Tea Pavilion
Japanese · San Diego
About Tea Pavilion
In the serene surroundings of the Japanese Friendship Garden, we invite you to experience the tranquility of Tea Pavilion, where traditional Japanese flavors and hospitality come together. As a cozy cafe nestled in this beautiful oasis, we serve an array of delicious dishes, including sushi, rice bo...
In the serene surroundings of the Japanese Friendship Garden, we invite you to experience the tranquility of Tea Pavilion, where traditional Japanese flavors and hospitality come together. As a cozy cafe nestled in this beautiful oasis, we serve an array of delicious dishes, including sushi, rice bowls, and snacks, all carefully crafted to delight your senses. Our customers rave about our signature dishes, such as steaming hot matcha green tea and savory tempura bites. Amidst lush gardens and tranquil water features, you'll find a warm and inviting atmosphere that makes every meal feel like a special occasion.
What Customers Say About Tea Pavilion
Tea Pavilion is convenient when visiting the Japanese Garden. Many enjoy the peaceful environment and outdoor seating. The curry and teriyaki bowls are popular, but some find the food overpriced and portions small. Some customers have experienced slow service and dirty tables.
Popular Dishes
Best For
Tip: Bring a hat as the sun sometimes shines brightly on the outdoor seating area.
Features
What to see nearby
Data from Wikidata
Explore the area around Tea Pavilion
Tea Pavilion is located in San Diego, surrounded by cultural and historical points of interest. Here are some of the most notable places nearby.
Historical Heritage
- California Quadrangle (A 272m) — building in San Diego, United States of America Lugar inscrito en el Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos
Museums
- House of Charm (A 145m)
- Museo de Arte Timken (A 191m) — Museo de Arte (California)
- San Diego Model Railroad Museum (A 216m) — museum and exhibition hall in San Diego, California
- San Diego History Center (A 228m) — museum in San Diego, California
- Museo del Hombre de San Diego (A 236m) — museo de antropología en los Estados Unidos
Parks & Gardens
- Plaza de Panama (A 85m) — park in San Diego, USA
- Alcazar Garden (A 189m) — Garden in Balboa Park, San Diego, California
- Zoro Garden (A 216m) — park in California, United States of America
Other Points of Interest
- House of Hospitality (A 122m) — Building in San Diego, California, U.S.
Data from Wikidata
Frequently asked questions about Tea Pavilion
Tea Pavilion San Diego Reviews
Food looks reasonably good, outdoor dining overlooking the garden. Price wise is slightly more than other cafes. Compared to other eateries/cafe in the garden, there’s no pigeons here fighting over your food, which is a very nice and calm touch while you’re eating. Bring a hat as the sun sometimes gets in your eye depending where you’re facing.
Not sure why some people are complaining. We have eaten there many times over the years. The setting is very nice. It's rather quiet considering how busy the park is. The food such as the curry rice bowls and sandwiches are rather tasty! I would certainly recommend this place!
This is convenient if visiting the Japanese Garden and they have outside seating only but shaded with umbrellas. They can run out of food so plan on that. I like their curry and teriyaki bowls, not bad price for balboa park. Just don’t expect a sushi restaurant. Depending on how many people visiting you can get your order in 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
Extensive range of teas and so many snacks and cold drinks too. Ordered the genmaicha and Sakura tea. Quite quick service as the line moved fast and your order is called fairly promptly. Nice picnic tables with umbrellas in the courtyard outside where you can have a view into the Japanese gardens behind. So even if you don’t want to go into the gardens you can still enjoy a break here 🫖
Me and my friend that is visiting from out of town stopped by before heading to the friendship garden, and ate the Teriaky rice bowl with salmon and had the iced Matcha tea. Great price and taste for being in a tourist area. The environment is very peaceful and clean.
I moved to Arizona years ago but used to love the curry bowl here. Ordered one today. Omg, better than I remembered. I would give more star's if I could! Great staff too. Thanks, John
We ordered curry rice bowl and 2 udon noodles with curry flavor. Tastes great! My kids love them!
Food is great and the location is even better. Loved this place ever since I was a kid! Get the Noodles!
Excellent lunch!! Get the Japanese potatoe salad and a curry oe teriyaki bowl! Yum!
