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Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Chinese
Take-out
Taiwanese
Vegetarian food and tea. Has bubble tea drinks. Reported closed October 2023.
16 Reviews
First Review by veganblue
Adro84
Points +307
Self Ordering Tastiness - Edit
At first glance the order menu can be confusing, but once you've been a couple of times it's clear. Tick the items you want to order, take to the counter and pay. Smallish menu, but lots of yum Cha and tea options.
Read moreTasty food, but not particularly healthy i.e. Salty and oily.
Pros: good food, self service ordering so take your time, quick - food comes out pretty quick
Cons: High in salt and oil, small menu, opening hours are limited
Guest
tcmw
Points +195
Great hearty Chinese vegetarian food - Edit
A great place for a quick, tasty Chinese vegetarian meal with also daily specials. Has a Asian vegetarian grocery store downstairs stocking essential vegetarian equivalent of sauces used in Chinese cooking.
Read moreGuest
KathrynHillier
Points +41
My go to lunch place! - Edit
I have lunch here usually once a week. It feels like a statuary away from work and other loud eateries in the area. I enjoy the old style soup when it’s cold and usually switch to the marinated rice bowl during summer. My only complaint is I would love some broccoli or greens in more of the options!
Read morePros: Relaxing atmosphere , Reasonably priced
Cons: More greens!
Guest
LatinoVegan
Points +50
Mushroom Steamed Buns!!!!!! - Edit
All the food I've tried here is great, but the mushroom steamed buns... They're on a level of their own, very cheap too!
Read moreOverall good pricing and great taste abound at Thea's, will be back soon for sure.
Pros: Good pricing, Great taste, Great atmosphere
Cons: None
Guest
Relmar
Points +50
Great price and peaceful atmosphere - Edit
I like the simplicity of the menu that Thea's has - doesn't offer too much and the dishes they do serve are good value for money as well as tasty. Only downside is that they're only open for lunch - should try to translate business into dinner offerings too, in my opinion.
Read morePros: Calm atmosphere, Lots of seating, Good value for money
Cons: Not open for dinner
Guest
AmyWatts
Points +25
Delicious & so much tea - Edit
Very affordable, run by people who care. They give great advice on tea and I've never had flavours like theirs before in the food. Well done.
Read moreGuest
LittleLlama
Points +164
Very tasty Asian food! - Edit
This restaurant was our favourite veggie place in Adelaide (we only visited 3 though). Really tasty Asian food, most of the options are vegan, Some dishes are spicy, which is what we really enjoy. The staff were friendly, the service fast.
Read morePros: tasty food, good value, spacious, clean and cosy place
Guest
HappyVeganTummy
Points +165
Tea, tea, tea! - Edit
Cute place in the city with cheap eats. Self order menu and daily specials. Always ask what is vegan on the specials board. Lots of teas to choose from! Food is tasty and quick, although with a group of people everything comes out randomly so it's a good place to share entrees.
Read morePros: Plenty for vegans, Cheap and cheerfull, Tasty
Cons: No parking, Not licenced
Guest
Ausargent
Points +88
Thea for Tea - Edit
Thea is near the heart of the city within comfortable walking distance to the main Mall. It's spacious inside and there are two levels. I've never eaten for lunch but I know they do most of their business then.
Read moreThe food is fairly cheap but also not terribly generous in portion size so value-wise it's even keel. The dishes are not inspired nor poorly prepared so not very memorable.
Thea is tea centered. There's a bigger range than the meals and the teas are good. The peach one was well worth it.
The menu is smallish but mostly vegan with some other options. There are special dishes available as well. They do not not clearly label drinks or their specials menu.
Then there's the service. It's different. There is no table service so the focus here is fast ordering. You are expected to know to pre-fill paper ordering sheets. Quite straightforward really but so very distant but make no mistake, the staff give poor service when you need it.
The style here is hard to put your finger on. Cafe/tearoom/Vietnamese. Modern not dingy.
This review covers two visits.
Updated from previous review on Tuesday September 30, 2014
Pros: Price, Teas, Spacious and modern
Cons: Service, Portions, Vegan Labels
Guest
Akirameow
Points +14
Thea - a great vegetarian/vegan option in the city - Edit
There seems to be a lot of mixed reviews about Thea on here...
Read moreIt's a self serve vegetarian (with a majority of items now vegan friendly too) and tea house. Open for lunch Monday - Friday and open again for dinner on Friday nights.
I think people expect to be seated or waited on, but this isn't the place for that. Sit wherever you want (upstairs or down), as long as there isn't a reserved sign. Call ahead to reserve a table for their peak lunch rushes. You fill in the menu as your order and take it to the counter to pay. Card is a minimum of $15. They bring your meal out to you. Easy. Chat to the cashier for any food allergies or alternatively write on the order form yourself (eg no bean sprouts).
