Imperial Tea Court At the Ferry Bldg

The tea and the food are good but overpriced. Beware of hidden charges for "imperial tea" and know that the prices are for a cup of tea and not for a pot. The service is also exceptionally slow. Make sure you don't have a ferry to catch. more

First of all, I've only bought tea here. I've never actually bellied up for one of the tea services or tea classes, though I really want to, especially since I found out that the guy who runs it, Mr. Fong, is an ordained Daoist priest, which sounds like just about the coolest thing ever, even if I'm not exactly sure what that means. But even if you're not going to sit down and do up the full experience, they offer what are considered some of the finest teas in the world for sale to brew at home, and also, the finest tea pots to brew it in. Everything I've ever tried here (the cheaper ones, of course) have been exceptional. more

The Imperial Tea Court is a tea shop/tea cafe in the Ferry Building with dozens of high quality loose leaf teas to choose from. You can buy them in bulk or sit down at the cafe and have a drink. With the latter you can choose from a cup of tea with a pot of hot water for refills, or have the more elaborate traditional tea service. Try the Dragon Well, any of their white teas, and their ginger infused ginseng tea. At lunch there is a list of dim sum specialties along with other items such as beef noodles and other dishes. I highly recommend the noodle dish, as well as the dumplings cooked in tea. The shop has a huge variety of pots, cups, and tea sets on display and for sale and the staff is hugely knowledgeable on the teas as well. more