Double Dogs Tea Room

Of course I would find my way to a Chinese tea house in Bangkok. But when I first learnt of the name as Double Dogs Tea Room, I thought they might serve beer too. Heh. Not too difficult to find as they're located on the main stretch of Yaowarat Road (the main road of Chinatown, and for now, it's after Scala Restaurant on your right, and up from UOB Bank on your left), on the left straight up after the junction of Yaowa Phanit Road, which is a small lane off the main road.

Before hunting down Double Dogs Tea Room, I went around to Yaowarat Soi 6 (off Charoen Krung Road) where there's a market that holds a number of shops selling loose leaf teas and offer variety to the customers. After wandering around the lanes, it was time to look for air-conditioning in the brutal 35°C heat and humidity compounded by concrete buildings.

Double Dogs Tea Room, as what many articles have described, is indeed an oasis of calm amidst the bustle and crowds in Chinatown. Simple, traditional and very typical of a teahouse in Taipei, they speak English fine, but are happy to recommend you a number of items to either eat or drink. It's kind of a cafe, so iced teas aplenty. Oh, their lemon tart was excellent. The base wasn't so hard till the fork couldn't press through without a thud, and the curd was beautifully...tart. Not exactly sweet. Refreshing.

Tried a range of their teas, and decided that their lighter oolongs were much better. Pretty decent. The Taiwanese Jin Xuan (金萱) was good. The rock oolongs (岩茶) offered on the menu were simply not up to the grades I prefer. My biggest gripe- boiling water. They used boiling water on the tea leaves, in the typical Taiwanese brewing style. ARRRRGGGGH. I hate that taste of scalded tea leaves in the first sip. Tough to salvage even in the second steep. The amount of tea leaves in the tiny pots was sufficient for three steeps.