Firs Dim sum experience!! They are super packed for this event, they move fast but the line will get long since people seem to keep coming and coming. They do the cart style, so be on the look out for what you want. It can get a little crowded as most dim sum places do, so be patient and enjoy the experience. They have from what I remember enough different items to keep you excited for whats next. For rookies or experienced fans this is a nice spot to get your dumpling fix. So sit back and try snatch a few of your favorites from the cart as it passes by.
(4)
Jennifer C.
Apparently the Tea Garden is under new management (same owner, new manager). But maybe they should look into a new chef. I was disappointed under the old management when they had separate menus for "Americanized" versus "authenic" Chinese dishes. And I'm again disappointed under this new management and its "Grand Reopening" with dim sum. I brought my mom who was visiting from Las Vegas where she retired. We ordered all our usual faves: spare ribs black bean sauce, steam tofu skin, fried tofu skin, chicken feet, pan fried chive dumpling, tripe. Everything came cold except for the ribs and that came mushy and overcooked. I like fall off the bone, but not turns to sawdust in your mouth. It tasted like it had been cooked and recooked for the umpteenth time. On top of being cold, all the flavors and texture were a little off. The phoenix feet was too sweet, the cheong fun was too thick and doughy. We did come late at 1 pm. But any dim sum place worth their salt knows when to put the carts away and cook to order.
(2)
Teng V.
You know you're in for a ride when you go in for dinner and 90% of the people dining are white. I have nothing against whites but the way I see it is that if there aren't any Asians dining there than it must not be good. I was correct, this place definitely loss its flavor after the remodel. The food was bland, very little selection and all the food on the menu are cater towards the white flavor palette. If you're looking for good/spicy Chinese food, avoid this place.
(1)
Lisa M.
4 stars and I mean it this time... We went back for another lunch buffet. Seated in a better place, chairs are still uncomfortable, buffet line is still odd to me, service wasn't as quick as last time, but the food was better. It's not in my neighborhood, so I wouldn't go there on a regular basis, but would check it out if my dining companion really wanted to go. It's better, but I'm still struggling with how the darn buffet is RIGHT THERE when you walk in the door.
(4)
Bryce B.
Food was good, I didn't choose the buffet because the line was too long. The service was good too, it was nice to have a genuinely happy server take my order and deliver. I had happy food which made the day better. I went during the height of rush hour which put a delay on things, but not bad all things considered.
(4)
Eric P.
We have been going to Tea House for years. This has been an absolute GO-TO place for Sichuan food in the twin cities. I have brought native Chinese and they are so pleased to have home cooking. I cannot say enough about their track record. Food, service ... it was all AWESOME. Note, the verb is past tense. The Plymouth location closed briefly for remodeling and we went in for another excellent meal after they reopened, only EVERYthing was off. It was almost like this was the Stepford wife of the original. Things looked only slightly different because of the remodel, but many things were oddly off. The dinner service was not full or busy (they usually have almost every table on a Saturday night filled until nearly closing), yet the server, who was nice but not efficient claimed they were sooo busy. The first thing we noticed was the tea pot was different and the tea was different which seemed an odd thing to change. The food seemed sort of Stepford as well - it was not quite as good as usual; especially the egg rolls. They were not crispy and did not seem to be the same recipe nor did they seem fresh. The batter recipe for the Sweet/sour chicken was also different. I almost always experiment with new items, so it was harder to tell about my dish which was Sole with Scallions; it was good, but not deeply flavorful like the Dancing Fish or other dishes. It almost seemed like the business changed hands and the cooking staff doesn't know quite how to prepare the dishes and the front of the house is not nearly as efficient as before. I have reviewed this restaurant before and gave it 5 stars ... I would have given them 6. Times have not changed for the better. I am not sure how prepared I am to try this again, however I will be doing so with a pretty critical eye. If anyone knows the story, I would be happy to see a post here on Yelp. Based on some of the recent reviews, mine is not an uncommon experience. I just hope that the owners, new or old, read what's going on in their restaurant and fix it. In the meantime, I will be looking for a new favorite SIchuan restaurant.
(2)
Chelsea M.
Today I went here for dinner and was pretty excited that they were finally open again. I loved eating at this place and gave them a very high review. I had to knock it down to two stars though based on service alone. The server we got wasn't able to communicate clearly with us at all. We asked about a specific item on the menu, pointed at the picture and asked her if this was what we were thinking it was and explained what we were hoping it was, she assured us it was, so we ordered that item. When it got to our table, we opened the lid and broke open the item up to see it was not the item we were asking about. Our server immediately got irritated and starting arguing with us and told us we got the item we pointed at and that we were basically wrong. She was visibly upset and argued with us for a couple of minutes before walking away from our table. She walked by a few more times and didn't even come to our table. My pop was clearly empty too and she didn't even stop to ask for a refill. We even had to go up and get to go containers because she wasn't coming back. When she brought the check though, she was nicey nice again. Didn't fly with me though. She received no tip from us. This is the first time ever that I haven't tipped a server. She wasn't professional at all. Not too happy with this.
