Cha-An, like a few other eateries near St. Marks, is not easily noticeable. It’s hidden in a small area on the second floor of a building near Otafuku, a takoyaki place that I went to with De Bon Coeur. Although they do have a private tea room for japanese tea ceremonies that is available through reservation, the regular tables are packed a bit too close together.

I went for the afternoon tea set that they serve until 7PM (that was my dinner), but I was surprised when I found out that the tea was not included. Afternoon tea without tea? There’s no such thing, so I ordered the jasmine green tea, which I shared with Evelyn.

The pot was quite small, so each refill was two cups worth of tea. They refilled it about six times with new tea leaves until they only refilled it with hot water, a sure but subtle signal that they wanted us to leave.

The mini bagel sandwiches were the only savory portion of the afternoon tea. The sandwich was tender and chewy but hard to eat because all the butter melted into oily liquid instead of staying as its creamy self.

The scones were the best part. Sugar-crusted, dense yet not overly so. The blueberry jam was not too gelatinous and more like a fruit compote. I took alternate bites scone + jam with scone + cream and it was soon gone.

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