The selection was just the right size and menu items were reasonably priced. The tea selection is wonderful and the setting is gorgeous. This is perfect on a sunny afternoon. Highly recommended!
The staff is always welcoming and the food is fresh. Get the tuna salad as a wrap and a green iced tea.
Amazing stuff and tasty tea options! Also very nice location - you can enjoy the garden view from the terrace with a cup of tea in your hand (I tried iced options: Cherry one and then vanilla). What can be better? 🤤 Keep it up team, i liked your space a lot!
It was delicious, I ordered a teriyaki chicken rice bowl. My food was prepared fast and it filled me up. Competitive prices for Balboa park.
My mom's favorite meal to get is the salmon teriyaki bowl. I also love the veggie tofu curry, just wish it had a bit more curry sauce. 😋 They also have a wide selection of hot teas and several iced teas as well. I appreciate that they don't skimp out on the tea leaves when they make you a cup, which makes for a very flavorful tea and no need for sugar or milk!
Salads are pretty good here. I love the little mochi snacks. Good for snacks and smaller meals. You order inside, eat outside. It is right at the entrance of the Japanese Friendship Garden, so it feels like a little piece of Japan is in the middle of the park. There are a variety of Japanse drinks to choose from inside the fridge. The soda with the marble in it is my favorite. They are starting to serve some of the food in compostable plates, which is nice. Vegetarian/vegan options available.
A great stop on a hot day! We had a delicious salmon bowl and peach tea. Loved not having to leave the park to get something healthy while exploring all the museums.
We loved ot! We enjoyed the green friendship salad, the curry chicken sandwich, and the iced matcha and thai drinks. Would definitely come back!
Love coming to Tea Pav when am on a walk around balboa park. It so convenient for a quick bite. My favorite is the tuna sandwich comes with a side of house potato salad. The employees are so sweet and helpful. 💯% recommended.
Extensive range of teas and so many snacks and cold drinks too. Ordered the genmaicha and Sakura tea. Quite quick service as the line moved fast and your order is called fairly promptly. Nice picnic tables with umbrellas in the courtyard outside where you can have a view into the Japanese gardens behind. So even if you don’t want to go into the gardens you can still enjoy a break here 🫖
This is convenient if visiting the Japanese Garden and they have outside seating only but shaded with umbrellas. They can run out of food so plan on that. I like their curry and teriyaki bowls, not bad price for balboa park. Just don’t expect a sushi restaurant. Depending on how many people visiting you can get your order in 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
Food looks reasonably good, outdoor dining overlooking the garden. Price wise is slightly more than other cafes. Compared to other eateries/cafe in the garden, there’s no pigeons here fighting over your food, which is a very nice and calm touch while you’re eating. Bring a hat as the sun sometimes gets in your eye depending where you’re facing.
This is not a sit-down restaurant because you order your food inside and then eat outside if there's tables available. It is a hot day but there are limited 4-seat tables with umbrellas. However, the best seating is next to the cliff overlooking the Japanese garden. Since they did not have a lot of options available on their menu (salmon, udon, Thai Iced Tea), our selections were limited. So, we ended up having teriyaki rice bowls and salad.
We got miso and a couple of rice bowls. The food was good, fresh and tasty, however the place would really benefit from some extra cleaning efforts. All the outside seating tables were fairly dirty (you can see on the picture what I mean by that). Service also was just OK.
This was right next to the Japanese Garden in Balboa Park. We were cold so we decided to get tea. When we saw they had food we ordered as well since it was lunchtime. :) They offer so many flavors of tea. I wish they have a big board listing their offerings. We didn't see the list until we were at the register ordering so we had to pick something quick. I read slow so I saw Cherry Sakura and just ordered it. My husband didn't even bother and just order Green Tea Latte lol. I would have ordered the green tea latte as well if it didn't already have dairy... They should offer non dairy options. Didn't have pics of the tea since they were in white cups hehehe The food menu is small but was surprisingly good 😀 The Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl was good! Not super salty like most places. Beef Curry Rice Bowl was good too. Tender pieces of beef. Since there is no indoor space they have tables outside. Would have been fine any other time but we were in Cali when it was cold and rainy LOL. So the food got cold fast... 😞
Came to the park on a Sunday to walk around and see some of the museums. Wanted some coffee and found out thankfullythis little place. I asked what they had on the sweeter side and they suggested a tres leches late. It was VERY good and I will be back to have another next time we come for a chill day.
