When it started sprouting out of north Austin a few years ago, it took me a while to get over my Domain prejudice. But once I did, I discovered a little gem of a place -- The Steeping Room, which is part tea house, part restaurant. This is a proper English tea drinking experience, where you can order scones with clotted cream, as well as many gluten-free nosh options.

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Peter Tsai Scout

Joined 10 months ago

September 27, 2012

Great cozy tea house with a huge selection if tea from around the world. They also serve delicious, healthy food with many vegetarian and gluten free options. The pastries that accompany tea service are also great

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Jennifer King Scout

Joined 10 months ago

August 20, 2012

Nice change from the hustle & bustle at the Domain. Sell tea by the kettle and by the ounce for grab and go! Tea sandwiches are my fave.

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smullen98

Joined 6 years ago

April 29, 2007

best international lunch and dinner in Austin! and more teas than you can shake a stick at. This place is next to Starbuck's in the new shopping area called The Domain. It's a fabulous local business in the middle of a bunch of chain stores. It's a real find. I've been eating there regularly and the food is always incredibly fresh and fantastic and I'll never get through all the teas. Plus they have beers l like like Bootlegger and Fat Tire. I haven't had the wine yet but they have a list of that too. Best of all the have fresh baked good they make right there some teas in them which are fantastic.

I'm always surprised that people pass it to go to Starbucks -- unlike Starbucks they thank you for going with free -- they have a loyalty card they mark each time you get take-away tea and they give you a free tea after 9 or 10. Plus it's LOCAL and BETTER!

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jmbauer

Joined 10 years ago

March 20, 2007

A fine new place for tea and light lunch. I wasn't planning on stopping by The Domain when it opened, but when I heard that it included a locally-owned tea shop, I decided to give it a try. It's right next door to the Starbucks, and I'm still trying to decide whether that's ironic or genius. The decor looks more like West Elm than the typical kitschy British tearoom, but I for one like that. The tea menu is huge (4-5 pages), and their lunch menu has organic tea sandwiches, scones, cake, etc.

I was going to order some Classic Grey to see how well they did the basics, but then the Kasbah Cooler caught my eye. It's iced mint green tea with pomegranate syrup, and it was wonderful. I normally don't like tea sandwiches, but they had a roast beef on wheat with roasted red peppers and basil mayo, and it turned out fine. They're not dirt-cheap ($9), but also include a side salad with a pretty tasty vinaigrette.

So I give it a thumbs-up, and will probably be back for dinner sometime (apparently they have a chai bread pudding).

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

March 19, 2007

Editorial Review. Tea sommeliers guide leaf novices and experts through a long list of natural and organic connoisseur-grade loose-leaf teas.

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