TEAKI: Specialty Teahouses in Sydney

14 teahouses

Sydney

Zensation Tea House

Two decades of Chinese tea, the Sydney anchor.

Sydney's longest-running Chinese teahouse, opened in Surry Hills/Redfern around 2004 and moved to the larger Waterloo premises in 2018. Full-service gongfu room with Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese teas, an Asian food menu, and an extensive teaware selection. Hosts regular tea-culture events and degustations.

Waterloo$$

Photo: Australian Wanderer

Tea Shop

TopoTea

From market stall to Chinatown teaware destination.

Founded by Shane Shu and evolved from a market stall to a Chinatown institution in the Sussex Centre. Carries popular Chinese and Taiwanese teas alongside rarer estate teas, with an unrivalled range of traditional teaware in Sydney. Impromptu tastings when the shop is quiet. Also hosts guqin music and calligraphy workshops.

Haymarket$$

Photo: Tea Journal

Tea Room

Tea Journal

Family-sourced tea, modern gongfu, an interchange away.

Modern Chinese tea house in Chatswood Interchange, founded by Sunny who sources some teas from his family's plantation. Range covers pu'er (with a flagship 16-year-old AUD 600 cake), oolong, white and herbal. Flexible teaware on the table: traditional ceramic gongfu or modern glass for newcomers.

Chatswood$$

Photo: P G

Tea Shop

MY Tea House

The largest tea range in the city, curated by Raymond.

Possibly the largest range of teas in Sydney, curated by proprietor Raymond. No formal sit-down room, but Raymond runs paid specialty tasting sessions (tea journeys) that can stretch several hours, balancing brews carefully to avoid tea intoxication. Book ahead for tastings.

Neutral Bay$$

Photo: Ms

Tea Room

Ms.Cattea Tea Bar

Tea science meets tea bar, in Potts Point.

Modern tea bar in Potts Point run by Cathy Zhang, who holds a degree in tea science and a master of tea ceremony certification. Around 100 teas including rare niche varieties, matcha, and tea-based cocktails. Began as an online retailer in 2019 before opening the physical bar. Tea classes and seasonal features rotate.

Potts Point$$

Photo: Australian Wanderer

Tea House

Rushi Tea House 如是茶舍

A gongfu room beside the sutra-writing tables.

Buddhist-oriented gongfu tea house relocated to Rosebery in August 2025 from its earlier Chatswood premises. Traditional service in a large open space with private rooms, complementing on-site sutra-writing activities. Selection runs to songzhong dancong and Wuyi dahongpao yancha among others.

Rosebery$$

Photo: Australian Wanderer

Tea Shop

China Tea

A 1938 Yunnan house, with an Australian outpost.

Outpost of one of China's largest tea companies (founded 1938), now selling in Australia for the first time. Pu'er specialists representing reputable Yunnan factories, with complimentary tea tastings on the shop floor. Inside the Mandarin Centre on Albert Avenue.

Chatswood$$

Photo: Tea Craft

Tea Shop

Tea Craft

A wholesale tea operation, by appointment.

Wholesale and retail tea operation in Lidcombe run by Arthur Tong. Fully hosted tastings by appointment only, weekdays only. The buying side matters here more than the sit-down experience: a serious wholesale operation that opens its tasting room when you book ahead.

Lidcombe$$

Photo: Long's Tea - Tea Shop

Tea Shop

Long's Tea House

Hurstville's puer specialist, retail-only after COVID.

High-end pu'er specialist in Hurstville with an extensive retail selection of traditional Chinese teas. Originally a sit-down gongfu room. Sit-down service was discontinued after COVID and the space now focuses on the retail and tea events side. Worth a visit for the pu'er stock.

Hurstville$$

Photo: Altitude Tea - Mindful Tea C…

Tea Room

Altitude Tea Room

A high-altitude tea practice, with a room in Waterloo.

Run by Cara Chen, a gongfu cha practitioner who started the Altitude Tea brand in 2014 and opened the physical room in 2021. Single-origin premium loose-leaf tea with a focus on high-altitude grown varieties, served in traditional gongfu sessions paired with sound meditation. Book ahead for ceremonies.

Waterloo$$

Photo: Andre Braun

Tea Shop

Taka Tea Garden

The first specialty Japanese tea house in Australia, since 1999.

Opened in 1999 by Taka Pan and Helen Kwok, the first specialty Japanese tea establishment in Australia. Premium Japanese green and white tea anchors the selection, alongside Taiwanese and Chinese green and white teas, German herbal, Ceylon black, and Japanese traditional teaware. Taka was born in Sydney and raised in Japan.

Double Bay$$

Photo: Cafe Cre Asion

Tea Room

Cre Asion

Sydney's matcha cafe pioneer, since 2011.

Tiny Japanese cafe in Pyrmont opened by owner-chef Yu Sasaki in 2011, well before matcha became fashionable. Sasaki's fine-dining background (Marque, Universal, French Laundry) shows in the matcha lattes, roll cakes, macarons, and pastries in yuzu, soybean, matcha, and hojicha flavours. A North Sydney sibling came later.

Pyrmont$

Photo: Simply Native

Tea Shop

Simply Native

A Goulburn Street chanoyu room, Urasenke-trained.

Small Japanese homewares and tea shop on Goulburn Street, run by Yukino, an Urasenke tea practitioner. Stocks Marukyu Koyamaen matcha (a historic Uji producer), herbal teas, condiments, and Japanese sweets alongside ceramics and tea tools. Runs Chakabuki blind-tasting workshops and a Yobanashi candlelit night tea ceremony.

Surry Hills$$

Photo: Ambi's Chai Bar Sydney

Tea Room

Ambi's Chai Bar

Sydney's specialty chai bar, powerful and spicy.

Specialty masala chai bar that opened in Pennant Hills in 2019, grew to North Sydney in 2022, and added a Kent Street CBD location in 2024. Powerful, spicy brews in an Afro-Punjabi style. Sydney's only dedicated chai specialist. The CBD outlet is the city-centre canonical for short visits.

Sydney CBD$