Radiance Tea House and Books
“Quite good value for money (the set dumplings lunch is $9.95 and you get two types of dumplings, a salad and some edamame).”
“We shared a teapot of Green Oolong tea, complimented with two sesame almond biscuits.”
“A Chinese tea house oasis from the everyday hustle and bustle of New York, which I was able to achieve inner peace.”
Radiance Tea House and Books
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Three years ago I would have given this place five stars for ambiance, food, location, and service. It has a unique experience to offer the harried midtown area, particularly if you are looking for a serene place for lunch.
I took a friend here in November for his birthday, and it was probably the worst service I've experienced in a long time.
My meal arrived at least 20 minutes before his did. Our meals came with various appetizers, and they were thrown on our table, after which servers practically ran away without explaining whose appetizer. We had to flag waitstaff down for nearly everything. The check was also unceremoniously shoved onto our table. I really felt as though we were in a restaurant in Chinatown, where at least the abrupt service is expected.
The food was fine, but nothing especially exciting and certainly overpriced. You were paying, in theory, for the ideal quiet oasis in midtown. I would not return after my last visit.
Uh super overpriced for Chinese tea?! Around $8-10 for a "POT FOR 1" and a "POT FOR 2" is $18-20. Their "house special teas" are like $20 for a small…..
Make sure that you come in with the right expectations and you'll definitely enjoy this place. This is meant to be a pleasant environment with extremely high quality Chinese/Taiwanese teas and some food to match. Thus, you're not going to find dirt cheap entrees or heaping portion sizes. If you understand that, the menu will make sense to you.
I enjoyed the Midtown East location and this location did not disappoint. I really like that the whole place kind of looks like a library, with its bookshelves and stacks of interesting teas. We ordered the Dong Ding Mountain (oolong), which was very hearty and had an interesting sweet/smoky taste. We also got the spicy fish and tofu casserole and sha cha shrimp, both of which were excellent.
It is definitely on the pricier end, but if you're looking for a healthier/higher quality Chinese food and tea experience, this is definitely a great option!
Cute tea house the tea service and selection are good. Great spot for tea lovers like me. You can relax drink tea, read or have a nice conversation with whoever you are with. They also have a lot of books. They sell tea and accessories too. If you are a tea lover you will like this place.
Cute, quiet, and spacious place to grab a pot of tea, study and eat. I prefer coming here whenever I want tea or am in the mood for a light dinner or some snacks (mainly dumplings). Most Chinese food can be on the oily side but the food here is refreshingly clean and soupy.
Came here for the second time tonight with a friend and it was just as cute as I remembered. My favorite tea here is the chrysanthemum, popular in Chinese cuisine (my parents love it as well) but hard to find at other cafes. Their dumplings and soups are also very good. We ordered the shrimp dumplings (I actually thought they were going to give us the crystal shrimp ones but these were good as well), the seafood soup and the mushroom salad.
Note that if you are allergic to gluten: while they may have gluten free items on their menu, my friend who has eaten here and is allergic to gluten sometimes feels sick after. This is most likely due to a cross contamination issue in their kitchen.
A True Gem! Hours drifted on by without me noticing! Wanted something different in meeting up with my NYC family and friends! This was it!
Great atmosphere, wonderful service; delicious small plates; and, absolutely well brewed teas!
With five of us, we each chose a different tea to be brewed in five medium sized teapots! Mine being the lightest, chrysanthemum tea – loved it!
Our table was a hungry table! We ended up ordering 18 small plates to share! With the spices they used, not one tasted the same – incredible!
Their dan-dan noodles, flower & dates steamed chicken, pork belly buns, spiced beef stew, shrimp balls, and spareribs steamed with black beans are still standing loud and clear in my mind!
I'm positive I'll be coming here years to come! It is that great! Cheers!
This place is adorable. It's on the pricy side with regard to portion size, but the ambience is quite unique. It's a mini-book store as well as a tea house, with the nice wooden Chinese tables and chairs. They also have some displays of nice tea sets. I stopped by on a weeknight, and it was relatively empty.
1. Aged Pu'er tea: I ordered the 2-person portion for $14, which is on the pricy side. It poured a good 6 tea cups, which was plenty. It comes with two small crackers. The set-up is very cute.
2. Tropical Salmon Salad: This was so good! The salmon was cooked, but still flavorful, and comes with mango and avocado slices on a bed of greens. This is $9, which is pretty cheap.
3. Soupy pork dumplings: Delicious!! Really well made, but quite tiny. You get 5 of them. Make sure to put the dumpling in a spoon, bite off the top, and pour some soy sauce into them. It'll tasted better that way.
4. Sa-cha beef: I love this Asian BBQ sauce. You get a moderate amount of beef and cabbage over glass noodles. It's in soup form. Very satisfying. Not too spicy.
Wander over to the other side after eating to check out some of the eclectic books. Some are obviously geared toward Westerners, but they have some pretty stuff to glance at.
I would say the only issue I had was that the sink they were doing dishes in was in the dining area, not in a back kitchen. They were really really loud with the clanging, so at points, I had to stop my conversation to wait for the bowls to be washed.
Felt like some authentic Chinese food at noon so came here with my colleague.
Both of us tried something different. I got the seafood vegetable pot and my colleague opted for chicken dumplings and Dan Dan noodle. Food came in pretty quickly. Cannot find a better day to enjoy the pot given the freezing weather outside!
Plenty of space inside with cute decoration (teapot display). Should give a try on their hot tea next time!