Tea Garden
Neighborhood: SOMA
515 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Rated: ♣♣♣
One of my friends started at my company 2 weeks ago and she’s taken me to more new restaurants than I’ve ever tried my whole year and a half in the FiDi. Tea Garden is a little tapioca shop that also serves lunch and snacks. I went twice last week and ended up getting the same thing both times.
The scene:
The restaurant is super small with a seating capacity of about 5. They’ve got a long list of tapioca drink flavors ranging from the usual milk tea all the way to potato.
The food:
Taiwanese rice roll – Both times I came here, I got the spicy rice roll which is made up of rice, a chinese doughnut, dry shredded pork and spicy pickled vegetables. It’s really bad for you, but it’s so addicting! One is all you need and it only comes out to about $2 each. I’m used to eating the sweet version of the rice roll, so this savory version was completely new to me. My only complaint is the soggy doughnut. It makes me question how long it’s been sitting in the window.
Milk tea – Their milk tea is a little too sweet for me, but I love how it’s super strong. One sip and you know it will get you through a long day at work.
If you want to sit and enjoy your lunch, walk up the stairs to the left of the restaurant. They’ve got rooftop seating for the office building.