Stopped in during our visit to Balboa Park - ordered a chicken rice bowl and a chicken curry sandwich ($38 total). Rice bowl flavor was good - chicken had a little too much of a bite to it for my liking. Chicken curry sandwich was also good - served cold. Service was very friendly and helpful! Clean areas, plenty of shaded tables to sit and eat + overlook Japanese Gardens. Overall, nice light options for the area but probably would try a different spot on our next visit.
Very good food. The rice bowl was quite big for the price and location, but there is not enough space to sit and eat. Great view over the (paid) Japanese gardens.
This is a necessary stop for me after visiting the Japanese Friendship Garden. They have a wonderful assortment of teas, made hot or cold. My favorite is the Japanese Cherry Sakura. The bowls here are also really good and they have an assortment of other treats worth taking a look at while you're there. I do wish they had more vegan/vegetarian options, but happy they have any at all.
Lovely place for a relaxing lunch, especially on a beautiful day. Dining is outdoors. The inside is a bit crowded and a little frustrating on a busy day, but they work hard to get the orders filled quickly. Over all, I really enjoyed it.
Came to the park on a Sunday to walk around and see some of the museums. Wanted some coffee and found out thankfullythis little place. I asked what they had on the sweeter side and they suggested a tres leches late. It was VERY good and I will be back to have another next time we come for a chill day.
This was right next to the Japanese Garden in Balboa Park. We were cold so we decided to get tea. When we saw they had food we ordered as well since it was lunchtime. :) They offer so many flavors of tea. I wish they have a big board listing their offerings. We didn't see the list until we were at the register ordering so we had to pick something quick. I read slow so I saw Cherry Sakura and just ordered it. My husband didn't even bother and just order Green Tea Latte lol. I would have ordered the green tea latte as well if it didn't already have dairy... They should offer non dairy options. Didn't have pics of the tea since they were in white cups hehehe The food menu is small but was surprisingly good 😀 The Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl was good! Not super salty like most places. Beef Curry Rice Bowl was good too. Tender pieces of beef. Since there is no indoor space they have tables outside. Would have been fine any other time but we were in Cali when it was cold and rainy LOL. So the food got cold fast... 😞
This is not a sit-down restaurant because you order your food inside and then eat outside if there's tables available. It is a hot day but there are limited 4-seat tables with umbrellas. However, the best seating is next to the cliff overlooking the Japanese garden. Since they did not have a lot of options available on their menu (salmon, udon, Thai Iced Tea), our selections were limited. So, we ended up having teriyaki rice bowls and salad.
Stopped in during our visit to Balboa Park - ordered a chicken rice bowl and a chicken curry sandwich ($38 total). Rice bowl flavor was good - chicken had a little too much of a bite to it for my liking. Chicken curry sandwich was also good - served cold. Service was very friendly and helpful! Clean areas, plenty of shaded tables to sit and eat + overlook Japanese Gardens. Overall, nice light options for the area but probably would try a different spot on our next visit.
Although there were several restaurants in the park, I chose to eat here due to the fact that I love tea. I got a bottled water, a cup of miso soup and a crab sandwich. The whole thing totaled $30 which I felt was expensive. The person at the register, taking orders literally rolled their eyes when I walked up and interrupted their phone checking. On the upside, the soup was delicious. They do have a cute outdoor seating area where you can enjoy people watching.
Although there were several restaurants in the park, I chose to eat here due to the fact that I love tea. I got a bottled water, a cup of miso soup and a crab sandwich. The whole thing totaled $30 which I felt was expensive. The person at the register, taking orders literally rolled their eyes when I walked up and interrupted their phone checking. On the upside, the soup was delicious. They do have a cute outdoor seating area where you can enjoy people watching.
Have eaten here a few times when I have to be at the park for an extended period. Pricing is similar to a food truck. The salads are good and light, not a fan of the candied walnuts. Don't expect a lot of food, it's like a large side salad not a meal. Service is slow, expect to wait about 15 minutes for your food to be ready. Atmosphere is pleasent, the location in the park is very nice. The people working there are not very friendly, but I am there mainly on the weekends. Dog friendly outdoor eating area. No indoor dining.
