Forever and ever I meant to go to Teaism, I mean, RACHAEL RAY went there on $40/day, it’s always suggested on The Chat, and it kept slipping through the cracks. [For what it's worth, the fellas I dined with seemed very excited about the fact that Ms. Ray recommended Teaism. Interesting sidenote.]
Recently I finally went to the Penn Quarter Teaism for lunch and was overall pleased and am looking forward to returning there—although maybe a little earlier, next time!
The PQ location was very crowded during the normal lunch time. Despite a sign politely asking people to not “save seats,” seats were being saved—we could see people sitting alone at empty tables with no food, waiting for the person in line. What is the problem with this, you might ask? Someone else may very well eat and finish by the time you get through the line! Seriously! The three of us had to sit outside in order to sit together, which wasn’t the most pleasant option on a typical steamy day.
The fried chicken bento box was our meal of choice. Small pieces of fried chicken (light, not greasy at all), cucumber ginger salad (reminded me of the cucumber dipping sauce at Thai restaurants, but with whole slices of cucumber), and sweet potato pieces. I noticed while online that as your food makes it down the Teaism assembly line, some unmarked squeezy bottles are picked up and the food is drizzled in—um—something. I’m not sure what was on top of my sweet potatos, but I’d rather there wasn’t so much of it.
To drink, the Mint Morrocan Green Tea was not nearly as flavorful as it should have been. When mint is the first word, it should taste MINTY! It did not. Another tea, the “special,” that I can’t remember the name of, had lots of tamarind in it (listed as the main ingredient), and was apparently delicious. The ginger limeade, according to a colleague, was too sweet—the first few sips were good, and after that it was a little too much to handle.
Overall, Teaism is a unique place to go for lunch when you are sick of the typical Cosi/Potbelly scene.
Soon I’ll be posting an It’s Just Lunch—or is it? segment with all my favorite area lunch choices to help you the next time 12 rolls around and you have no clue what you want. Or your picky coworkers want suggestions.
(Friends, if you don’t start commenting I will disown you all.)
Teaism
www.teaism.com
Lafayette/Penn Quarter/Dupont
My only issue with Teaism - and it was a only a small one because I actually did enjoy the ginger limeade - was that they don't have diet coke. Otherwise delicious!
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