Radiance Tea House is a Serene Dumpling Lunch

Radiance Tea House

Every once and a while one of the ML flickr pool images catches my eye. Such was the case with this pic of the Shrimp and Avocado Rice Box from Lunch’r CarbZombie. While the price tage for that dish ($11.95) was just north of the ML limit, perusing their menu online I discoverd that they have a steamed dumpling box for $9.95 that was calling my name.

Dumpling Lunch Box Radiance Tea House

The box come with your choice of two kinds of dumplings from the following list: pork & cabbage, chicken & woodear, mushroom, chicken teriyaki with 7-grain wrap and soupy pork dumplings. It looks like it’s an additional dollar surcharge if you want vegetable or soupy crab & pork dumplings. I went for the soupy pork dumplings and the chicken teriyaki dumplings. You get 5 of each choice.

The soup dumplings seemed to be a bit smaller than the ones I’m used to from Joe’s Shanghai and the wrapper was slightly thicker (but not overly chewy). The chicken teriyaki didn’t taste very much like teriyaki to me (fortunately they did taste like a good regular chicken dumpling). Their multigrain wrapper was thinner and more delicate than the soupy dumplings. These came with a slightly sweet, creamy miso sauce that I wanted to bottle and take home. The boxed lunch was rounded out with edamame and a house salad dressed with carrot ginger dressing. It’s not a gut busting amount of food, but most lunchers should be reasonably filled.

Radiance Tea House Interior

The restaurant which doubles as a bookshop has a very chill vibe. Service was somewhat slow, so you might want to preview the menu online so you can get your order in asap. I considered adding a tea to my order (it is a teahouse after all and their tea list is extensive), but with prices ranging from upwards of $6 for a one person pot, I decided I couldn’t afford it, despite however good it was.

With tax and tip you’re going to run a few dollars above the ML limit, so I can’t recommend it for an every day lunch, but if you are looking for a relaxing, low key, every once in a while sit down lunch Radiance Tea House fits the bill.

Radiance Tea House 158 W 55th St (Btwn 6th & 7th Ave), (212) 217-0442

3 Comments

  • I once had a earl grey brownie there which was really yum! Not sure about the other food.

  • I stopped by this place last week. I don’t think this write up tells the entire story. The restaurant is larger than it seems. There’s more seating not in this picture.

    The soupy dumplings were VERY flavorful. I enjoyed them.

    I don’t know if I was there at the right time, but this place was full of women. Most of the seats were occupied by women. I don’t know if it’s because of the atmosphere, but it was interesting.

    • Yes, thanks for mentioning the additional seating. I should have noted there’s a sort of communal table section and a few more seats in the main “table” area. I was only able to hastily snap that interior pic on my way out because the wait staff was sort of giving me suspicious glances with my camera.

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