I wouldn't recommend the place if you have other choices at the area. The food is good, nothing special. But the thing I hate the most is automatically included 20% tip. Don't get me wrong, I am ok with tips and I pay tip, but they must be deserved. Just taking an order does not worth 20% tips. The tables outside were not very clean. Chilling homeless at the table does not improve overall feeling about the place.
China Jasmine was good but it is a Japanese Pavilion and they had only some Japanese tea options, also the tea is from bags not the separate leaves
Everything took forever.... Bad service, and the manager was rude. If you want to enjoy your day don’t come here because with will take up the entire day just to get served your food. Food was good.
Food is okay. Price is good. But the cashier has an attitude and unhygienic. Should train more when dealing with multinational people.
Thai tea was not good, I would not recommend it. Cute, convenient spot though.
Stopped by the Tea Pavilion on my way over to the koi pond. It was packed! But what do you expect for the only place to reasonabley get a bite in Balboa. Had a tea, avoided the hordes of tourists and made my way, well away. If you're in the mood for a quick bite, by all means, stop here, but if you're on the way out and can wait two sec's there are SO many other options just around the bend..in Hillcrest or otherwise.
The staff were really friendly and accommodating, but all our food came out cold. No sure if the microwave or whatever is being used is broken but we had them heat up our miso soup twice and it was still cold. Other than that the customer service was good. 3 stars for cold food though
The miso soup and the drinks and daifuku are good, food is terrible
Wait time in line was 14 mins. When we arrived at the counter they said they ran out of both rice and soba noodles. (One star) Ordered the curry chicken soup. Food took about 8 mins and was hot and amazingly delicious. Large chunks of chicken and the right ratio of broth to noodles. ( five star)
Food is tasty, but the crowds make it hard to enjoy. The ordering space is very tight and crowded. Our drink order was forgotten about amidst the other orders, so we were standing there for a long time while other people who ordered after us got their drinks. The iced matcha latte is made with sweetener and it becomes lukewarm very quickly. They had kombucha on tap which was really good. We ordered the Japanese potato salad and the soba noodle chicken salad. Both were refreshing but they put takoyaki sauce on the potato salad and I wasn’t sure why. Be prepared with a back-up order in case they run out of what you have in mind. People filter in and out of the outdoor seating frequently, but you might have to take your food to another area if it’s too crowded. Prices are pretty high too. I recommend visiting this place on a weekday or at a non-busy time to avoid the crowd.
I wouldn't recommend the place if you have other choices at the area. The food is good, nothing special. But the thing I hate the most is automatically included 20% tip. Don't get me wrong, I am ok with tips and I pay tip, but they must be deserved. Just taking an order does not worth 20% tips. The tables outside were not very clean. Chilling homeless at the table does not improve overall feeling about the place.
Have eaten here a few times when I have to be at the park for an extended period. Pricing is similar to a food truck. The salads are good and light, not a fan of the candied walnuts. Don't expect a lot of food, it's like a large side salad not a meal. Service is slow, expect to wait about 15 minutes for your food to be ready. Atmosphere is pleasent, the location in the park is very nice. The people working there are not very friendly, but I am there mainly on the weekends. Dog friendly outdoor eating area. No indoor dining.
Food is good, just really undeseasoned. Make sure to add salt and pepper or it's gonna be bland. Rice is EXTREMELY overcooked.
Food is good, just really undeseasoned. Make sure to add salt and pepper or it's gonna be bland. Rice is EXTREMELY overcooked.
I ordered the shrimp Udon soup. It literally has ONE piece of shrimp; the rest is just the onions and the noodles. The soup was also cold. It is over priced, and I am pretty sure authentic Japanese restaurants offer more shrimp in the soup. The only thing worth it here is the view.
The food is expensive and not great with small portions. I didn’t like the teas they were not very strong and tasted too close to water. I’m grateful to have tried it but will not eat here again given the choice.
Such a great little place to eat and so convenient because its in balboa park. I think of this place more of a great little place to sit down and eat because of the scenery. I wasnt wowd by the taste. It was aight.
Save yourself, don't get any of the teriyaki or steak options. The curry and the chicken are ok, but if you can hold out just find somewhere else.
The food is real pricy and isn't very good. Unless you've just left the friendship garden and are physically dying of hunger, there's no reason to go here.
