// TAIPEI 台北 // ZHONGSHAN 中山區, XINYI 信義區 // 

smith&hsu

a modern european style tea house with taiwanese roots

smith&hsu is a beautiful marriage of eastern and western tea traditions, a contemporary interpretation of British afternoon tea and Asian tea cultures. By name, they brought together two common surnames, one British and one Taiwanese. In format, it captures the allure of western afternoon tea experiences, complete with fluffy scones, sandwiches and biscuits, clotted cream and seasonal jams. But in practice, it incorporates local palates and still feels like a modern Taiwanese afternoon tea cafe, a place where people gather between lunch and dinner to indulge on a meal and caffeinated beverage.

While smith&hsu’s brick and mortar shops are tailored for dine-in guests, it is more of a tea brand than it is a restaurant. They source teas from around the world, with over 100 variations that span black teas and fruit teas to pu’er and oolong. As a part of the tasting experience, servers bring out palettes so guests can smell the wide variety of teas before choosing. The dish ware is also custom designed, rather simple and minimal to let the tea and food shine. All of this is a part of the dine in experience as well as available in retail, in store and online.

the details

Address Zhongshan: No. 36, Section 1, Nanjing E Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City Xinyi: No. 8號, Section 5 of Zhongxiao East Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City (6th floor of Uni-President Department Store)
Website http://www.smithandhsu.com/
Instagram @smithandhsu
Hours 10:00-21:00 every day in Zhongshan, 11:00-22:00 everyday in Xinyi
Price $$ – full afternoon tea sets are ~1000-1500NT for two people, with smaller sets and a la carte options available as well
Aesthetic simple, cozy, warm

good to know

Go here for: an afternoon tea fix, or to stock up on western teas

Order this: the lady smith afternoon tea set for two, that comes with scones, sandwiches, sweets and two pots of tea; or for something lighter, a cream tea set that comes with two scones and a pot of tea. In terms of tea, go for one of their specialty tea blends

Amount of time to spend: 1-2 hours

When to come: weekdays are generally pretty low key, and the Xinyi location is more chill for walk ins. If you come on a weekend, make a reservation. Mid-late afternoon tends to be busiest.

Getting here: 

  • Zhongshan: take the red or green line to Zhongshan Station, use exit 2 and walk a 2 blocks east, the storefront should be to the right.
  • Xinyi: take the blue line to Taipei City Hall, use exit 2 into the foodcourt of Uni-president Department Store and then take the escalators or elevators up to the 6th floor.

Other things to note: 

  • They take reservations online through inline for both locations.
  • There is a 200NT minimum spend per person.

Last visited: August 2021

Last updated: January 2022

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