Jade Leaves Tea House

Came here for lunch on my last day in Austin. My vegan friend wanted to check it out so I was a little hesitant at first. I’m an avid meat lover so it’s always tough finding a good place for both of us to eat.
However, immediately upon walking in I fell in love with the ambience. So peaceful.
The restaurant is separated into smaller areas by decorative wooden walls which gives the place a very intimate feeling. It’s a great place to have a private conversation and catch up with a good friend.
They have an extensive tea menu (always good for a tea house to have) which comes with a description of each tea. Very awesome for people who love tea but don’t know anything about them (i.e. me). I decided on a lychee black tea because i love lychee and it was seriously good stuff.
Their food menu is also delicious sounding! I had the toughest time deciding what I wanted to eat and went back and forth for a good 10 minutes but finally settled on their sweet and spicy noodle dish, which was actually a vegan dish! Crazy… if I could eat like this everyday, I could definitely be a vegan for like a good week or so. My dish was awesome! I loved it.
My friend ordered a fried rice and we also got a samosa that came with a yummy mango salsa. The samosa was a bit spicy so it was great with the sweet salsa. My friend’s dish was great; it had a very unique flavor.
The only downside is that, for so many of their simple dishes — like fried rice– I thought it was a bit expensive. Other than that, I am a fan. I hate that I found so many amazing places in Austin right before I left but I guess I will just have a huge list of places to hit up when I return to visit!

I’m sorry. I really am.
BUT THIS PLACE OFFICIALLY PISSES ME OFF.
What the hell?
How the hell are you going to only be open from 10 – 5 Monday through Friday?
Who in the hell can go here during that time except Santa Claus?
I am not Santa Claus and I work bankers hours so no bitch tea for me.
Fuck.

First of all, I really like their décor, the ancient Chinese style with furniture with very nice wood smell made me relax very much. However, the food is really only ok, the menu is generally Asian but not specific to anything at all. It gives you a thai-​chinese-​budha-​japanese-​whatever asian-it’s healthy anyway feeling.
Don’t get me wrong, the food is decent. But as a foodie I would not go there for the food, maybe just go there to have some tea and hang out there. They have a giant tea selection.

Given my mediocre rating I will say upfront that I got my food ‘To-​Go’. That said, I’m not sure that will explain away everything.
I was so optimistic about a place with so many vegetarian/​vegan options that were super healthy and simple. I wasn’t feeling great this particular day [a couple of months ago] and I was craving soup. Wonton soup! Perfect! I ordered that along with their veggie sushi and their kale salad. When I went to pick everything up [service was fine] I almost fell over at the cost when I saw the serving sizes/​portions. Over $ 20 for a cup of soup, 5 pieces of veggie sushi, and a small container of kale salad. I will allow that the serving sizes might be larger if you dine in. That said, the take-​out price should reflect that.
Now, the food. The wonton soup had a really great smoky flavor. However, it was so unbelievably salty that those were the only 2 tastes I got. Salty smoke. And there was only one single, sad wonton floating in there. Boo.
The kale salad was… ok? I guess I expected the dressing to sort of «cook» the kale a bit, but as it was it was raw [fine] but the pieces of purple onion were cut so thickly that it really was just about inedible. Again, boo.
And lastly, the sushi. I cannot dis the sushi because it may be that it was fine, but the lid for the soy sauce was not firmly attached so by the time I got to it, I had soy sauce soaked soggy falling apart sushi. Boo for the last time!
And so as not to seem like a total hater… I will say that these other reviews make me think that perhaps a do-​over is in order, IN the restaurant. Because I really do love that there are restaurants in town that care about serving good quality, creative vegetarian/​vegan dishes.

In summary: great food, super vegan friendly, some awkward kinks to work out, I believe in Jade Leaves.
I’d been doing yoga next door to Jade Leaves for a while before realizing it was a restaurant, not an herb shop. I planned to try it for dinner, but it’s only open 10 – 5. Then I planned to go after Saturday yoga, but they only serve «tea and tapas» on Saturday. Then I actually went in anyway one Saturday for tapas and stood in the empty (lovely) restaurant for several minutes, clearing my throat but not seeing a soul. Finally I went for a weekday lunch with a friend — we both loved what we ordered, but subsequently realized each of our menus was missing a page (preventing us from ordering dishes that sounded great), and service was slow (but friendly) and a little frazzled.
Despite Jade Leaves’ apparent reluctance to let us spend money with them, the food was delicious. Pot of twig tea for $ 3 was soothing and lasted the whole meal. Asian tapas platter did not fill me up for $ 12 as the server assured me it would, but vegan sushi YUM and mango-​cilantro dipping sauce for tempura veggies YUM, and my friend couldn’t eat all her Indonesian peanut noodles YUM so I finished them. For the quality of food and beauty of the setting, the prices don’t really seem too high to me… and it really is a vegan paradise. I just have to start planning now to find a weekday lunchtime when I can go back.
Also, if you are the type to drink between 10 and 5, they have Ace Pear Cider! And some great-​sounding $ 6 smoothies.