(2)
Winson T.
They had recently changed ownership, but trust me, the food quality are as good as before. Ordered a seafood hot pot and a hotspot fish, was as good as the previous one. Will continue to support. Highly recommended...
(5)
Sneha G.
Hello folks, I live right next to the very famous Tea House and heard a great lot of things about it but to my wonder the grand reopening of Tea house was very sad. My husband and I went around 5 pm on a Saturday eve to this place. The services sucks. We had to wait for a very long time before we could place the order (which was only after i request one of the staff members to take our order). There were few staff members who were never sure about the orders and always confused and hence misplaced the orders. The food arrived very late though there was not much crowd around the time we were there. Even for the check we had to ask other staff members to send us the bill. In short ,we felt ignored and will never coming back again. The new Tea house is not worth the cost.
(2)
John T.
Buffet was cold and not very tasty. Food heavily picked over. Rice and other items not full - rice for example was just crusty remnants that were congealed together.
(1)
Michelle S.
Excellent service, was seated immediately and the server was at our table after only a minute. Large portions for great prices. The food was extremely authentic.
(5)
Kimi R.
Not impressed with the grand reopening. Hardly noticed anything that was newer or different. Lunch buffet was same as before, the layout of the buffet is really bad. It's not in the dining room. It's in the lobby area. What did they remodel anyway? Food was covered with heavy soy sauce, and most items were too salty. New owner & management sucked, the front of the house staff members were like bunch of headless chickens running around. It's a real shame that nothing got improved even after reopening and remodeling.
(1)
Shawn L.
The attitude on our server was argumentative, and despite clarifying questions meant to guide our order, we ended up with a wrong item that they would neither correct nor take off the bill, and we didn't eat the damn thing. There are things about the place that have remained about the same, but the service we received is about as friendly as Chinese communism.
(2)
Carrie B.
Oh Tea House you've made me sad. A few years ago I lived across the street from this place so I ate there quite a bit. I never had bad service or bad food. My most recent visit was a disappointment. My boyfriend and I ordered our food from our waitress. It took several minutes to order. She didn't understand that we wanted to substitute fried rice for the white rice, and when she walked away we were both sure we weren't going to get what we wanted. It took 20 minutes for our cream cheese wontons, which were delicious. 10 minutes later my boyfriend's Kung pao chicken arrived with white rice. 10 minutes after that I called a waiter over to the table. He asked if there was a problem. I said that I would like my food as well. It was another 10 minutes before my triple delight came with fried rice. Now, the food was delicious. All of it. However, the service was so bad I don't think I'm going back, except to get take out. Our waitress never came back to our table. We both needed a refill on beverages, and my boyfriend never did receive his fried rice. We had to beg for take out boxes and our bill from the other waiter. Oh, did I mention that we were the only table there? My suggestion, get take out. The food is wonderful. The service is terrible.
(3)
Cyrus H.
We have been eating at Tea House (Plymouth) for many years. It is the place we go most frequently, and we have introduced many many friends acquaintances and neighbors who enjoy spicy food. We've ordered just about everything on the Szechuan menu, and we've honed in on our top three favorites. House Spicy Fish is #1 and we always order that. It's plenty for two adults. But we often order the Kung Pao Chicken along with it. The fish is super tasty and loaded with hot spice and veggies in a delightful broth to serve over the rice. The Kung Pao is perfection. Garlic, peanuts and just the right amount of sweet and hot. Then our third favorite dish is Spicy Eggplant, which is so much more delicious than it sounds. Tea House is the place we would miss most if we ever left Minneapolis. Just ask our friends who recently moved to Calif.
(5)
Edrin W.
I decided to try this restaurant after not eating here for a few years. I noticed a 'grand reopening' sign but decided to still try it out. I should've listened to my instincts. I ordered the sesame chicken and was not pleased at all. It tasted like ketchup and sesame seeds. Very disappointed....couldn't even finish it!
(2)
Zac K.
Had a great lunch buffet. Renovated the floors, kitchen, and got new chairs. Friendly wait staff and the food was fresh. Great selection of chicken dishes, pork dishes and other standard side items like wontons and eggs rolls. Overall a great experience.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Street, Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : Free Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
Mark G.
