After years of bemoaning the lack of a REAL Chinese restaurant in Olympia, I should have looked to Lacey. Tea Leaf has been on the corner of Pacific and College for 20 years and I missed it.

We were seated by the Waitress who turned out to be the owner, also.

My daughter, her hubby and 6 year old and 14 month old kids and I went there for dinner. We usually don’t get the preset family dinners, but we made an exception. The dinner for 4 includes Egg Flower Soup, Pot Stickers, Egg Rolls, Kung Pao Chicken (listed as cashew chicken on their take home menu), Mongolian Beef, Chow Mein and Sweet & Sour Pork.

I am usually not a fan of egg flower soup, but this was an exception. It was flavorful, and had a nice combination of tofu, bean sprouts and mushrooms. It was so good that my son-in-law asked for more after the bowl was empty and the waitress / owner brought him another bowl and didn’t charge us for it.

The pot stickers, and egg rolls were excellent, as was the rest of the meal. It has been a while since I have had Chinese food this good, and it is as good, if not better, than the best I have had in the Seattle area. We asked for moderate spicy and she brought extra hot pepper sauce for my son-in-law, although he didn’t use much of it. The Mongolian beef and Cashew chicken were just the right degree of spiciness and the spice did not overpower the excellent flavor. The sweet and sour pork was more sweet than sour, but I have come to expect that. And all this without any hint of MSG, when I had asked, she said they didn’t use it because it bothered too many people.

The waitress / owner was very friendly and attentive. We arrived fairly late, so by the time we got our main courses, her other two tables had emptied. She kept stopping by and feeding bites to the 14 month old.

I thought their menu had plenty to choose from. I have not seen any Chinese restaurants in the Seattle area with any better selection. They got the extra star from me for the owner and her attentiveness.

Update: we went there last night and had their Hot & Sour soup, Mu Sho Pork and Garlic Chicken. Wow! Hot & Sour soup where you can actually taste the sour? What is this? I have only been to one other Chinese restaurant where this was the case. I thought I would have to make my own to taste that again! Delish!! Mu Sho pork was good, but I have had better. Garlic Chicken was delish, too. So much has been great, that I would take off maybe 1/4 star for the Mu Sho pork but add it back for the Hot & Sour soup.

I get cravings for hot and sour soup anytime I feel a bit under the weather. We hadn’t been to the Tea Leaf before, even though we’ve driven past and always wanted to stop. This time I knew what I wanted and prayed for it to be wonderful. (Good Hot & Sour Soup = Good Chinese food!)
My husband ran in to get some soup up for me. He came out smiling. He was greeted by the owner and hostess. Apparently she was really pleasant! 7$ and 3 minutes til soup and I were together. (Very reasonable for such a large amount, too!)
He brought back out a steaming hot bag with a most fabulous aroma and I could hardly wait to get home to eat it. It is light in color, very thick and rich. Chock full of bean sprouts and tofu, cabbage, mushrooms, peas and heaven knows what else that makes it so fabulous! There is a perfect balance of the hot and the sour tastes. Perfect. I’ve tried alot of restaurants and this soup is by FAR the BEST.
When you go to the Tea Leaf, you must try it! It is SOOOOO delicious! We went back two days in a row for more soup and I plan another trip there today if I can talk my hubby into it again!!
I am quite excited to get into the restaurant myself and try the rest of the menu. Needless to say, it seemed to heal my under the weather feeling and create an addict of me!!
I will definitely update when I go in and try some other menu items, but the soup alone was enough to make me find the site and write the review!!
Happy eating!!

I just tried Tea Leaf 2 in Lacey for the first time tonight. I was surprised by how fresh the chicken was and how overall the meal was pleasantly free of heavy oils. Very Good Chinese = possibley the Best in Olympia. But, I will wait until I have tried something else first before I officially declare it. I was surprised though at recieving rice instead of the traditional noodles – but it was still good. alos, the place was really cute and very clean.
I Will definately try it again next week!