Is Green Tea Good For You?

After months of regularly driving past Green Tea at 95th and Nall, I finally stopped in for lunch earlier this week.

The restaurant is a significant step above the decent but generic Chinese fare that’s served at every third strip mall in the area. The tasty Korean-tinged dish pictured was just spicy enough to put me into a sweat. My companion’s chicken curry was tender and thoughtfully prepared.

While the space is remarkably attractive, its aesthetics are corrupted by blaring faux-classical music and a distracting large screen television over the bar. Their patrons would be relieved if management thought to turn off the tube and switch the sound system to unobtrusive cocktail jazz.

The biggest hurdle Green Tea faces is price. The cost of lunch is nearly double the humble Chinese buffet across the street. Sure, Green Tea is better, but is it $4.00 better? And the nearby Red Snapper offers memorable Asian cuisine for about a dollar more than Green Tea's menu.

Even so, staring at this picture has me longing to return later today.