Taipei is one of the best places in the world for tea. It has some of the best oolong tea varieties which have awarded Taiwan an international reputation.
After living in Taipei for over six years, we’ve inevitably developed an appreciation for Taiwanese tea. We don’t mean pearl milk tea or those sweet iced tea concoctions sold pretty much everywhere, we mean real Taiwanese tea.
One unique difference of Taiwanese tea is it has various levels of fragrant, complex, and flavorful qualities that depend on many factors like where and how it was grown.
After a bit of a search to find a place where we can enjoy authentic Taiwanese loose leaf tea, we came across a tea shop called Three Leafs.
They are an independent tea shop that sells Taiwanese tea across the world to promote Taiwan and its oolong tea craftsmanship.
What appeals to us about Three Leafs is that they’re a social enterprise to solve the social problem of underpaid local tea growers in Taiwan.
That’s why this tea shop sources directly from local tea farmers. This not only helps improve the lives of the local tea farming communities, but it also allows customers to enjoy better tea for less.
They are located in Da’an, which is just a 3-minute walk from Da’an MRT station, exit 6 – making it a convenient go-to place for those who like to frequent tea places to relax.
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1. The Tea Shop |
Three Leafs is a spacious tea shop with many tables and seating areas – there’s also an outside decking area.
The place offers a tea room atmosphere for you to relax and enjoy tea undisturbed with others, or by yourself – if you wish to study or work in an ambiently quiet environment.
On the left side (as you enter) is where they sell a wide variety of their brand of oolong teas ranging from loose leaf teas, pyramid tea bags, cold brew teas (in the refrigerator), and gift sets.
They also sell high-quality teaware from loveramic, an internationally recognized ceramics brand.
Each of their teas in the store had little aroma pots beside them to give you an idea of the flavors.
Since we’re not that knowledgeable about Taiwanese tea, the staff were happy to help us out and introduce each tea and flavor so we could find the one we liked.
They even provided us with this super informative leaflet about all their teas:
The Restaurant
After scanning their menu, we discovered that Three Leafs restaurant aims to promote locally produced ingredients, as well as the local farmers that grew them, through their creative dishes.
We also found that the tea shop uses Taiwanese tea to compliment the flavors of their dishes.
Shiso Poisson en Papillote with Sun Moon Lake Tea ($340)
We weren’t too sure what to expect from the picture on the menu for this popular dish. All we had to go on is the name which is a fancy French way of saying fish cooked in parchment paper.
When this tray came to our table, we were pleasantly surprised to find a perfectly cooked fish wrapped in paper.
The fish was soft and tender and tasted a lot like cod. The Sun Moon Lake tea was sprinkled on top which complimented the flavors of the fish and juices.
Special Aburi Wagyu Patty ($450)
This tray comes with a special kind of beef that caught our eye as it relates to the famous and high-quality Japanese beef.
The beef tasted very similar to juicy beef burger meat without it being too salty. It goes well with the chili sauce and rice when eaten together.
The Miso soup had a deep and fresh seaweed taste to it which we enjoyed – however, it was the soup of the day, (so the soup changes daily). As for the vegetables, they were very fresh and not oily at all as they were lightly grilled.
Spaghetti with Truffle, Mushrooms & Egg ($280)
This was certainly our favorite choice from the menu. The cheese and egg made an amazing combination which made the spaghetti creamy and delicious.
The flavors blended well when mixing in the egg yolk with the truffle and mushroom which gave this dish a deeper and creamier taste – we strongly recommend this dish.
Quesadilla with Kimchi Chicken & Cheese ($180)
The last dish to arrive was this Mexican cuisine snack. It came as four pieces of crispy tortilla portions with cheese grated on top.
We were getting quite full at this point, luckily the quesadilla makes ideal sharing food.
The filling was a delicious mix of chicken and a rich kimchi sauce that gave it the spiciness that quesadilla is known for.
The Menu
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- Note that there is a 10% service charge on all dishes.
Tea Tasting Activities
On our visit, we learned that they offer tea tasting activities to showcase the tea at different temperatures and brewing strengths. Their workshops aim to help people get the best taste out of tea.
We were pretty interested, so we joined one of their tasting events.
The tasting activity is a two-hour course that covers quite a lot of ground. This includes learning about the different types of tea around the world, an in-depth understanding of oolong tea, and cupping techniques.
The price of the activity is $850 and is held on Sundays – mornings from 10am – 12pm, and afternoons from 2pm-4pm).
If you’re interested in joining a tea tasting activity or want to know more, you can call them to arrange an appointment.
Alternatively, you find all the information on their Tea Workshops webpage.
Worth visiting?
Absolutely, and you don’t have to be a tea lover to have a wonderful time here. It’s super easy to get to as it’s conveniently close to the MRT station.
The place has a relaxing atmosphere where you can be undisturbed with your tea, food, and friends. We felt the staff were incredibly friendly and caring which made us very feel comfortable.
The food was very delicious which we felt was worth the price for what you get. If you’re looking for something inexpensive to eat, then it’s worth checking out the snacks and desserts.
Will we go back?
We’ll go back for sure to try more of their cold brew teas since we enjoyed its distinctive taste – so we’re keen to try the others.
Three Leafs 三葉茶食Hours: Only the tea shop and tea tasting events are open on Sundays. Telephone: 02 2703 5851 Reach them on Social Media: Facebook: Three Leafs 三葉茶食 Instagram: threeleafsspace English address: No. 15, Lane 295, Section 1, Fuxing South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City Chinese address: 1樓, No. 15號復興南路一段295巷大安區台北市106 Closest MRT: Da’an Station, exit 6 (3-minute walk) |
🗓️ Updated: April 2021 – Taipei.Expats