Tried curry bowl rice with tofu & veg, no flavor & taste. Card machine was broken, so end up in paying cash.
This place could be really cute and provide good prodicts but...almost all the tea was sold out. The guys working there weren't terribly friendly or helpful. The tea was ok but nothing particularly interesting. Limited seating outside with the majority of seated people not consuming anything. I wouldn't stop there again. Plenty of other places in the area, go there instead.
I ordered the vegetables and tofu Rice Bowl. Very disappointing. Three small squares of tofu, and the vegetables consisted of carrots and eggplant, and there wasn't much of them. Taste was decent. For the price, there should have been more tofu and a wider variety of vegetables. Definitely disappointing.
Tables are unclean and covered in food. We ordered Chicken Teriyaki bowls that came with a reasonable amount of Chicken and rice, but very dry and bland. Barely any Teriyaki sauce. For being a Tea Pavilion, at least the Chia Latte was very good. We had to get everything ourselves. Just please consider the absolute lack of service when tipping.
Obviously insane location. I think everyone walks in out of curiosity not from its reputation. Lukewarm over priced curry udon, with dry chicken. Very overpriced as well, but the flavor was disappointing.
If you're missing the cuisine of SAN terminal one, you're in luck as the tea pavilion has managed to recreate the soggy rice and bland sandwiches you'd expect of an airline terminal restaurant. Edit: The point being that while they're not at the airport they've managed to recreate the food you'd expect at the airport.
This is a sorry place to grab "japanese" eats or snacks. The way they brew tea and lattes are below average. The food is subpar and the rest of the snacks are packaged from bigger companies so it's ok. The prices are terrible compared to a Japanese market or even a Asian market. The food preper is slow and unenthusiastic to be there. You have a small staff, but work at the pace of a snail. Where in turn small places like this elsewhere move faster andthe food tastes better. So sad
I do not reccomend thus place. Asked if the crab in the sandwich was actual crab or surimi, waiter said actual crab, bit sandwich had surimi. Very sad. Beef teriyaki was also not very good, beef in cubes instead of strips, and not tender. Only sticky ehite rice and some sauce, not very hood quality.
Curry chicken bowl was blah. Too expensive for blah food. Also, how did tea get to be so expensive? Seating was also challenging with non-patrons taking the shaded tables leaving only the full-sun tables for those actually eating lunch.
The food was ok. Nothing great but a decent amount of food for the price. Poor customer service...spent almost $60 and they refused to give me ice in a couple cups to pour the can sodas I just bought off them. Wanted to charge me for it. Lame.
We ordered a teriyaki chicken rice bowl and a beef rice bowl. Disappointed with both-the beef was cut into cubes with a lot of fat. The chicken was several large flat pieces. Typical prices for a tourist area. Only positive was the 'dining' area, as it wasn't crowded.
Please do not expect much, this is a low-fi takeaway cafe, definitely not Japanese style restaurant level. We ended up trashing the soup straight away.
Got an overpriced miso soup that had no miso in it, just dashi stock. The soup was lukewarm and the tofu was cold too!
Very unfriendly service. Menu items were unavailable. Food not that great. All beer selections unavailable. Don't waste your time and they don't deserve your business.
This is the worst food venue in the park which is unfortunate because Japanese food is usually great. You're better off anywhere else.
Tossed my chicken teriyaki in the trash after only a couple of bites. The salmon teriyaki was only slightly more tolerable for my wife. Walked away only eating edame which is hard to screw up.
Honestly... I was so so excited to come. The girl at the counter on 08/07/22 at 5pm had the most ugly attitude to work at sure a beautiful place... It made me so sad to be treated so poorly. Give that job to someone who wants to work there......
Worst matcha I have ever had. Tastes like a fruit roll up and leaves a horrible after taste. I told the employees about it and they just shrugged and said nothing. There is no warning about the matcha being sweetened.
Would not recommend unless you have no other options. The chicken teriyaki tasted like supermarket microwaved frozen chicken with rice and off the shelf teriyaki sauce.
