Tea lovers often ask me where to go for tea in my home town, Sydney, so here is Teashirts’ (by no means definitive) guide to Sydney venues that serve quality leaf.
Teahouses
These are venues with sit-in service where tea is the primary focus.
Ambi’s Chai Bar
35 Ridge Street, North Sydney
Shop 5, 366-368 Pennant Hills Road, Pennant Hills
222 Kent Street, Sydney
Masala chai done Afro-Punjabi style, from scratch. Expect to wait for these powerful, spicy brews – you won’t be disappointed. The crew also offer a range of light East African-Indian meals and sweet snacks.
Moment Tea
1 Markham Place, Ashfield
Step back from bustling Liverpool Road and take refuge at Moment Tea, where popular and less well-known Chinese teas share a menu with fun blends, cold brews and mocktails, plus light meals and snacks. If you have some time, reserve a Tea Ceremony and you’ll get a gongfu set and a specialty Chinese tea to enjoy with snacks and unlimited re-brews; if you’re in a hurry, takeaway is a good option.
Ms.Cattea Tea Bar
Shop 17, 1-21 Darlinghurst Road, Potts Point
With a degree in tea science and a master of tea ceremony, Cathy Zhang is one of the most educated tea proprietors in Australia. This tea bar in the heart of Potts Point specialises in Chinese tea, including seasonal and rare types, but you can also get your matcha fix, single estate Indian tea and blends, including herbal tisanes, plus tea-based cocktails and mocktails.
Service is at-table (staff offer re-brews with fresh hot water), or there’s a small selection to take away. Specialty tastings are fully hosted. Also look out for special events and workshops to further your tea knowledge.
MY Tea House
Shop 4-5, 129-133 Military Road, Neutral Bay
Expect to be invited to the tea table whether you’re there to buy or browse. Book ahead for special tea journeys, from beginners tastings to pu’er events. Raymond Mao is an expert at balancing the brews so that you avoid becoming tea drunk and instead achieve equilibrium. There’s also a big range of Chinese tea and teaware for sale in the retail section.
Service is fully hosted. You pay a rate based on time and then per tea chosen.
Rushi Teahouse
Shop 1S, 29 Albert Avenue, Chatswood
Away from the main shopping district of Chatswood, this teahouse is an oasis of calm, thanks to its beautiful origin story. Owner Cianna, who is Buddhist, wanted a place to host people who could write sutras but thought such a large space might not work for a single niche purpose. This teahouse complements the sutra-writing perfectly. Choose from a selection of specialty Chinese and Taiwanese tea.
Service can be semi-hosted (staff bring brewed tea to you periodically) or self-hosted (you have your own private room and gongfu set).
Taka Tea Garden
320 New South Head Road, Double Bay
Run by a Japanese-Taiwanese couple Taka Pan and Helen Kwok, Taka Tea Garden is one of the original specialty teahouses in Sydney. It offers a selection of Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese tea and teaware. Sip there or buy for home.
Tea Angle
88 Addison Road, Marrickville
Dawn Liang and Matt Tran from Tea Angle started their brand on the strength of their aromatic dancongs and have since branched out into yancha (rock oolongs) and pu’er. This small studio is open on weekends or by appointment and is focused on pure specialty Chinese tea.
Taste to buy, or book in for a fully hosted tasting session. Also keep an eye out for special events.
Tea Journal
Shop 44, 436 Victoria Road, Chatswood
Tea Journal boasts a curated menu of Chinese tea, some from the proprietor Sunny’s family plantation, as well as a handful of tea blends. While just steps away from the hub of Chatswood, the peaceful venue is well-suited to taking time for tea. Try their specialty chiffon cakes, too.
Service is at-table (staff offer re-brews with fresh hot water), or there’s a selection available for takeaway.
Topo’Tea
D6 Sussex Centre, 401 Sussex Street, Sydney
Shane Shu has taken Topotea from a market stall to a Chinatown institution with two venues inside the Sussex Centre: the original basement space, where you can drink and shop, and the level one room, for workshops and special events. Topotea offers popular Chinese and Taiwanese teas as well as rarer estate teas and an outstanding range of teaware.
Service can be semi-hosted (staff bring brewed tea to you periodically) or self-hosted (you’re given your own gongfu set). Taste-to-buy sessions are fully hosted at the front table.
Zensation
Shop 82, 792 Bourke St, Waterloo
Raymond Leung a longstanding member of the Chinese diaspora here in Sydney and his previous experience in restaurant fit-outs and visual design have culminated in this inner south venue where Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese tea is served alongside a selection of Asian bites, from dumplings to noodles and sticky rice parcels. Plenty of teaware on offer too.
Service is at-table (staff offer re-brews with fresh hot water). Look out for special events, including degustations.
By appointment
Altitude Tea
76 Botany Road, Waterloo
Cara Chen is a gongfu cha practitioner who takes participants on a mindful journey through tea ceremony and sound meditation.
Cha is Tea
Level 1, 334 Darling Street, Balmain
Suite 148, Level 2, 418 Pitt Street, Haymarket
Max Chen is the Australian representative for Wuyi Star, one of the big players in yancha (rock oolong), but in total he has about 150 varieties at hand across all categories of Chinese tea. On Tuesdays he’s at Balmain; on Fridays in the city – other times, book in for a session or a ‘tea party’. These sessions are fully hosted, served gongfu style.
