Ten Ren's Teatime, to me, is such a juxtaposed place. Ten Ren is a Taiwanese company and they have stores all over Taiwan. Service there is immaculate. So it was almost like a Heaven and Hell experience.
The first time I went with my brother. The place wasn't THAT busy so we were attended by the ladies at the front (where they sell packaged tea leaves) immediately. However, the experience just goes downhill from there. I expected *somewhat* attentive service from our server. Or at least service with a smile. Nope. The place is rather large, but there was no way of flagging down or notifying our server from where we were sitting.
I ordered their vegetarian lunch combo. The food was barely okay, nothing spectacular. The combo came with a choice of soup/tea-coffee. The 'tea-mocha' was better but it didn't have any hint of tea in it. Just felt like I was drinking hot chocolate.
Needless to say. No tip. kthxbai.
The second time around wasn't any better either. (At least the server smiled this time and I tipped. It's easy to win tips from me). I ordered the Pomello green tea, if my memory serves me correctly. It was absolutely revoltingly sweet. I felt I was just drinking diluted high-fructose syrup and was going to develop hyperglycemia. No taste of the green tea. A tiny bit of the pomello. Just sugar.
I'm sticking to the basics when I go next time. If I do go that is.