VANCHA Downtown Shop 温茶里DT店

Have been looking for a cozy place in downtown Vancouver to try authentic jasmine tea. This was an exquisite experience.

One of the coziest spot in downtown vancouver to have a tea and get be relaxing with the atmosphere and the music ??‍♀️?I met Chuyi there ! She was so nice and friendly. I will definitely go here again ?

Lovely tea shop with a great variety of unique teas. We went with a pu'er and pineapple desserts, everything was great. Very attentive service. I would absolutely come back!

I recently visited Vancha Downtown Shop and was thoroughly impressed by the experience. From the moment I walked in, the aromatic scent of freshly brewed tea enveloped me, instantly transporting me to a serene oasis. The staff were incredibly knowledgeable and took the time to explain the nuances of each tea variety, ensuring I made the perfect selection. I settled on a cup of their signature black tea “Fei Zi Xiao”, and it was nothing short of exquisite. The ambiance of the shop, with its traditional decor and soft background music, made for a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. I highly recommend Vancha tea house to anyone looking for a genuine tea experience.

I frequented this shop a few times due to its proximity to my downtown office. It was my go-to spot for enjoying a pot of tea and getting some work done, primarily because of its inviting ambiance. However, given its small size, there was minimal privacy, and working in solitude was challenging. On several occasions, a middle-aged Chinese gentleman, who appeared to be a regular at the shop, would attempt to engage in conversations about my work or even request my contact information. This intrusion from the middle-aged gentleman was the only drawback to an otherwise pleasant experience.

I really like the environment of this store as well as the service. It reflects the traditional Chinese tea culture very well. You can get tea here that you can't get in other teahouses!

Great Chinese teahouse, Ms. Doris is super nice! The tea shop is small and has a very warm feeling. If you want to have afternoon tea at dt shop, you need to make a reservation one day in advance. There are also dried fruits and vegetables available for crunch.

tried calling twice. the first time, the guy mumbled and then hung up. i called the second time and a very rude person answered and without allowing me to ask anything abruptly said, our manager is not here call another number. super rude guy!! and we were looking forward to booking a tea service. we eve stopped by earlier in the week to ask and we were told to call before coming. i would not recommend going and supporting this business.

This is very delayed, but we went up to Vancouver in October and came across Vancha by accident, and what a pleasant accident that was. Our host, Charlie, was fantastic. We had a wonderful experience and have recommended it to everyone we know since. We will definitely be back next time we're in town. Thank you for such a great experience!

As a tea lover I’ve always enjoyed discovering places that respects the culture and knowledge of tea. After my experience at Van Cha I can tell you that this place does neither.First of all the tea is very overpriced you can only order by pot ( but the volume is more of a cup) and the most affordable are ~ $20+ and those are marked as sold out to up sell you. They set the minimum spending and will try to push you to get food. The dessert cookies are tiny and tastes stale. There was minimal explanation for the tea or attempt at showing you the brewing or sharing knowledge about the tea other than saying “this is good tea, it’s expensive”.Then the argument is that you are here for the ambience , well not so much. When I was there I overheard the tea brewer talking loudly about indigestion, bowel movements and Chinese politics with a friend. Thinking that I didn’t understand Chinese they then started to complaint that another customer who had just been in had only purchased a small bag of tea.I’m sorry if this is peoples introduction to tea culture and should not be representative of the experience.

Went in to buy some tea and immediately felt a little out of place and extremely out of my element. After talking with the employee who was working, that quickly changed. She was incredibly nice and friendly, and answered all of our questions. When we selected the tea we wanted, she offered to make us some tea and we sat and chatted with her and had some tea for around half an hour. She made us feel very welcome and the tea was amazing. The atmosphere is also incredible, with beautiful music and art. I will definitely be back

Had a wonderful experience, and the teas they sell are very good quality and wonderful. Service was excellent, price was good, definitely visiting again soon.

5 Stars Service5 Stars Environment5 Stars Tea Flavour

TLDR: Experience fell down a cliff from when I was here pre-lockdown. 0 stars.Cut down review:I came in Sunday around 15:15 and my first impression on entering is that the staff (lady) member and the 2 gentlemen (guests) sitting immediately in front of her was particularly surprised from their expression that were was another guest (me) coming in. So much so, that I basically seated myself –after enduring a pause and stares– by remarking that the other window side table near the entrance is unoccupied and seated myself.It was immediately noticeable to me the female staff member wasn’t experienced with my tea choice whatsoever. It appears she didn’t know what tea she needed to take out from the cabinet. This continued until one (the gentlemen with glasses and shorter hair and sitting farthest left from the window sitting at the main tea table) which I presumed were guests sitting in front of the table stood up, and went up to talk with her and after some chit chat pulled a tea from the cabinet. Thus, after this interaction I understood that the “guest” was either a close friend, boyfriend who happens to like tea, but not a staff member.She took a considerable amount of time brewing this tea. So much so after some time, I timed it. Another 10 mins. By the time I received the tea, it was approaching quarter to four. The female staff member then proceeded to give me the tea in a usual clear small approx. 200ml glass pitcher. The staff member then gave me the usual small tea drinker cup. It was also clear that she didn’t strain the tea. There wasn’t fine particles of tea in pitcher, there were a few evident pieces of tea leaves of at least 0.5-1cm squared tea leaves in the pitcher.Onwards, the female staff member gave me to the usual small tea cup to drink from. Compared to the usual service prior to lockdown, the staff would pour hot water over tea cup over the drainage tray for sanitary reasons and to pre-warm the cup such that the tea would have too much of a significant drop in temperature ideal for drinking. I considered that a minor issue since its covid and I assumed she did the same procedure at the main table.Prior to the lockdown, each time I went here, the service level was such that after placing the pitcher down, the staff member would tell the guest of the tasting notes of the tea and how long to wait before drinking (i.e. too hot now) or that it is ready to drink. However, I assumed since the staff member didn’t tell me, it was ready to drink considering the amount of time it took me to receive the drink. I clearly was wrong. It was piping hot. This can be forgiven if the tea was brewed well. But it was a disappointment. The female staff member came back to ask how it was. I politely said it was “ok” or “I guess it’s alright” knowing say otherwise is pointless since she appears not knowledgeable about the product, and asked her to maybe brew it differently again.So after going back to the main table sitting behind the two gentlemen who I first assumed were “guests”, same guy who went to chat with her earlier at the tea cabinet suddenly swapped sides with her. It was as if going to Starbucks and witnessing the barista swap spots with a friend whom she was chatting with who may or may not be tea enthusiast; and then proceeding to make coffee for you instead of the barista.It appears to my eyes that he didn’t appear to clean his hands or take the appropriate sanitary measures prior to swapping spots to brew my tea.Since he said to “try the tea”, I naively assumed like my previous experiences here that the tea was ready to drink. Was I wrong. It was too hot to hold. Tea was also brewed poorly once I tried it.I thought there was an ownership change owing to the huge gulf in experience prior to lockdown and now. I messaged a contact who knows the owner and I was told the owners haven’t changed. At 15:55 I paid my bill of $81.90 for one for a tea which I drank less than 50ml. The disrespect to the tea in the treatment and brewing of it and the lack of knowledge of the product was glaring.

Very much enjoyed my authentic Chinese Tea Ceremony! Had a lovely time chatting with lovely Doris who shared her tea expertise with me.I definitely recommend you try it! Cheers