When we first arrived in Chiang Mai, Indira and Martha went out in the city one day when I was sick. They visited Monsoon Tea then, but Indira has mentioned that she would like to go back and, of course, I didn't want to miss it either. So we planned to spend our last afternoon in Thailand in this delightful place...having tea and a late lunch.
You come in through the door and past this counter. Notice all the many teas they offer. I wish I had taken photos of the tea menus. There were black, oblongs and green teas of all varieties and flavors. They buy their teas from sustainable tea plantation in the north of Thailand and also from wild, not planted, tea bushes that grow in the jungles.
There was nice outside dining, but we chose to settle inside where the traffic sounds were muted.
The area was nicely spacious with tables and chairs, but we decided on a more causal couch and chairs spot with a low table.
We each chose something to order and share...starting with two pots of hot and one decanter of cold teas...each a different kind, of course.
Checking out bathrooms is an interesting and utilitarian past time. See the little stack of washcloths on the shelf by the sink? They were to be used as hand towels and then put in the basket for washing. Very nice touch. Plus there was actually soap! I hardly ever found soap at sinks and never before something to actually dry one's hands with! A nice western toilet was much appreciated, but, of course, the little can for depositing one's used TP was present. Can someone explain why you can't flush TP in Thailand?
The vegetarian Tea Leaf Salad was the first food selection brought to our little low table. Tofu and veggies, plus tea leaves (had never eaten fresh ones before), lemongrass and onions and a very nice vinaigrette. Quite yummy! Isn't the presentation delightful? Loved the carved wooded long bowls.
Next came the chicken in a creamy tea sauce served on a banana leaf with a nice salad. It was a good, but maybe a little bland. When we got back to finishing it up a bit later, the sauce flavor was a little more intense and much better. Some of the oil had separated from the cream sauce and that might have been the reason for the increase in flavor.
Then the pork dumplings arrived. They were my choice and not at all what I had expected. I was thinking more a steamed bun with pork filling, but these were more like a lasagna wrap only a rice noodle and a nicely flavored pork filling. The sauce was a sweet chili with a peanut flavor...really good and made a perfect little glaze to the more bland rice noodle of the dumpling.
And what's a special lunch without dessert?? We ordered two of the cream brulee to share. I'm pretty sure they were milk based...we wondered if they might have had just a bit of a tea infusion which would account for the color. The texture was a bit more dense that what Simeon makes, but it was really totally yummy, with a sugary crunch topping. My experience with sugar in Thailand is that it is not white, but a little less processed, so a caramel in color. The little dabs at each corner was slightly whipped cream.
What a delightful afternoon we had.
We were all really excited about the dessert!
After we could eat no more, we visited the actual tea sales room.
A different kind of tea in every canister! They weigh out what you want by the gram, place it in a little foiled paper bag and seal it with a seal-a-meal type machine. Very nice.
And then it was time to go home. It took a while for a songthaew going our way to come by--we tried Uber, but the GPS didn't have us in the right spot, which apparently is a problem in Chiang Mai. Eventually a songthaew appeared and we were on our way.
Of course, having gotten out of the songthaew at the South Gate, we walked the rest of the way home...(sigh)
...past this decorative fence...
...and turning the corner onto "our" lane, I saw this pieced fabric panel hanging up as a sun shade. At the beginning of our time in Chiang Mai, I saw a grandma working on this at her treadle sewing machine and stopped and "chatted" with her. (I say "chatted" very loosely--think lots of grunting and hand motions) : ) I presumed she was making a comforter top, but it was fun to see the finished product put to its intended use. It did the job very nicely!
Back to our guest house...
...through the swinging doors of our courtyard...
...and unlocking our door for the very last time.
In the morning we would head to the airport for our journey home. Martha, who is going to Nepal to volunteer, will fly with us from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. So while we had to say our farewells to Tee, we don't have to say goodbye quite yet to Martha.
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