Franchia Tea House & Restaurant
Restaurant, Coffee/Tea/Juice
Profile
$$$ - expensive
Korean
Posh Vegan-friendly Korean restaurant with eclectic menu and beautiful but sterile environment.
Franchia is a Vegan-friendly tea house on Park Avenue, specializing in gourmet teas and Korean vegetarian food. Very special attention has been paid to the menu items, ranging from Vegan fondue to bamboo skewers with peanut sauce to Korean style sushi. They also have lunch time specialty wraps for a quick eat.
A great deal of work has been put into the interior design with multi-tier levels to dine at. The location and décor makes it a popular lunch time spot for 9 to 5ers. They also have a tea shop in the front complete with a large variety of teas, teapots and cups.
Between 34th and 35th streets
Added by Jason Szrom on Mar 17 04 (updated Mar 28 04)
Reviews
This is a nicely decorated, quiet place to meet for tea and snacks. I didn't try any entrees, but the dumplings were decent (if a bit bland) and the tofu cheesecake was tasty, but not the best I've ever had. I did like their extensive options for tea and the great ambience and decor inside.
The food here was quite delicious, though the main dish portion was a bit on the small side. This was okay, since I ordered several other items, but it all ended up being quite expensive.
I tried the combination pancakes, the spinach porridge, and tofu stone bowl rice (bi bim bop). All of the dishes were excellent, and the food was quite similar to what I've had at Hangawi, which is owned by the same people. The atmosphere was quite pleasant, and the service was very good, quite attentive.
Half the food I had here was very good, the other half was good, but not nearly as good as I was expecting. I was also expecting more authentic Korean, vs. Korean fusion. I tried a number of appetizers and entrees and the pancake sampler (corn/cilantro, scallion, kimchee) was my favorite. The yam chips with tomato/dill dip sounded amazing but pretty much tasted like potato chips.