Apsara | Tea House Review

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This Apsara Tea House is one of few located in Riga. Each of them is very different, but they all carry a similar theme with oriental inspiration. It is located in a park by Elizabetes Street. The park itself does not have a great reputation, but it can be enjoyable during daytime. Right next to the tea house there is a concert stage, where they have performances during the summer and you can actually see this stage from one of the windows on the upper level. The tea house itself looks pretty much like a mountain cottage from the outside with a big patio and outdoor seating. With this looks it stads out very much from its surrounding – it is quite an unusual view.

On the inside there are two levels. The ground level holds the counter and tea display as well as products available for purchase – loose leaf teas from the Apsara brand, various cups and accessories, infusers. I was even able to find a matcha whisk here. There are also very few seating places. You can take the cute, narrow stairs to the upper level, where there is plenty of space – on the floor. Yes, here you can only sit on mats and cushions placed along the walls of the hut . The atmosphere here can be described as cosy in certain ways, but not very cosy in others. Generally the upper level is quite dark and the daylight that makes its way into the hut is intimidating. On the other hand there is something nice about the calm and quite aura there and the non-formal way of spending time. You can also see the whole downstairs from there, which is pretty fun. The lower level is much more friendly and welcoming in terms of like and ambience, but the seating there make it less chilled out.

The interior can be puzzling. I would say some of the inspiration is from a mountain cottage, along with more oriental elements, such as the cushions and lanterns. Overall the place doesn’t have a consistent style and different elements are not integrated to form one specific mood. I find this to be a big minus here. The mats and cushions are not in such a great shape either.

As all Apsara houses, this one also has a wide range of teas to offer – anything from Chinese and Japanese greens, pu-erhs, blacks, whites to a variety of herbal teas and mate. They have a very good mate called Cuba Libre, which I can warmly recommend. With your mate you get a whole thermos of water, so you can refill your cup until you burst. You get all the tea tools you need to prepare your tea the traditional way, however just like with the interior decor, the tea ware styles and sets are also inconsistent. I like when everything fits together, but other might think it’s more charming this way. Except for tea, you can also buy various cakes, pastries and ice cream.

I was indifferent to the service at Apsara – it wasn’t either super great or really bad. They were nice, so my opinion remains neutral. In many ways the Apsara tea house is a place where you can take refuge from the city. On a sunday there were very few people and lots of space, a very peaceful atmosphere. My experience here is more on the positive side and I would lie to come back here from time to time. If you like more posh, stylish and modern interiors with a ‘cool’ vibe however, this is not a place for you.

Address – Elizabetes iela 75, Riga

Zen | Tea House Review

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Zen is located a little bit outside the center of Riga, in a more dodgy, suburban area. This part of the Stabu Street is rather grey and personally not very enjoyable. When I first found Zen (which did not stand out at all) I hesitated to enter, as the place didn’t look very inviting – the windows were covered with blinds and small steps leading down to the door. A tea house was the last thing I would imagine being behind that door.

Inside everything looked slightly more interesting, there was asian-style seating areas with low tables and and floor cushions, divided by bamboo screens for more privacy and mood. Everything was decorated with traditional Chinese decoration, mainly some red touches  and they even had slippers for customer use (if I would dare using them is another story). You could find games like domino, cards, chess and other board games placed all over.

Zen has a rich offer of Chinese green teas – we ordered two of them, the ordering process was quite awkward, as we had to take out every jar standing on the counter to see what types of teas they had. We took off our shoes and occupied one of the seating areas. There was chilled, relaxed music, very suitable for a tea house – it’s one of the better aspects of Zen. The tea arrived soon after in cheap tea ware – all pieces from different sets, pots made of glass and plastic mixed with small Chinese drinking cups. I had mixed feelings, until I tasted the tea. Both teas must have been old and long time expired and they were the worst teas I’ve ever head in any tea house. They were undrinkable and I mean undrinkable. Outrageous.

After spending about 15 minutes at Zen I noticed that the atmosphere was pretty cold, the lights were so dim, it seemed as if they were saving energy. Mixed with some daylight they provided a uncosy feeling. Dodgy, gloomy and depressing. I started feeling uncomfortable. There was also no sign of any service – they spent most of the time in the back-room and we haven’t seen much of them until we wanted to pay. My impression was that they were not very interested in their job.

Except for tea Zen has a wide offering of alcohol and you can also smoke water pipe here. This could clearly have been a great place for passing time for large groups of people, however most of the minuses mentioned above prevented me from enjoying my stay there. The only pluses is the music and the long opening times – until 2.00 on weekdays and even longer on weekends. I would like to believe that the owners had good intentions with their place, but I cannot recommend Zen as a good tea house. It was a disappointment and I will most likely not be coming back here.

Address – Stabu iela 6, Riga

Apsara | Tea House Review

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Apsara Teahouse is located in the very centre of Riga, in a park, looking over the water. It’s a wooden, oriental-style house in the middle of a grass field. Although it’s in the middle of the city the surroundings make an impressive, but calming setting for the tea house. This makes Apsara a very unique place – something I’d would like to see in every city. The interior has a more middle-eastern feel. Downstairs there are a few table, but the place where you really want to be is the upper level where the floor is filled with comfortable cushions. It’s very cosy and all the sitting places are directed outwards, so you can look at the park and observe everything around.

As for the tea selection – they have a wide variety of loose leaf teas kept in small glass jars with cork seals. Unfortunately all the labels on the jars are mostly in Latvian. I’ve tried various teas there, mainly white and green like Silver Needle and  Jasmine Pearl there and they were decent. With those you get a whole thermos of water, which is something that I love about this place. You can drink and drink and it allows you to enjoy the stay for longer without being thirsty or having to ask the waiters for a refill. I would defiantly like to see more pastry and cakes at this place and the service to be more communicative. Apart from that Apsara is a great place to relax in the middle of a busy day.

 

Address – Vermanes garden, Terbatas iela 2, Riga

Related products – Apsara Winter Tea