As a Chinese people, I can tell you that the decoration there is really ancient Chinese style which I like so much.
We ordered rice and wonton soup with two cups of tea. Food is kind of American-​Chinese, but still good. I like the tea, but poor Krista forgot hers on the table. That’s because we want to get back to office as soon as possible, but the service there is a-​million-​year slow… Two people were serving two tables, and they called it busy…
If you wanna go there, make sure you have enough time-​at least two hours– to be there. Don’t be as hurry as we are! And they don’t serve dinner any longer. So we may go again one Saturday afternoon.

Tofu Lettuce Wraps — GOOD, lots of flavor. The little lettuce leaves it came with could have been bigger for «wrap» handling
Tofu Green Tea Scrambler with Ginger Soy — DELICIOUS. No it’s not like scrambled eggs. It had lots of yummy flavor to it. Normally tofu can be bland, but this stuff packed a nice flavorful punch. Bits of Kale in there, a nice variation to spinach or cabbage.
Chicken Green Curry — HOT. The waitress warned us it would be spicy. We were OK with that. It was hot indeed. I like the interesting additions to the curry. Chickpeas, sweet potatoes, asparagus. The chicken had a nice chargrilled flavor to it.
Ambience: Nice, quiet, serene. Décor was a plus.
Service: Waitress was nice, let us take our time, but was prompt to get our check. Food didn’t take long at all (was a bit worried considering other reviews). Maybe best for dinnertime, instead of lunch?
Food: Made me Happy. Not bland. Not greasy. It was quite delicious as a matter of fact. I think a lot of the food is infused or flavored with green tea. It made for a refreshing and interesting twist on flavors.
Definitely a keeper and I plan to go back!

Short and sweet: this place was fantastic, a really sexy date place (even though I just went with a friend *sigh*)…the first thing you notice is the level of detail put into the design of the place, intricate carvings adorn the walls and the atmosphere is definitely unique. Of course, being a tea house it has a huge list that made our brains hurt, we asked the waitress to surprise us and boy did she! My dining companion and I forgot the name but it was ‘blue’-something.
Then comes the food — excellent presentation, 5 stars alone for presentation! And it was absolutely delicious, we split a green curry (they call it spicy but I’d say its flavorful!) and a kale salad — enough for her, but I left a little hungry still. The portions are ‘just right’though, adding an additional entrée would work for a hungrier night — you won’t leave with a food coma and you’ll definitely be glad you ate such a nutritious and tasty meal.
Most tables are laid out for couples or groups of 4, there is only one long table for a larger group. But there wasn’t much of a crowd, which made us sad because this place should definitely be getting more business.
All in all a perfect night in my book (except for the fact that it wasn’t a ‘date’!)

I love this restaurant. It’s atmosphere is peaceful and inspiring and their food seems to match. I can’t stop ordering the curry. It is just so damn good. Their tea selection is awesome. So many vegan options!!! The tofu lettuce wraps are a perfect appetizer. Go for dinner or else you’ll be paying $ 60 for a lunch that will make you hungry 3 hours later.

I have had lunch there twice. Very fresh, high quality, tasty food. Seems to be prepared with care. Good place for a quiet meal, the tables are close together and it’s easy to eavesdrop or be eavesdropped upon. The Tea Expert is very serious about tea and helping find the right one for you.

