Restaurant Review: Dobrá Tea

A new addition to Northampton’s main street, Dobrá Tea adds some variety to a downtown mainly dominated by coffee shops. Its central location makes it an ideal place to visit after a meal at one of Northampton’s other restaurants, but eating beforehand is certainly not necessary. Though Dobrá is primarily a tea shop, they offer a number of snack and meal options which should be enough to satisfy most diners. It is also a relatively calm and quiet place to do work, unless one finds the sitar music playing in the background distracting rather than soothing, and is open until 11 every night, which is reasonably late in Northampton.

Dobrá is obviously a themed tea shop, though it is less obvious what exactly that theme is. The teas they serve are primarily Chinese, but many of the food options are Middle Eastern. The décor evokes of East Asia, while background music is South Asian. On top of that, they also identify themselves as a “bohemian” style tea house, though maybe eclectic is a better word. Then there are the servers, who are called “devoteas,” which honestly sounds a little bit gimmicky, as does their practice of ringing a gong thirty minutes before end of business to inform everyone in a somewhat rehearsed soothing voice that the tea shop will be closing soon. However, somehow this mishmash of cultures and styles seems to work, and even if it is a bit gimmicky, their obvious commitment to the quality of their products makes up for that.

When you first enter the tea shop, you will be greeted at the door and asked to choose from a few different seating options. Dobrá has a relatively small storefront, but once you’re inside, you can see that the room is a long rectangle, and this space is used efficiently. In the front, there are mostly small round tables looking out on the street, as well as a single platform with a low table and cushions to sit on. Then you move beyond the counter and pass an impressive array of tea serving implements displayed in cabinets along the wall on your way to another group of small tables, and two more platform seating areas. These platforms are more private, surrounded by bead curtains on each side of central entry way. The lighting is also dimmer in this area, so it is perhaps not the best place to sit if you want to drink tea and read a book. Finally, an entry way between these two platforms leads to a back room, in which I have yet to sit. I was informed that it is a technology free room, though, and it appeared to have more table seating.
I made two visits to Dobrá, once for after-dinner drinks and socializing and once to eat dinner and do some work on my laptop (Dobrá also offers free wi-fi). On the first visit, my friend and I sat at one of the low tables on the platforms in the back. We each received a menu, which at this tea room bears more resemblance to a novel than what one expects a menu to look like. The menu comes with a table of contents, and lists all of their tea options over the span of about eighty pages, with a page in the front for desserts and a few pages in the back for food. Even for someone who is a frequent tea drinker, this menu is overwhelming. First, there’s the categories of tea (each accompanied by information about caffeine content, health benefits, and descriptions of how the tea is produced): Green Teas, Wild Teas, Yellow Teas, White Teas, Black Teas, Pu-er Teas, Aromatized/Flavored Black Teas, Yerba Mate, Herbal Teas, and House special blends. Then each tea within the categories is described further, with information about flavor, serving style, and suggestions about what moods, activities, or foods the tea is best paired with. My favorite tea, based on description, is a house special blend called “Boston Tea Party,” which is described as “Suitable for celebrating any significant anniversary, or preparing for a revolution.” However, as both of my visits have been in the evening, not the ideal time for a strongly caffeinated black tea, I can only report on the clever menu description, and not on the actual flavor.

During this first visit, we decided to order an herbal tea, but overwhelmed by the options, we asked for a recommendation from our devotea, who was summoned promptly with the small bell placed on every table. He pointed out something we had not even noticed in the haze of processing 80 pages of tea options: the tea house makes customized blends of two herbal teas selected from a list at the end of the herbal tea section. We took his recommendation of the rose and spearmint blend, and also ordered a slice of flourless chocolate cake with raspberry topping (gluten free) from among the many dessert options (including an impressive number of vegan and gluten free desserts). Our tea and dessert came quickly. The tea was served in a beautiful clay pot with two small matching cups, and the dessert was plated nicely, a slice of cake surrounded by fresh raspberries with a drizzle of chocolate syrup over the rest of the plate. Both were delicious, and easily satisfied two people for an evening snack, especially since the chocolate cake was very rich. Our bill came to slightly over ten dollars, which seemed more than reasonable, especially since we were able to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere and chat for several hours without interruption.

