Once a upon a time, the Chinese used to take time off to shang yue (admire the moon), sip tea and nibble on mooncakes (a Chinese pastry available during the Mid-Autumn festival).

Now, people of the 21st century are too caught up in their fast paced lives and have forgotten all about Chinese tradition and culture. Heck, they hardly have time to eat or sleep, who would really have the time to do something as mundane as admiring the moon?

Exaggerated though it might sound, try and think of the last time you really celebrated, or even remembered the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Well, before you start feeling all guilty and lost, fret not! Tea Chapter will enrich your knowledge of Chinese culture away from those dreaded textbooks, and in a cosy setting. It’ll also give you a chance to sip tea and nibble on mooncakes. There might not be any luminous full moon to look up to but it’s better than nothing!

The Beginning of a Chapter

Tea Chapter was established on Oct 1, 1989 and it has served customers from varying cultures. Tea Chapter has even served Queen Elizabeth II herself before!

The teahouse is the brainchild of 13 classmates who were studying at Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) and it has definitely come a long way, attracting tourists, tea lovers and even students who are perpetually looking for studying hide outs.

There are 3 different settings: Korean, Japanese and Chinese. However, the Japanese setting is the way to go if you want to have that castaway-in-your-own-world atmosphere. Right at the top of the teahouse, the Japanese “cavern” is worth the climb up the stairs with cute little windows, low ceilings, short legged tables and silk cover cushions which emit a homey vibe.

Of course, before you troop upstairs to your little hide out, remember to remove your shoes at the entrance and place them in the shoe cabinet.

Tea Culture

With over 40 kinds of Chinese tea to choose from, it might be a bit of a headache for the indecisive tea sippers. But the friendly staff members at Tea Chapter would be more than happy to help you if you ask for a recommendation. UrbanWire was introduced to the Golden Cassia Oolong tea ($20) which Queen Elizabeth II herself drank when she came to Singapore.

In fact, before serving you tea, they’ll ask you if you need a demonstration on how to brew tea the proper way, or you can just choose to do it yourself if you’re already familiar with the steps.

After the tea is ready, pour it into the “Fragance Cup” (which is the taller cup) and take a whiff of the tea to appreciate the fragrance it emits. Next, pour the tea into the shorter cup and rub the “Fragrance Cup” between your palms to warm your body in cold weather, or an air-conditioned room. Next, take a whiff of the emptied cup and you’ll notice it emits a different smell. One that is sweeter and mellower.

With 3 fingers supporting the cup, your thumb, index and middle finger, twist your wrist towards your body and take a 1st sip to taste the tea then take another sip and let the tea linger between your lips and tongue. Finally, finish the remaining tea on your 3rd sip!

Tea Buddies

Tea Chapter might have an amazing array of tea but no tea session is ever complete without munchies. Your best bet would be to order the sweet snacks as the tea truly complements them, taking away the excessive sweetness, making your afternoon tea a light and palatable one.

Snacks available include tea jellies, tea eggs, tea cookies, glutinous rice balls, toast and a range of savoury dim sum.

There are 4 flavours of mooncake available and this includes Red tea, Dragon Well tea, Roselle tea and Rose tea mooncakes. Priced at $3 per mooncake and $24 for a box of 8, the mini mooncakes had different fillings for different tea flavours.

The Roselle tea mooncake had bits of real red beans in it and with the smooth texture of bean paste, it was easier to consume. The snowskin, however, was a tad dry and flaky, instead of the chewy soft skin you can find outside. It has to be eaten with the bean paste, so as to compensate for the dryness of the snowskin.

The tea cookies ($4.50 for a plate of 7) were most delightful. If you have a party of 4 or more, you might consider ordering two platters of it because 7 cookies are definitely not enough! And you wouldn’t want to destroy the pretty little heart shaped goodies by breaking them into little pieces just to share, would you?

Flavours include Green Tea, Rose Tea, Cereal, Almond Cookies, Cereal Tea and Cashew Nut. The Green and Rose Tea cookies left a mellow, sweet aftertaste that lingered pleasantly on the tongue, making you want to pop more into your mouth. All in all, the cookies are a good accompaniment to any tea you’re drinking. Flaky, melt in your mouth goodness that anyone would love!

The Dragon Rice Balls ($2.50 for 5) which are green tea flavoured glutinous rice balls coated with finely grounded peanuts and black sesame filling is a true winner. The balls were chewy to perfection. It was not too soft and did not require any tedious chewing. On the 1st bite, the black sesame oozes out beautifully and almost gracefully.

For a basic charge of $6 per person, you get to dwell in the teahouse for a good 2 hours. If the cost of the tea you choose exceeds that of the basic charge that you pay for your party, all you have to do is top up the remainder!

Tea Chapter is located at

9A / 11 Neil Road

Singapore 088808

Call (+65) 6226 1175 to order mooncakes, or (+65) 6226 1917, and (+65) 6226 3026 to make reservations lest you are disappointed when it’s full house!