Sydney Tea Hut
Ward Avenue, Canterbury
Lulu Taylor is a Global Tea Hut cha dao practitioner offering bowl tea and boiled tea ceremony. Look out for Tea Jams (ceremony and sonic journey) and gong medicine sessions.
Tea Craft
Unit 2, 130A Platform Street, Lidcombe
Better known as a wholesaler and online retailer, Tea Craft also offers fully hosted tastings at its Lidcombe warehouse led by honcho Arthur Tong. Weekdays and by appointment only.
Tian He Healing Arts
Bay Road, Waverton
Rare, aged and old-growth Chinese teas served by gongfu practitioner and musician Kent Steedman. You might also catch him jamming at Sydney Tea Hut.
Matcha specialists
In recent years there has been a slate of Japanese cafes serving matcha-based beverages as well as Japanese leaf teas. Here is a selection of my favourites.
Matcha-Ya
10 Steam Mill Lane, Haymarket
The menu offers tea-based food such as green tea noodles, matcha-based desserts like parfait and cakes, and matcha beverages, from straight whisked matcha in a bowl to hot and cold matcha blends.
Nana’s Green Tea
P1 (above train station), 436 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood
Expect a big range of hot and cold blended matcha drinks, as well as matcha soft serve in parfaits, sundaes and cakes. I also enjoy the hojicha-based beverages; there’s also leaf tea and hand-whisked hot matcha on offer.
Oh!Matcha by Chanoma
Shop 11 Regent Place, 501 George Street, Sydney
Matcha soft serve is used as a based for a range of drinks desserts here. You can also get hot matcha-based drinks and savoury Japanese snack food.
Simply Native & Waseian
148 Goulburn Street, Sydney
Simply Native is a retail store specialising in boutique items from Japan, spanning high-end matcha from Kyoto, leaf tea and teaware. Its website shows times for chakabuki, a matcha tea-tasting game.
Upstairs, Waseian is a traditional Japanese tea ceremony space; chanoyu practitioner Wendy Lin is an Urasenke tea instructor who conducts classes at this location. Also look out for workshops on related topics such as wagashi (sweet) making.
Ukino Matcha
1A West Street, Petersham
Coming in mid-2025, a matcha-focused venue featuring a stone mill for freshly ground matcha by the team behind T Totaler.
Tea-considerate venues
These are venues with sit-in service where the tea menu is decent but something else is the primary focus. I’m pleased to say there are heaps of cafes that have expanded their tea offerings and a host of places that do high tea service – too many to list (see map above instead) so I’m just going to highlight a handful here.
Jade Teahouse
Corner President Ave & Kareena Road, Caringbah South
Set in the appropriately named Camellia Gardens, Jade Teahosue is primarily a food venue for morning, afternoon and high tea service as well as lunch, but with a tea menu of favourite and exotic blends. Visit for a meal and a stroll through the grounds.
Juan Bowl & Tea
94A Pitt Street, Redfern
Elegant servings of Japanese rice bowls meet pots of Chinese, Japanese and Tainwanese tea courtesy of local teahouse Zensation. The matcha tiramisu is also a treat.
The Palace Tea Room
Shop 20-22, 455 George Street, Sydney
There are, of course, other places in the QVB to get a tiered stand of delicious bites but this one is my favourite for its well appointed room, beautifully presented food and Harney & Sons tea offering.
The Tea Cosy
7 Atherden Street, The Rocks
While the scones are the star of the show, tea makes a great complementary appearance at this heritage-listed cottage. And yes, there are tea cosies galore.
White Rabbit Gallery
30 Balfour Street, Chippendale
Chinese contemporary art is the primary focus here, but fuel your visit with Chinese and Taiwanese tea (and dumplings or a scone) at its ground-floor teahouse. Exhibitions change twice a year.
Zen Tea Lounge
Unit 15, 108 Percival Road, Smithfield
This pan-Asian lunch spot in the heart of Smithfield’s industrial area is a social enterprise – and a surprising place to find specialty Vietnamese leaf tea. Choose ‘Zen Mindful Tea Set’ from the menu.
Specialty tea retailers
China Tea, Mandarin Centre, Chatswood: Pu’er specialists representing reputable Yunnan factories. Book in for a tasting.
Long’s Tea, Shop 1, 9 Dora Street, Hurstville: Chinese tea specialists with a good selection of pu’er and oolong.
Pine Tea & Coffee, Unit 17, 8 Gladstone Road, Castle Hill: A veteran wholesaler that sells a wide selection of teas for Western palates under its Silvertip label; factory outlet open to the public.
Ten Ren, 389 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood: Taiwanese tea specialists representing major labels.
The Tea Centre, Piccadilly Centre and Westfield Hornsby: Tea, blends and herbal infusions from around the world, plus a sizeable range of teaware.
The Tea Collective, Shop 11, 455 George Street, Sydney: Boutique tea shop with bespoke blends, plus rare and popular teas from around the world.
T Totaler, 26A The Galeries, 500 George Street, Sydney: Strong selection of blended and herbal teas, including Australian native ingredients, with a curation of teaware and a concise takeaway menu.
Want to recommend your favourite tea venue? Contact me!