Chado Tea Room?- Pasadena

[arisu]

I've been getting an insane craving to go to a Tea Room or have High Tea/ Afternoon Tea complete with scones, finger sandwiches, and mini desserts. The only one I've been to and sort of remember is the Huntington Library's Tea Room but I was a young child at the time.

I've read very good reviews for Chado Tea in Pasadena from Tea Map http://www.teamap.com/tearooms/chado_tea_room_832.html but their "official" website that is listed everywhere seems to just direct to a website template... www.chadotea.com

Has any chowhounders been to Chado recently? Maybe they can shed some light on why their website is missing? Or if you would like to recommend any other Tea Houses in LA or preferably OC where I live?

Thanks!

[AquaW]

Chado's teas is really watered down and the eats are not bad, but unremarkable - if you want to stick to Pasadena area- Scarlet Tea Room & Tea Rose Garden offers better afternoon teas at similar prices (or, if you want to indulge, check out the Ritz-Carlton in Pasadena.)

-AquaW
http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com

[whowantscandy]

A family friend informed me that their daughter, who used to be one of the pastry chef's at the Ritz-Carlton (forgot which location), said they won't be making their desserts on site anymore. It'll be bought from an off-site location.

[Dommy]

I just went to the Ritz Carlton Tea in Pasadena and honestly was not impressed in terms of the food. I think I liked Chado better!!

Personally, I would pick Jin for Tea, it's yummy and different...

--Dommy!

[AquaW]

Ah I have a fondness for Jin's tea as well - but not sure if OP wanted to venture that far out west.

-AquaW

[arisu]

I'm open to anywhere! :)

[WildSwede]

I went to the Pasadena location a few weeks ago. I had the Kimberley Rooibos tea which was really good. Sandwiches and scones were definitely passable. Personally, I feel a tea room should use china cups and saucers, not regular old coffee shop cups and saucers. However, their tea service is one of the cheaper ones you can find at $15. If you want a great tea service done right, I would always recommend Rose Tree Cottage in Pasadena. However, it does run you around $29 pp. See link below:

http://www.rosetreecottage.com/

[choucreme]

I've been to both the Chado locations - Beverly Hills and Pasadena - several times, and am a huge high tea fan. Skip Chado, in fact, run! They can careless about customer service, the cakes a bland, the service is slow, and the teas are average.

[amandine]

I've had the most fun at luxury hotels-- the Beverly Hills Hotel was memorable, as was the Peninsula.