My neighbor and I decided to treat ourselves to dinner out, and she suggested Jade Leaves Tea House, on the Drag. Housed in the building in which I used to spend hours browsing dusty shelves crammed with books as an undergraduate, and which used to have a large snake mural that another friend and I used to have an ongoing joke about, and because it’s just another little chipping away at both Weird Austin and my youth, I hadn’t ever visited the restaurant that now dares to intrude on the space that once was Half Price Books (it shares the building with Boomerang’s Aussie pie shop and a hair removal business).
I was shocked upon entering; the place is transformed, and achieves both a pan-​Asian exotic feel and a certain coziness, owing to its small size. Tables are set in little wooden pagodas with intricately carved walls (my friend deemed them «too romantic» for me!), the women’s bathroom has amazing, textured, semi-​metallic, retro-​Oriental wallpaper, and there is even a little shop in the back. They also sell teas and other products through their online store.
The even more shocking part was opening the menu. Seventeen of the items are vegan — more than ¾ of the menu! They’re handily marked with two little stars. It took me a good ten minutes to decide what to order. After sharing some so-​so spring rolls (but who can resist peanut sauce?!), my friend ordered the Coconut Galanga Soup, and I opted for the House Stir Fry (served with artistically presented yin-​yang rice). There’s a lot of organic, seasonal bragging in the menu, and rightfully so. Both our dinners were very good, and we emptied our respective bowl and plate. I couldn’t resist ordering a cup of tea to finish up, choosing the delightful White Monkey Down, a Chinese green tea. My friend had tried the dessert teas on a previous visit and speaks highly of them, as well.
Reasonably priced and with an intimate atmosphere and a varied menu (including such dishes as the tempting Green Tea Vegan Scramble, Indonesian Stir Fried Peanut Noodles, Veggie Dumplings, Miso Soup, Ph, and Kale Hijiki Salad — among other things), Jade Leaves is now going to be on my regular rotation.

Go for the tea, but please stay away from the bland tasting, over priced and small portions of food. Also, make sure you have some time on your hands, because you will definitely be waiting and waiting for your dinner to arrive. This is not usually a problem, but my group of friends last night was in a fairly rambunctious mood and the server wasn’t really appreciating our lively conversation while we occupied one of the nooks in the place.
I could imagine myself returning with a friend for tea. The interior is very lovely and relaxing. According to the website, they «feature high grade organic handcrafted Green Teas, White Teas, Black Teas, Yellow Teas, Oolong Teas, Flower Teas, Ayurvedic Teas, Chai, Mate, and Herbal Infusia.» I chose a green tea called Spring Thunder Buds and sampled some of my friend’s chai tea. They were both wonderful.
So to sum it all up, enjoy the ambience of this nicely decorated tea room and choose a nifty pot of tea from the tea menu, but if you insist on ordering dinner then arrive with a full wallet, a small appetite and some time to kill.

My friend and I went here on a Tuesday evening. The staff was super helpful and very enthusiastic about our tea related questions. We ordered the chicken wrap things and a pot of pitta tea.
The tea was superb and the presentation was one of the best I have ever seen. They gave us really lovely little stone mugs and gingerbread cookies shaped like leaves. Our wraps were very tasty. They came with peanut sauce and butter lettuce leaves, but the portions could have been bigger since we split the order, but for a single person the amount of food would be just fine. The pot of tea, which they happily re-​brewed for us, was about 4 dollars. the food was a bit pricey-​about $ 8.
I love that the menu comes with a description of all of the teas they serve, plus a whole section on the history, chemistry, and health aspects of tea.
The atmosphere here is really nice; cozy, but not junky. It’s modern without being sterile. the bathroom in this place is so clean and absolutely beautiful. really.
I plan on taking my grandmother here when she comes to visit, but would recommend it for a business meeting or a date as well. This place is conducive to good conversation and not very crowded at all.

Just went for dinner with a friend. I got the peanut noodles and daily iced tea and she got the udon soup and a hot green tea. All of my meal was excellent. My friend didn’t love hers, but definitely wants to go back. The ambiance was great, the dishes were beautiful and the menu was super vegan friendly. It seems like a fabulous place to go for dessert and I’m really looking forward to going back when it’s a little cooler out and enjoying more of the hot teas. They also have some beautiful tea cups with infusers for sale for a steal.

I dig Jade Leaves. The space is very serene and the food is tasty (and, presumably, very healthy).
Their tea menu is outstanding. They have several selections of tea covering the gamut (from white to black, including some lesser known varieties like Pu-​erh). The menu is lengthy; explaining the differences between offerings as well as several pages about tea in general.
Tea is served on a beautiful tray with chai cookies, and for teas that allow for multiple extractions more water will be provided.
They haven’t been very busy whenever I’ve gone, which contributes to the serenity, but I’d much rather know that they’re going to stick around. Go there and get yourself some tea!

