Teahouse Review: Le Jardin du The
by Al Spangler
6527 E. Pacific Coast Hwy
The Marketplace Center, Bdg. B
Long Beach, CA 90803
(562) 431-1000
Le Jardin du The restaurant and teashop is located in the Market Place Center in
Long Beach, California. Tables inside and out seat a total of 75 persons for
lunch and dinner but our pleasant waitress noted that a wedding party of 100 can
be accommodated. The atmosphere is calming and peaceful, in part because the
Center is built around a large pond and fountains and far enough from the
highway to be quiet. Lunch, which is served Tuesday through Sunday from 11:00 AM
to 5:30 PM, is reasonably priced with salads or sandwiches about $10.00. I had a
tasty quiche, salad and fruit for $9.00 while my friend enjoyed grilled
asparagus and eggs for the same price. With our delicious dessert pastries we
enjoyed a pot of Roi Soliel, which the extensive tea menu describes as a
"haughty blend based on the power of golden Yunnan teas and a flowery note of a
famous smoky Chinese tea, sprinkled with tips of green tea." Our waitress
suggested this would compliment our chocolate dessert and she was right. Tea was
$3.95 person, served in a large pot.
Dinner is served 5:30 - 9:00 PM Thursday through Saturday. Appetizers include a
cheese plate for $12.00 and sautéed scallops for $12.00. Entrées are priced at
around $20.00 and include poached salmon served on a bed of steamed soybeans
with wasabi mustard vinaigrette and tangerine marmalade, and pork tenderloin
filled with fresh apple and oven roasted, served with apple and carrot
quenelles.
The French tea house inspired tea list is ten pages long and offers a selection
of blended teas from Manage Frres and classic teas from Africa and Asia. Among
les mélanges parfumes are a flavored blend of black Ceylon tea flavored with
chocolate and caramel and an herbal mix of hibiscus and mallows flowers. For
those who prefer unblended tea, Jardin offers Yunnan Imperial, lapsang souchong,
Fuji-Yami green tea, Sencha Ariake, Matcha, and Darjeelings, as well as others
one might expect in a good tea shop. Jardin highlights its "Sultane" (blend of
Ceylon teas), "Birthday tea" (a Darjeeling blend), "La route du temps" (blend of
green teas) and Earl Grey.
The service is excellent and food delicious. Highly recommended.
|
