Restaurant Review: Restaurant Review

Jade Leaves TeaHouse

3110 Guadalupe, 512/687-0569, www.jadeleaves.net
Mon.-Sat., 10am-5pm

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Photo by John Anderson

Jade Leaves TeaHouse

Jade Leaves TeaHouse began as a wholesale tea business, and though it has blossomed into a long-imagined and planned-for restaurant, tea is still its mainstay and anchor. The teahouse does not merely list its teas by name but provides instead an informative guide to all the major varieties of tea, accompanied by eloquent and detailed descriptions of the more than 100 teas it sells. All are organic, premium-grade, and loose-leaf and can be enjoyed hot or iced. A variety of beverages, including smoothies and lassi, is also served; the hot chai latte ($4.95) is particularly outstanding, rich and complex, with a depth of flavor and unique intensity.

Culinarily, Jade Leaves TeaHouse has set out to do a difficult thing: to enhance popular Asian dishes by using organic and local ingredients and by offering vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and raw-food options. This is not an impossible thing to do, but it is difficult to do well without tipping over into an alienating "health food" aesthetic.

It's also nearly impossible to keep an organic kitchen and stay competitive, as organic ingredients can be two and three times as expensive, especially organic meats. Typically, this difficulty is met by running a very tight ship: The kitchen must maintain a minimum of waste, and staffing is kept low. If business is brisker than expected, this shows as long wait times for food, menu items running out or not being available at all, and harried servers who are answering the phone and helping make the food as well as waiting tables. Jade Leaves TeaHouse exhibits all of these signs of the struggle to balance high food costs, so it is best to go in with a flexible attitude.

The dining room is laid out like a coffee shop, with counter service and bakery items. The resemblance ends there, however – the decor is unabashedly Asian, and an effort has been made to give each table a semblance of privacy through the use of Oriental screens and dividers. The staff, though often taxed, is extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Overall, the vision of the menu is strong, but the execution is uneven. The lettuce wraps ($6.95), made with sautéed organic vegetables, were tasty and well-seasoned but difficult to roll and eat in the scanty amount of tender lettuce provided. The peanut dipping sauce was sadly cold, dense, and congealed. The Guo Tie Dumplings ($5.95) were far more enjoyable, perfectly pan-fried and savory, with a black vinegar dipping sauce that brought out the garlic and orange notes in the vegetable mixture. The Indonesian Stir Fried Peanut Noodles ($10.95), garnished with fresh cilantro and lime, were oversalted, overcooked, and "health-foody."

All was forgiven with the first bite of Thai bison salad ($12.95). Each slice of bison was perfectly marinated in chile, spices, lime, and fragrant herbs. Scattered on a bed of tender organic lettuces, grilled red peppers, and sprouts and dressed with an unforgettable chile-and-lime dressing, the salad is a reassuring example of how good it can be when it's done right, a fabulous dish made with the best possible ingredients. Then, Oi's Pad Thai ($9.95, $11.90 with tofu, bison, or turkey). Assured by my server that this dish was going to be fabulous, I dug right in. I wish I could overlook this, but in good conscience I can't: It had been made with bamboo shoots that had turned bad. A small tight-ship economy, probably they had decided that the shoots, though iffy, were okay for one more night. Nevertheless, the entire dish was inedible.

With a sufficient flow of business, Jade Leaves could no doubt eliminate these challenges and fulfill its promise; it remains to be seen whether customer goodwill can see it through its growing pains.