Just went here on a friend’s recommendation. I’m pretty impressed. The selection of tea is huge and fancy (100+) This isn’t your grandma’s earl grey tea… this is authentic Asian tea without the sweet n’ low :) There were also several teas on the menu that I had never tried before… have you ever had African tea or South American mate?
3 bucks for a whole pot of tea — more than enough to share for two. The tea sets were really nice too…
I agree with everyone that the decorations are awesome. I felt like I was back in China the place is so jammed packed with authentic pieces… there’s even a back room that’s pretty much a museum of really cool and unique Chinese artifacts…
The food was really fresh — very organic and my Indonesian noodle stir fry had all sorts of surprises in it like dried tofu, woodear, and some interesting sprouts and greens… it was really nice and flavorful from spices without being greasy or heavy. I didn’t get a huge amount of food (I eat alot)… I guess this is all subjective though… my friend couldn’t finish hers. On the plus side, I definitely did not feel hungry a few hours later like I do after eating at other Asian places.
Did I mention that this place is organic? A lot dessert items they had were gluten free and/​or vegan. Also, they busted out the Agave sweetener instead of sugar.
Yes the price for all this organic goodness isn’t cheap — my noodle dish was 10.95, but for all of the fresh food items I got in it, I thought it was worth it. My friend got organic bison in her Pad Thai dish and it was was pretty good as well… not the ketchup-​y Pad Thai that other places serve (as noted in another review).
If you are looking for a quiet place to have a quality dinner made from fresh ingredients, go here. If you are looking for a cheap, familiar experience you might want to go to Madam Mam’s.

Jade Leaves is simply beautiful inside. The front «gate» inside the shop, the wood carved panels — it’s all really unique and lovely. I went with my spouse last week for lunch and we got samosas, the bison Thai salad, and the green curry. The samosas weren’t great — small, greasy, and rather tough. The bison salad was wonderful — a big plate of fresh greens with a great tangy dressing and grilled bison chunks. The green curry was tasty too, although it was kind of watery — lots of gravy but little in the way of actual chunks of food in it. We really enjoyed the meal, but I have to second what some others have said — the prices are quite high for what you get. Our meal plus two chais (tiny cups and no refills) and tip was about $ 42. That is more than I am willing to pay for lunch on a regular basis. I think I’ll be back someday when I want to hang out in the wonderful ambience and just have a pot of tea (they have a huge selection) but I doubt I will go back for lunch — it’s just too pricey for me. The owner (I think it was) came out to talk with us during lunch and mentioned that he was going to go into dim sum soon — all handmade fresh on site — and to check their website for updates. That sounds promising, although I hope the pricing is reasonable. All in all, a lovely, lovely place, but expensive.

Ordered: Longevity Soup, Green tea crêpe and oolong tea.
The place has an AWESOME VISUAL atmosphere and wonderful décor. My hats go off to the owner and the extensive design of the restaurant. The tea list is extensive and exotic but the food menu is VERY limited. It smells like the chinese medicine drug store next door and the cost of the food is a bit expensive for how much you get. The longevity soup is ridiculously spicy in the sense that it’s basically 80% ginger juice, 15% herbs and 5%water. The green tea crêpe is o. k but i didnt reallly taste the green tea. The oolong tea is good but for $ 4.50 for 8oz cup of tea is a bit much. I spent almost $ 21 for the 3 items i bought.
This place is great to chill and have tea with friends but that’s about it.

I second Michelle’s review but I’m giving the place 5 stars. I’m willing to pay a premium for organic food that is prepared with love and care. Cheap food is often cheap because the land on which it’s being grown is being abused and the animals treated inhumanely. Also, the prices don’t seem that bad to me, since I live in Washington, DC, where lunch prices are usually in that range anyway!

This wonderful little tea house that recently opened on Guadalupe is an amazing hidden gem. It is a little haven of peacefulness that just wraps you in calm the second you step in the door. The gentle scent of tea brewing, the gorgeous carved wood Asian décor and the very quiet atmosphere (this is a cellphone-​free restaurant!) all work together to parlay a very convincing feeling that you’re in a quiet teahouse tucked away in a serene part of Asia rather than six feet from Guadalupe.
Jade Leaves serves a giant variety of teas and also offers a small but high quality menu of healthy Asian food. I had the stir-​fried rice, which came served in this gorgeous ceramic crock that I can’t quite describe (but I took a photo, which I posted above). My friend had a yellow curry with coconut milk. Both were delicious; the rice reminded me so much of something I might have made at home (which isn’t always a good thing when it comes to my cooking — but in this case, it was). All dishes come with your choice of organic, locally-​raised meat (bison, turkey or shrimp) or tofu.
Service was efficient and carried out by a server who exuded the same kind of calm that the décor did. The chef/​part-​owner also introduced himself to us, and he seemed very cool.
I gave them four stars because the prices seemed a touch high for what you got (my rice dish was $ 9; my friend’s curry was $ 12 — and this was at lunch time) — but I didn’t mind paying a slight premium for the opportunity to soak in this wonderfully tranquil environment and to support this great new local business. Very nice.