SMFC Washington D.C. Trip Part 1: Teaism

Last weekend I took a trip to my hometown in Northern VA, about 30 miles outside of Washington DC. One of my favorite things about going home is eating some good food! While I don't think that DC is known much for its culinary offerings, I find the city has a great variety of interesting and unique restaurants and cafes. One of my favorite little places that I visit every trip home is Teaism. This cute little tea shop offers a variety of teas and Japanese inspired meals and goodies in a chill and relaxing atmosphere. They have 3 locations around the city. Their homemade chai tea is to die for and it was also the first place on the east coast I ever saw Boba tea (although they call it zhenzhou pearls…which I think sounds yummier).

After checking out a great Hokusai exhibit at the Sackler, my boyfriend and I wandered over to the location in Penn Quater. This location offers a full menu with many meal options. My boyfriend had the tempeh curry and I ordered the tuna bento and a ginger margarita. While the tempeh curry was good, it was really more like a slightly spicy stir fry than a curry. My tuna bento consisted of sushi quality seared tuna (very tasty) with a little wasabi dipping sauce, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and rice with yummy seasoning on top. Both meals were decent, although nothing super amazing. My favorite part of the meal was the ginger margarita. The flavor reminded me of slightly lemony ginger ale with just a little kick from the tequila. The downstairs seating area has a little coy pond and is very calm and relaxing. I think I go more for the ambience than actual food!

(this is a picture of the salmon bento from a previous visit...yum!)

The next day while sightseeing with my dad we stopped by the Teaism in Dupont Circle. This location has a slightly smaller menu. We ordered the salty oat cookie and the shortbread cookie trio, which consists of regular, green tea, and cocoa flavored shortbread. All the cookies were very yummy and really hit the spot. The green tea shortbread cookie had a delicate and subtle earthy flavor and the cocoa cookie tasted just like a sip of hot cocoa. Since I love salty sweet things, I really enjoyed the salty oat cookie. It was a perfect balance of the two flavors and had a delicious chewy texture.

The Good: ambiance, great selection of tea, interesting food selection

The Bad: a little expensive (for what it is), food can be hit or miss

The Yummy: mochi, salty oat cookie, ginger margarita

Teaism in Dupont Circle - How cute!