I was invited for lunch at Sino Chai at the weekend by the lovely Felice Liao, I love Oriental food so jumped at the chance to visit this Teahouse Restaurant, even though I don’t like tea!! I am pleased to say that my dislike of tea (since birth) didn’t affect my dining experience one bit. Sino Chai is in Healthcare City but don’t let that put you off taking what for most in new Dubai is just a 20 minute trip. There is plenty of parking adjacent to the Restaurant as well as basement parking.
Sino Chai is a beautifully decorated little Restaurant with a fantastic range of genuine Chinese Tea Sets and a huge collection of authentic teas as well as different oils that can be purchased. I loved the quaintness of the place, and it was nice to see so many diners enjoying the ambience and obviously the food.
We started lunch with a chat about Felice and her passion for food and all things tea. If you are interested in tea and its history then Felice is definitely the lady for you. Along with her passion for food and all things tea she is a great believer in healthy eating and her menu reflects this with alot of tofu and germinated rice and whole grains. White flour is not used in any dishes prepared at Sino Chai.
Following a bowl of Germinated Vegetable Tofu Soup we were presented with some Beef Tenderloin and various Dim Sum dishes including, Osmanthus Tea Vegetarian Dumpling, Jasmin Tea Prawn with Chicken Shu Mai (superb), Oriental Beauty Tea Spring Onion Pancakes and Chin Hsuan Tea Seafood in Tofu Skin (which was fried). I enjoyed all of the starters but particularly the Jasmine Tea Prawn Dim Sum.
The main courses were varied but I did manage to try a little bit of everything, from Chinese Kale stir fried with Garlic, Hakka Stir Fried Noodles with Chicken, Ginger and Spring Onion Fish, Sauteed Diced Chicken and Dried Tofu with Black Soy Bean Sauce, all served with Germinated Brown Rice or Mixed Brown Rice (all steamed). There was also an amazing dish Pineapple Fruity Prawn, Prawns with Fruit and served in a fresh pineapple. All the food was presented beautifully and made from 100% fresh ingredients, so fresh that Felice didn’t service lobster at lunch as she was unable to obtain a fresh one that day.
Moving onto desserts we were presented with some fabulous home-made Ice Cream, tasting Sweet Potato, Purple Sweet Potato, Pomelo, and Black Sesame Ice Cream was a first for me, absolutely amazing, expecially the Black Sesame Ice Cream. The meal was finished off with some Snow Flower Cake, which is a must if you do visit Sino Chai. So good I brought some home to share with the family.
I would like to thank Felice and the rest of the team at Sino Chai for inviting me and a few other friends along to Sino Chai, it was an fabulous experience, and I apologise for being one of those rare people in this world who doesn’t drink tea 
If you want to visit Sino Chai you can find them in Healthcare City, Block A, Building No 27, Tel 04 4355650. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter. If you want to see more photographs of our lunch you can find them on my Facebook page. Note – they are closed on Mondays.
Where do you find the time to do all this eating, after all I sensed you were at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi this weekend?
And how are your clothes coping with all of these calories?
Small portions Darling, I did this yesterday afternoon when I got back from AD, I have also lost 12 kg since you saw me last “)
Thanks you for sharing, without your blog post I would have missed this restaurant. I am not into Chinese food, but I can see that my idea of chinese food is limited to few experiences back home in Finland, I think I over used it. Will definitely give this restaurant a try Pineapple Fruity Prawn looks delicious. And because I am now Bubble Tea fan, it’s also in my must try list.
the pineapple fruity prawn was very delicous I have to say
Glad you enjoyed the experience. Yes, I agree, Felice is an amazing host. She makes sure she does full justice to her brand of Taiwanese food.
GA, love how you open our world with new places to try. We get so set in our ways and tend to visit the same obvious places. Thanks to your reviews we’ve tried places we would never have otherwise.
This one sounds good.