Firs Dim sum experience!! They are super packed for this event, they move fast but the line will get long since people seem to keep coming and coming. They do the cart style, so be on the look out for what you want. It can get a little crowded as most dim sum places do, so be patient and enjoy the experience. They have from what I remember enough different items to keep you excited for whats next. For rookies or experienced fans this is a nice spot to get your dumpling fix. So sit back and try snatch a few of your favorites from the cart as it passes by.
(4)Jennifer C.
Apparently the Tea Garden is under new management (same owner, new manager). But maybe they should look into a new chef. I was disappointed under the old management when they had separate menus for "Americanized" versus "authenic" Chinese dishes. And I'm again disappointed under this new management and its "Grand Reopening" with dim sum. I brought my mom who was visiting from Las Vegas where she retired. We ordered all our usual faves: spare ribs black bean sauce, steam tofu skin, fried tofu skin, chicken feet, pan fried chive dumpling, tripe. Everything came cold except for the ribs and that came mushy and overcooked. I like fall off the bone, but not turns to sawdust in your mouth. It tasted like it had been cooked and recooked for the umpteenth time. On top of being cold, all the flavors and texture were a little off. The phoenix feet was too sweet, the cheong fun was too thick and doughy. We did come late at 1 pm. But any dim sum place worth their salt knows when to put the carts away and cook to order.
(2)Teng V.
You know you're in for a ride when you go in for dinner and 90% of the people dining are white. I have nothing against whites but the way I see it is that if there aren't any Asians dining there than it must not be good. I was correct, this place definitely loss its flavor after the remodel. The food was bland, very little selection and all the food on the menu are cater towards the white flavor palette. If you're looking for good/spicy Chinese food, avoid this place.
(1)Lisa M.
4 stars and I mean it this time... We went back for another lunch buffet. Seated in a better place, chairs are still uncomfortable, buffet line is still odd to me, service wasn't as quick as last time, but the food was better. It's not in my neighborhood, so I wouldn't go there on a regular basis, but would check it out if my dining companion really wanted to go. It's better, but I'm still struggling with how the darn buffet is RIGHT THERE when you walk in the door.
(4)Bryce B.
Food was good, I didn't choose the buffet because the line was too long. The service was good too, it was nice to have a genuinely happy server take my order and deliver. I had happy food which made the day better. I went during the height of rush hour which put a delay on things, but not bad all things considered.
(4)Eric P.
We have been going to Tea House for years. This has been an absolute GO-TO place for Sichuan food in the twin cities. I have brought native Chinese and they are so pleased to have home cooking. I cannot say enough about their track record. Food, service ... it was all AWESOME. Note, the verb is past tense. The Plymouth location closed briefly for remodeling and we went in for another excellent meal after they reopened, only EVERYthing was off. It was almost like this was the Stepford wife of the original. Things looked only slightly different because of the remodel, but many things were oddly off. The dinner service was not full or busy (they usually have almost every table on a Saturday night filled until nearly closing), yet the server, who was nice but not efficient claimed they were sooo busy. The first thing we noticed was the tea pot was different and the tea was different which seemed an odd thing to change. The food seemed sort of Stepford as well - it was not quite as good as usual; especially the egg rolls. They were not crispy and did not seem to be the same recipe nor did they seem fresh. The batter recipe for the Sweet/sour chicken was also different. I almost always experiment with new items, so it was harder to tell about my dish which was Sole with Scallions; it was good, but not deeply flavorful like the Dancing Fish or other dishes. It almost seemed like the business changed hands and the cooking staff doesn't know quite how to prepare the dishes and the front of the house is not nearly as efficient as before. I have reviewed this restaurant before and gave it 5 stars ... I would have given them 6. Times have not changed for the better. I am not sure how prepared I am to try this again, however I will be doing so with a pretty critical eye. If anyone knows the story, I would be happy to see a post here on Yelp. Based on some of the recent reviews, mine is not an uncommon experience. I just hope that the owners, new or old, read what's going on in their restaurant and fix it. In the meantime, I will be looking for a new favorite SIchuan restaurant.
(2)Chelsea M.
Today I went here for dinner and was pretty excited that they were finally open again. I loved eating at this place and gave them a very high review. I had to knock it down to two stars though based on service alone. The server we got wasn't able to communicate clearly with us at all. We asked about a specific item on the menu, pointed at the picture and asked her if this was what we were thinking it was and explained what we were hoping it was, she assured us it was, so we ordered that item. When it got to our table, we opened the lid and broke open the item up to see it was not the item we were asking about. Our server immediately got irritated and starting arguing with us and told us we got the item we pointed at and that we were basically wrong. She was visibly upset and argued with us for a couple of minutes before walking away from our table. She walked by a few more times and didn't even come to our table. My pop was clearly empty too and she didn't even stop to ask for a refill. We even had to go up and get to go containers because she wasn't coming back. When she brought the check though, she was nicey nice again. Didn't fly with me though. She received no tip from us. This is the first time ever that I haven't tipped a server. She wasn't professional at all. Not too happy with this.
