Friday Night in the International District

It’s Kung Fu tea,” said the proprietress, pouring the second round of hot water over the leaves. “It’s a lot of work.”

We were sitting in the Tea House on Maynard in the International District. When the owner spotted me wandering past twice, camera over my shoulder, she came out and gave me a clear order. “You come in and take pictures,” she ordered, not unkindly. After the usual niceties for tourists – “We live here, but I always carry a camera” – we sat down to learn how to make Oolong the right way.

“I thought you said you knew how to make tea!” said our teacher, teasing Victor. Here’s how it’s done: First, you pour boiling water over the leaves. Then, you pour that water in to the tiny tea cups, rinsing and warming them. You pour that out in to the tea tray. Again, you pour water on the leaves. You wait, not long, just half a minute, and then you pour the tea. This time you drink it. You can do this up to eight times.

Until the recent remodel, Tea House was a furniture store under the same hands. They’re still selling the furniture but now you can sit and have tea and talk with the charming owners. The shop is full of beautiful things – from tiny teapots that are smaller than the palm of your hand to red lacquered screens depicting auspicious scenes. And tea, of course. You can get some nice Oolong for 35 dollars a pound or something called Monkey Pick for 144 dollars a pound. The Tea House is at 416 Maynard.

After tea, we went around the corner to the newly opened Vegetarian Bistro. There can only be one reason this place is a little slow on a Friday night – no one knows about it yet. Because we were a table of nine, we were able to order and sample a great variety of dishes. The food poured out of the kitchen on large plates and eventually we had to step in and cancel anything that wasn’t yet prepared. We had ordered too much food.

The Szechuan Spice Eggplant was a little bit like tempura, but with a spicy kick. The Salt and Pepper Tofu was perfectly crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. The Taro Fish – not fish, but taro in a fish shaped mold with green peas for eyes – came with sweet and sour sauce and was served on a bed of crispy seaweed.

Everything was delicious. We had three appetizers and eight main dishes and though we actually ate it all, we probably would have been just as satisfied with one or two fewer main dishes. The service was excellent – the waitress helped us thought he ordering and did not steer us wrong – and the tab came out at 18 dollars a head. Vegetarian Bistro is first rate, and a great place for you to take your strict vegetarian friends as there are absolutely no meat products on the menu. From the menu:

All meat and seafood menu items are made from vegetable protein product and vegetable oil. All menu items no eggs or milk product except the dim sum menu – Steamed Cream Buns and Egg Custard.

Vegetarian Bistro is at 688 King St. Walk, if you can, parking in the International District can be tricky and hey, you’ll need a little stroll after dinner. Just because it’s veggie food doesn’t mean you won’t go home absolutely stuffed.