The restaurant is located along the river and by itself. It has a lot for parking and you have to walk up the restaurant via steps. Another options would be to drive up the driveway for access to a sidewalk that rounds to the restaurant entrance. The driveway makes a circle to allow you to get back to the lot. This would be a good option for persons with accessibility difficulties. It was our first time visiting and we didn't realize this so our grandma had to put in some extra cardio that day to walk up the driveway (stairs are difficult for her).
The ambience of the place was warm and unique, but the interior design would benefit from more unification. It seems like they were going for an Alice in Wonderland theme but decided to give up half way and just throw random old-looking furniture together. Whether they were going for an Alice in Wonderland themed look or antique look, the current design misses both. It was not great for photos as it just looked like somebody's grandma's house. I'm glad I decided to not dress up because I would have felt very overdressed in my pastel dress and outfit. However, the idea itself is super unique for MN metro area. Other tea houses in MN are a further drive. They did not miss on the beautiful cups and saucers!
Now onto the food! The brunch menu had a lot of unique food options and you could definitely have a solid meal here. There were a variety of tea options (as expected), and the desserts sounded good (we were too full to try any). Here is everything we ordered:
- Fancy Tea (Jasmine Green Tea): The tea was not only tasty but ceremonious as it came in a beautiful teapot and burner to keep it warm. It was also customizable because you get to put the tea bag in and decide when to take it out. They provide you a timer and you can chose which one to use depending on how strong you like your tea. The tea itself was very good. Through both smell and taste, you could tell they used quality tea leaves to brew.
- Fancy Milk & Cookies: Got this for the novelty and appearance, but it was good! The cookie was a little hard and slightly bland, but it still had a faint shortcake taste to it. It was very pretty though and I thought it was a nice touch to make them varying sizes stacked on each other (creating a more realistic flower look). The milk was very creamy and it hit the spot. I usually drink skim milk, so this milk was a nice treat (probably 2% milk?). Goes without saying that it went really well with the cookies.
- Crab Cake Tweedle Puff: I didn't try it, but my grandma seemed to like it! She finished it all, which is a pretty good compliment to the taste of the food bc she usually has leftovers. She really enjoyed the creamy chicken wild rice soup (she finished that first!). The puff looked very fluffy and flaky, and my grandma didn't have too hard of a time chewing it.
- Pulled Pork French Toast: A very unique and a solid mix of flavors. I typically rely on the syrup to maximize my enjoyment of french toast. However, the stuffing was so juicy and flavorful-- the syrup no longer was the main attraction of the dish. The stuffing was a blend of cheese and caramelized apples + onions. The savory sauce from the pulled pork (was almost like a broth) mixed with the syrup to create the perfect sauce for the dish (didn't really notice the taste of syrup). The sauce was the nice, finishing touch. It was very filling and fulfilled my craving for sweet and savory brunch food. I'd definitely get this again, but as something to be shared (comes in 4 pieces).
- Steak Burger: This was delicious!! At first, I was skeptical on ordering it because it was more expensive than I expected and i thought that I'd rather spend that money at a restaurant that specializes in burgers. My brother ordered it as medium rare, so it came with a beautiful coloring (nice light pink in the middle). It was juicy, salted perfectly, and you can really taste the angus beef (smokey and beefy taste). The bun was a bit basic, but toppings were fresh. The breakfast potatoes were also basic (not bad, but not memorable), but their ketchup was very unique (it was darker and tasted darker like there were hints of horseradish and BBQ sauce mixed in).
I came here for the novelty of a decorated tea house, and because of that, was kind disappointed when the theme was not that strong. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the food! There are quite a few restaurants that use their novelty as an excuse to serve mediocre food, this place did not slack on the food. I would honestly come back here for the tea brewing experience and food! read more