(2)Winson T.
They had recently changed ownership, but trust me, the food quality are as good as before. Ordered a seafood hot pot and a hotspot fish, was as good as the previous one. Will continue to support. Highly recommended...
(5)Sneha G.
Hello folks, I live right next to the very famous Tea House and heard a great lot of things about it but to my wonder the grand reopening of Tea house was very sad. My husband and I went around 5 pm on a Saturday eve to this place. The services sucks. We had to wait for a very long time before we could place the order (which was only after i request one of the staff members to take our order). There were few staff members who were never sure about the orders and always confused and hence misplaced the orders. The food arrived very late though there was not much crowd around the time we were there. Even for the check we had to ask other staff members to send us the bill. In short ,we felt ignored and will never coming back again. The new Tea house is not worth the cost.
(2)John T.
Buffet was cold and not very tasty. Food heavily picked over. Rice and other items not full - rice for example was just crusty remnants that were congealed together.
(1)Michelle S.
Excellent service, was seated immediately and the server was at our table after only a minute. Large portions for great prices. The food was extremely authentic.
(5)Kimi R.
Not impressed with the grand reopening. Hardly noticed anything that was newer or different. Lunch buffet was same as before, the layout of the buffet is really bad. It's not in the dining room. It's in the lobby area. What did they remodel anyway? Food was covered with heavy soy sauce, and most items were too salty. New owner & management sucked, the front of the house staff members were like bunch of headless chickens running around. It's a real shame that nothing got improved even after reopening and remodeling.
(1)Shawn L.
The attitude on our server was argumentative, and despite clarifying questions meant to guide our order, we ended up with a wrong item that they would neither correct nor take off the bill, and we didn't eat the damn thing. There are things about the place that have remained about the same, but the service we received is about as friendly as Chinese communism.
(2)Carrie B.
Oh Tea House you've made me sad. A few years ago I lived across the street from this place so I ate there quite a bit. I never had bad service or bad food. My most recent visit was a disappointment. My boyfriend and I ordered our food from our waitress. It took several minutes to order. She didn't understand that we wanted to substitute fried rice for the white rice, and when she walked away we were both sure we weren't going to get what we wanted. It took 20 minutes for our cream cheese wontons, which were delicious. 10 minutes later my boyfriend's Kung pao chicken arrived with white rice. 10 minutes after that I called a waiter over to the table. He asked if there was a problem. I said that I would like my food as well. It was another 10 minutes before my triple delight came with fried rice. Now, the food was delicious. All of it. However, the service was so bad I don't think I'm going back, except to get take out. Our waitress never came back to our table. We both needed a refill on beverages, and my boyfriend never did receive his fried rice. We had to beg for take out boxes and our bill from the other waiter. Oh, did I mention that we were the only table there? My suggestion, get take out. The food is wonderful. The service is terrible.
(3)Cyrus H.
We have been eating at Tea House (Plymouth) for many years. It is the place we go most frequently, and we have introduced many many friends acquaintances and neighbors who enjoy spicy food. We've ordered just about everything on the Szechuan menu, and we've honed in on our top three favorites. House Spicy Fish is #1 and we always order that. It's plenty for two adults. But we often order the Kung Pao Chicken along with it. The fish is super tasty and loaded with hot spice and veggies in a delightful broth to serve over the rice. The Kung Pao is perfection. Garlic, peanuts and just the right amount of sweet and hot. Then our third favorite dish is Spicy Eggplant, which is so much more delicious than it sounds. Tea House is the place we would miss most if we ever left Minneapolis. Just ask our friends who recently moved to Calif.
(5)Edrin W.
I decided to try this restaurant after not eating here for a few years. I noticed a 'grand reopening' sign but decided to still try it out. I should've listened to my instincts. I ordered the sesame chicken and was not pleased at all. It tasted like ketchup and sesame seeds. Very disappointed....couldn't even finish it!
(2)Zac K.
Had a great lunch buffet. Renovated the floors, kitchen, and got new chairs. Friendly wait staff and the food was fresh. Great selection of chicken dishes, pork dishes and other standard side items like wontons and eggs rolls. Overall a great experience.
(5)