Cold and hot teas! I recommend the green apple iced green tea. Also the strawberry if it's on the special menu.
BBQ steamed buns are my favourite, but the veg ones come with a dipping sauce. Cold noodles are also a favourite! Hanian is good for the meat eaters or those not so adventurous.
Check out my blog for a big post full of pictures; http://akirameow.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/thea-vegetarian-tea-house-adelaide_23.html?m=1
Pros: Fast delicious foods, Good value for money, Ease of service
Cons: Need to bring back tom yum soup
Guest
Aloo
Points +7705
Serve yourself - Edit
I felt a little lost as I wandered in, and staff (a few of them) totally ignored me. Since I had sought them out while only visiting Adelaide, I was determined to have a meal. So I sat myself down at a table.
Read moreSomeone gave me a menu. There's not much on it, and then there are the specials of the day on each table (2-3 selections a day) & lots of teas and drinks.
So, here's the deal, you have to use the form and pencil that is on the table, tick what you want then go up to the counter and pay. They are friendly enough when you do, just would have been good to know.
Food was nice. The salad with the BBQ soy I had was really tasty, and nice to have some salad. I also had yam samosas which were tasty and sweet.
Prices are reasonable. They take cards.
Pros: Food, Central location
Cons: Service, Small menu
Guest
Tas2ha
Points +27
tiny menu - Edit
Barely anything to eat. Tea was good. Service = non existent.
Read morePros: nice tea
Cons: not enough food, no service, needs more people cleaning
Guest
pitty
Points +72
Wow what a disappointment - Edit
After reading all the raving reviews we reserved a table for a friday night invited our non vegan friends to show them how great vegetarian/vegan food can be and had a one of the most disappointing nights ever. The reviews on happycow are quite old so maybe things simply changed in the last few years. There were only two vegan options available and both were a big disappointment - very sugary and a lot of rice. The basil nuggets were good but we got four tiny tiny nuggets like 1cm long. Not good value for money unfortunately also they had nearly non of the tea available - they claim to be a tea garden! Anyway we never came back and as I said maybe in 2006 things were different in Adelaide but by now there are a lot better options available
Read morePros: location
Cons: tasteless food, poor service, no choice
Guest
MaitreyaBelmore
Points +416
Yummy, Quick, and Cheap! - Edit
My first day in Adelaide after 2 hours flight from Sydney and I went straight away to Thea for lunch. I tried their Hainanese Chicken Rice and was automatically sold! Really crunchy pieaces of bread crumbed soy mock chicken on bed of warm rice and salad. Hummmm!!! The price surprised me too, only $10.50. The portion was just perfect, not too much or too little. It leaves me just anough room for dessert.
Read moreGreat interior and lighting. Fantastic 2 split levels of dining room, especially the underground one, was great and big enough for functions. The only vegetarian restaurants big enough and stylish enough for conducting functions in Australia. Clean and tidy restrooms too.
However I feel that the staff are not that friendly. They were there just to do their jobs. Most I would suspect were not vegetarians/vegans themselves, thus the attitude was a bit "I don't care". The service was quick but lack of personal touch, maybe because the place is too big and the staff are used to heavy traffic of lunch time diners.
I have also tried their BBQ pork buns and the BBQ pork rice but were not too fuss about them.
Overall, a great place to for vegetarians and vegans! But hopefully they will extend their opening hours to dinner and weekend in the near future!
Pros: Yummy & Quick, Great prices, Big & Stylish place
Cons: Lack of personal touch, Staff are slightly unfriendly, Only open Mon-Fri lunch
Guest
krock
Points +32
BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD - Edit
This is without doubt the yummiest vego place i have been to. All but a few of the dishes are vegan. The staff are incredibly kind and the service is always very quick. They have a huge range of delicious hot and cold teas ( The passion and pineapple are great!) and a delicious selection of steamed buns, try the pandan lotus ones!! The dishes are very well priced with nothing over $13-$14 and they have two seating areas, upstairs & down and they offer take away also. Go and order the BBQ rice and the crispy hainan rice and you will not be dissapointed!!!! They now even sell amazing vegan frozen soy products that you can take home and prepare your self.
Read moreADELAIDE LOVES THEA!!!!!
Pros: DELICIOUS, FAST SERVICE, GREAT PRICES
Cons: NOT OPEN NIGHT OR WEEKEND :(
Guest
veganblue
Points +30
Wow! What a great place! - Edit
I have been recently going here quite often. The food is really first rate- very flavorsome. Many (all?) of their meals can be prepared vegan too. If you live in Adelaide, you MUST visit this place at least once.
Read morePros: perfect portion size, great, tasty food, friendly staff
Guest
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