Went today to visit Balboa Park and found this place close to where we parked. The location was beautiful and serene. My kids loved the location and wanted a quick bite to eat. It was a cool morning, so a warm tea sounded great with food. After ordering our food, I discovered that a 3% surcharge was added; I was a bit upset but it was not a deal breaker at that point (it would have been great having the warning sign placed near the register...its off to the side). As I waited for my food, I noticed that they had two microwaves running at the same time. I was wondering if this was the food my family was going to receive. Sure enough, when my number was called, the food in the microwave was our food. The rice is steamed in big pressure cookers but the chicken (and probably other meats) are heated in the microwaves. The food tasted like bland cafeteria food with gloppy teriyaki sauce. My son was halfway through eating his bowl when he found a hair in it...this totally ruined his appetite. At this point, we just wanted to leave. To try and get rid of the after taste, we asked for a cup of water and were refused. I have never gone to a place and have been refused water. After spending $50 at this place, which was not worth it, I would not recommend going here. This money could have been spent at a better location...which there was a couple yards away.
Sadly, probably the worst udon I’ve ever had. Bowl was half full, one two inch shrimp, the broth was sweetened, and the noodles were disintegrating likely from sitting in the broth all day.
Absolutely fantastic food. I loved my poke and the curry bowl my wife had was decent too. The price wasn't even that bad considering the location in Balboa Park. The real issue with this place is them trying to take a stand against increasing minimum wage. There is a 3% surcharge for increasing minimum wage, as shown on the menu and on your receipt. The owner of the establishment is trying to take a stand against livable wages. Increasing labor prices are impacting every business right now because the economy is good. Build this cost into the pricing of your products. Don't try to take a stand against something that economically (and arguably ethically) must happen.
A fast food place. My teriyaki chicken bowl was a bowl of rice and mixed with soy sauce and chicken breast. My tea was a simple mix with ice and milk, not “latte”. The server folded took my umbrella away while I was still sitting and eating. Not a single apology, probably a gesture to chase me away.
Portions are ok. Food was bland. 50 cents charge just to add ice to my water bottle, I could understand if I needed a cup but if we bring our own cup they shouldn't charge especially if we buy something. Spent almost $40 & I could of gotten better quality food, service & portions elsewhere. Customer service could of been alot better, not impressed. The red bean cake was really delicious. Don't waste your time or $$ here.
I’d advise going elsewhere. They were sold out many items, it took 20 minutes for the food to come out, the portion of chicken was very small, it didn’t taste very good, and to top it off we found a hair in the bowl. We ordered teriyaki chicken bowls.
For some reason, they started removing the sun parasols 45 minutes before closing time. When I politely asked that they leave them until we’d finished our drink, I was ignored. Abysmal customer service.
I left my teeth print on a piece of curry chicken when I try to take a bite! Never in my life I left my teeth print on chicken meat! The chicken felt like my dental guard as it was hard and dry. Great for protecting your teeth at night, bad for if you're trying to eat it. I wish I wasn't so angry and took a picture of it so I can post it! Rice was soggy. How do you exactly mess up rice? You measure the rice and water then you put them in the rice cooker, press a button and wait. The beef was cut in half inch cubes, not as hard as the chicken but not too far behind. Flavor? Paper had more flavor. The only food that was edible was the out-sourced potato salad. Stay far far away from this place unless you need a dental guard.
Ordered a matcha and literally is a pure powder, super sweet and not tasty, for being in a place that is called “Japanese” should be an original and tasteful matcha
The barista couldn’t be bothered to make eye contact with us, was curt and dismissive in her responses, and actually refused to make my order with light ice despite acknowledging the request. The overpriced matcha tea latte was poorly made and tasted like milky sugar water. I will not be returning here, or recommending to friends.
No one in line. We order ice tea and hot green tea.girl takes payment. We wait, she starts cleaning. After 20 mins. I asked how much longer on the teas. She she forgot, and pours them. No other customers. She literally took our order, starts cleaning instead of pouring the premade tea from the pitcher. Didn’t notice we were standing there waiting until we asked. Small place and no other customers inside. Head scratcher….
Whatever you do,do not get the beef teryaki bowl the meat could not be chewed. They give you 6 pieces of such tough meat that after 3 pieces of struggling to chew the meat my son gave up and went to let them know. He wishes he would've taken it right back to them as inedible. Of course there was no comp given... On the other hand another person in our party got the krab sandwich and raved about it. I got their. 90¢ ice cream it was alright. The reason I did not order any food was they were out of chicken, salmon, eggplant and tuna. I'd say take your money elsewhere.
