Teaism
District of Columbia, USA

Teaism could be a great competitor to the preponderance of Panera's and other generic chains in downtown office areas. The atmosphere is similar but the food is much better and definitely more vegan-friendly.

I came here a few times as it was near my hotel. I found their curry lentil soup ($6) to be tasty, but watery, without any actual pieces of lentil. Make sure to ask for it vegan (they will leave out the dollop of yogurt they put in it). The cilantro tofu scramble ($6) was bland---it was just a big hunk of silken tofu broken up and lightly stir-fryed with cilantro and no other spices. I thought their seitan curry ($9.25), however, was delicious, with a light orange-soy sauce and chunks of vegetables with sesame brown rice. Prices are on the higher side when one considers the small portion sizes.

They have good tea options but a cup is super-expensive at $4 and, at least in the cafe portion of the place, they don't brew the tea properly, completely defeating the purpose of a high grade tea. They also serve the tea in a gigantic ceramic cup that's difficult to hold and maneuver. Tea is about subtlety and their preparation and presentation of it definitely ain't.

This joint gets packed quickly during the peak of lunch hours though there's quick turnaround on tables. You place your order at the counter and then wait to pick up your food and find a seat. I found the wait for the food to be longer than I would have expected for a downtown establishment catering to in-a-hurry hotshots. If you're in a rush don't eat here.

My biggest gripes about Teaism: the menu doesn't label what's vegan and you have to ask them to veganize many dishes, otherwise you'll get cheese on your vegan burger and yogurt in your vegan soup by default. Also, you can't change your mind on orders; once they push the button on their screen, the order is sent, even before you actually pay. This could be a problem if you change your mind often, which is easy to do, given the large menu.

This place was okay, I thought, but definitely trying to parlay it's hipness into an excuse for higher prices.

A friend tried the cold sesame noodles with tofu, which was lovely, but basically just a snack.

I decided to try the "Ochazuke" - green tea soup - since I had never had anything like that before. Maybe it just wasn't my thing, but also the rice in it was hard as a rock. I'm not sure if the hot tea was supposed to soften it or if that was intentional, but I thought it was about as pleasant as, well, chewing on undercooked grains of rice.