Rating: Two thumbs up
Date: 8/27/12
Time in: 8:45 PM
Time out: 9:36 PM
Servers’ recommendations: Popcorn chicken, sweet butter toast
What we ordered: Popcorn chicken, sweet butter toast, sweet milk toast, regular unsweetened iced milk tea
Number in our party: 3
Final check amount: $15.59

NOTES

• We liked the server at the counter.  (According to the receipt, her name was Claire.)   She was friendly, decisive about her recommendations, and honest when we asked her about menu items.
• The tea Jenne got tasted like petting zoo.  Or barn.  Perhaps it would be better sweetened?  It just wasn’t to our taste.
• The popcorn chicken is similar to Tapioca Express’s, but it’s not fried quite as well — like they used oil that wasn’t hot enough.  VERY salty; we would prefer it a little spicy instead.  But it’s still yummy!
• I love condensed milk and fluffy Asian white bread, which means sweet milk toast is one of my favorite foods in all of creation. I mean, just LOOK at that photo.
• That said, the sweet milk toast is pretty intense.  The sweet butter toast is excellent if you don’t like tons and tons of sugar.
• Tea Garden has a nice, super-relaxed atmosphere.  Tea Station (on Clairemont Mesa)has a similar menu, but the servers there always look harried and stressed.
• Tea Garden would be a great place to study, since they have both savory and sweet snacks.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION
Address: 4685 Convoy St, Ste 110
Phone number: 858.277.8988
Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Weirdest tiny one-way lot in San Diego.
Ideal group size: Any
Available vegetarian options: Lots
Noise level: 2.5 (and the TV wasn’t on!  Yay!)