Smaller and smaller portions ...no onions, dry chicken, not calling order numbers and letting the food both get cold and pile up on the counter. Used to be good but now only first time tourists will eat here.
Matcha latte is so bad… it’s made of premade powder. No real matcha powder and bo real milk. It’s so bad… way too sweet. $6 wasted
Miso soup or chicken teriyaki bowl gave my girlfriend food poisoning. She’s thrown up like 4 times now. How about more caution with your food, actually cooking the kitchen and stop loading up the teriyaki bowls with that overpowering sauce. This is completely unacceptable. Ruining our vacation.
used to be good place, not anymore. No sushi - just spacy tuna. No forks - and nobody cares."Crab meat sandvich" - two tiny slices of avocado and huge amount of immitation "crab meat". Tea is still great. Pass by, people, you'll find really gourmet sandviches and other snacks and food just a cuple hundreds feet furhter.
Iced Teas were extremely disappointing. We ordered the Thai Iced Tea and Matcha Iced Tea. Both were $7 plus tax and the 5% additional fee. I didn’t see until after I ordered that they were using premixed tea powders. They could not adjust sweetness either because the sugar was premixed into these powders. The matcha was EXTREMELY sweet to the point we could not finish it, and the Thai Tea tasted like water. I saw the Chai Tea was also made the same way with premixed powder. For such a high price, you think a place called the TEA Pavilion would actually whisk their own matcha and brew their own Thai tea and Chai. Even if speed of service is an issue, you could at least prep brewed tea concentrates to mix into it. I’m sure Japanese tourists are horrified at the matcha served here. For a tea house, please do better.
Not great, overpriced and the food is really not great. Used to go a few years ago and had no complaints. Went again today. Had udon salad with tofu. Won't be going back again.
The cashier was rude and took the coins out of my hand as if I cant count my own change to pay. She had an attitude. Never again will I come.
This place can’t cook. The food is pre-made and so expensive. I ordered a tempura prawn udon and the noodles were so soggy and mushy. There was one small tempura prawn that looked like it had been soaked in the soup for days🤮. Overall, the food was expensive and crappy. I would not recommend this place. Learn how to cook, I’ll come back.
Waited 60 minutes for an average salmon bowl. Low quality rice with under seasoned salmon and a tremendous amount of teriyaki sauce poured on top. I was standing for my food three times… and their way of managing their food was absolutely disgusting thrown was literally being thrown on plates like they were feeding dogs. Definitely not worth $10! Save your money and go to a local restaurant in downtown.
I used to come to this place years ago. I stopped in for the California Krab sandwich. It was nothing like it used to be. The bread is different, the krab has a weird texture. Ordered a Thai Ice Tea that was bad too! I won’t eat here again. I should have looked at the ratings before coming back. 3 Stars is too high for this place. It’s too bad.
Wish I would have read the reviews before eating here. Chicken Teriyaki Bowl was so sad - sauce had very little flavor, chicken was super dry, minimal garnishes. I had such a lovely experience at the Japanese Friendship Garden & Museum, but this food was a real letdown.
I used to come to this place years ago. I stopped in for the California Krab sandwich. It was nothing like it used to be. The bread is different, the krab has a weird texture. Ordered a Thai Ice Tea that was bad too! I won’t eat here again. I should have looked at the ratings before coming back. 3 Stars is too high for this place. It’s too bad.
Iced Teas were extremely disappointing. We ordered the Thai Iced Tea and Matcha Iced Tea. Both were $7 plus tax and the 5% additional fee. I didn’t see until after I ordered that they were using premixed tea powders. They could not adjust sweetness either because the sugar was premixed into these powders. The matcha was EXTREMELY sweet to the point we could not finish it, and the Thai Tea tasted like water. I saw the Chai Tea was also made the same way with premixed powder. For such a high price, you think a place called the TEA Pavilion would actually whisk their own matcha and brew their own Thai tea and Chai. Even if speed of service is an issue, you could at least prep brewed tea concentrates to mix into it. I’m sure Japanese tourists are horrified at the matcha served here. For a tea house, please do better.
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The Japanese Friendship Garden, 2215 Pan American Pl, San Diego, CA 92101
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The Japanese Friendship Garden, 2215 Pan American Pl, San Diego, CA 92101
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