming? I bought two types of loose teas for home: Samovar Russian Blend and Blood Orange Puerh. The woman warned me about the Puerh...I know about this tea and that is why I bought it!

There was a lot of "tea action" going on in the restaurant. Lisa sat next to me and she ordered "Blood Orange Puehr". It had a delightful orange smell to it. The water pot did not contain the tea. She had a little tea pot to use to infuse a cup of tea at a time. The tea did not become too strong, and she always had a refill.



Other tea services used different combinations of cups, teapots, and infusers.


1 comment:

Ginan said...

This sounds like a great place to go! There is just something wonderful about tea and snacks in the middle of the day. Maybe it's the Russian in us!

Ginan