LEO/LHB: Peace and good eats at Zen Tea House

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes.com

If you're accustomed to grabbing a cup of coffee and knocking it back without much serious thought, you might find an occasional switch to tea a transformative experience.

Particularly if you choose to savor said cup in the contemplative environment of Zen Tea House in Clifton. Owned by longtime local restaurateur Huong "CoCo" Tran, Zen Tea House completes a neat trio of unusual Asian eateries on Frankfort Avenue, two doors down from her Zen Garden vegetarian restaurant and next door to her nephews' Basa Modern Vietnamese.

From a rock garden in the small front yard of this Clifton bungalow to the curved, black tea bar that sweeps through the front room, Zen Tea House breathes a quiet, relaxing Asian style. The space is calming and, yes, Zen-like. Small fire grates flicker warmly to remove the chill of winter days. Some "green" features remind that the environment has been paid mind. The front room has several small groupings of upholstered seats. A back room's low tables have large pillows for reclining.

Dozens of loose teas are available, with a tea menu (and experts on hand) to describe them. A basket contains tiny sample cans so you can view, open, smell - and have any tea brewed on the spot.

The food is all vegetarian and mostly vegan, as at Zen Garden. A "light fare" menu includes soups, salads, paninis, crisp Vietnamese spring rolls, vegetarian sushi rolls and more.

Read the complete report in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.com.

Zen Tea House
2246 Frankfort Ave.
618-0878
Robin Garr's rating: 90 points

I had the opportunity to try out the Zen Tea House for lunch this past weekend, and it was great! We all pretty much shared a variety of dishes, which included the sticky rice rolls, crispy avocado and tomato rolls, glass noodle salad, and the special of the day which was a veggie rice with lotus seeds cooked inside of a banana leaf. I totally meant to try the mushroom pate after it was so highly reviewed on Consuming Louisville, but it slipped my mind so I'll just have to go back for that. We drank the jasmine green tea with our meal, which was also great. I think my favorite was the sticky rice roll, but it was also pretty interesting tasting the lotus seeds. Strangely enough, they kind of reminded me of the boiled peanuts like you get in Gatlinburg. Everything is presented so beautifully, and I love how they use metal chopsticks instead of disposable ones. Oh, and the bathroom there is amazing!