Upon my second visit, I wanted to try a different style of tea, as well as some of the food options, and because I wanted to do some work after dinner, I opted for a regular table in the front of the tea room. This time, my guest and I both opted to order the tea meal, which allows you to pair two of a selected number of dishes with any of their teas which come in a Gaiwan. Having no idea what a Gaiwan was prior to this visit, I was eager to find out, and the server was very happy to explain. A Gaiwan, as it turns out, is a special bowl for brewing single servings of tea with short brewing times. The tea leaves are placed in the bottom of the container, hot water is poured in, and then a lid is placed on top. After a minute or two, the drinker can pour the tea into an accompanying cup by slightly shifting the lid on the bowl so the tea can pour through a small crack, while still keeping the tea leaves in the bowl. Our server demonstrated this for us the first time, which we could then repeat on our own, though the flavor is weaker in subsequent brewings. At Dobrá, the tea is served on a tray, to catch the tea from any pouring mishaps you might have, and comes with a pot of hot water, which is kept on a stand with a tea light under it so the water stays warm. I ordered the Bai Mu Dan—White Peony Tea—and was able to infuse it at least 6 or 7 times without losing the flavor, which was strong and sweet without any added sugar. My guest ordered the Vietnamese Green tea, which was generally light and grassy in flavor, but also stood up well to multiple steepings. For food, I ordered the Baba ghanoush (roasted eggplant puree) and the Pita Zaatar (pita served with a dish of olive oil and feta cheese). The Baba ghanoush was just the right consistency, thick but not to the point of having chunks of eggplant not fully incorporated into the mix, and the lemon, sesame, and spices enhanced the smoky flavor of the roasted eggplant but did not overpower it. The Pita Zaatar was slightly less satisfying, as I was expecting a spread but instead got a dish of oil with chunks of feta and spice on top. The flavor of the dish was excellent, as the goat cheese was clearly fresh and high quality, its sharp taste pairing well with the oil and the subtle spice. However, it had to be spooned on to the pita bread, as dipping was not really an option with something of this consistency, and that prevented me from getting exactly the right mix of cheese and oil in each spoonful. It was also very messy this way, which was something of a problem, especially since the meal was served with just a single small square napkin that was actually brought with the tea and was ostensibly for cleaning up tea spills. Overall, however, I was still happy with the dish, though the description in the menu could be clearer.

My guest, who was slightly less hungry, ordered the Miso Soup and Daifuku Mochi (both vegan and gluten free). The Miso Soup, made with miso from a local producer, had a somewhat untraditional coarsely ground texture, so there were some small pieces of soybean in the mix, which we both decided was an improvement on miso soups we’d had before, and which also seemed to make the dish more filling. The rest of the soup with fairly traditional, with tofu, seaweed, and chives. Considering that the dish on its own is also one of the cheapest things on the menu, but could certainly be a light meal on its own, this dish comes highly recommended by both of us. Then, there’s the mochi. This mochi can be difficult to get right, as the amount of dough and the amount of filling have to be balanced well, so that neither overpowers the other, and the adzuki bean filling must be sweetened, but not too much. Dobrá’s mochi hit the mark on both counts, so perfectly that I actually ordered another dish for myself after tasting it. The bean paste still maintained some of the original bean texture, which we both liked, just like in the Miso Soup, and the cake surrounding it was slightly sweet but kept the focus on the filling, which was the real star. If you’re going to get a snack at Dobrá, get the Daifuku Mochi.

Though the meal was delicious, we did have a bit of trouble with the size of the table. Although there were only two of us, we were barely able to fit all our dishes on the table and had to do quite a bit of maneuvering to work this out. This seems a little strange, since many of these tables are surrounded by four chairs, and I have no idea how four people would be able to eat at these tables, unless they were only having tea. I saw another couple nearby pull over a second table because they were attempting to work while they ate, so this does seem to be a consistent problem. However, because of the other seating options available (the platform tables are larger), I don’t think this is a major issue, just something to be prepared for. This is not a place to go for dinner with a large group.

This second visit cost us a little under thirty dollars (eleven dollars each per meal, plus an additional mochi and a decent tip for our very helpful server), and I certainly plan on visiting again. Though the prices might be slightly higher than some of the other cafes on Main Street, the quality of the food, and especially the teas, is worth the cost, as is the extremely pleasant environment. Hopefully this new establishment will become a Northampton standard.

(Images borrowed from yelp reviewers and the gazettenet.com review of Dobra, as I did not take my own pictures)