Nai-Ya Xu followed her childhood dream and opened a Chinese restaurant using her family’s recipes from Beijing as its foundation. She and her business partner, Yun-Li Zhou, opened Cha for Tee, a Jiaozi restaurant – or dim-sum as you may know it — in July 2016. But don’t mistake it for just a branch of Nai-Ya’s Prenzlauer Berg joint, Lecker Song. At Cha for Tee they created an experimental lab where they develop and try out new combinations. On their menu you will find 16 different dim-sum options, half of which is vegan, and the dessert menu also offers treats for the sweet-toothed. One of their experiments is a bright pink dumpling, colored with beetroot and filled with green beans, seaweed, and carrots. Or try their traditional Xia Jiao, dumplings filled with shrimp and bamboo shoots — it is out of this world! Enhancing this culinary experience, Nai-Ya makes her own delicious homemade sweet chili sauce and adds a secret ingredient to the soy sauce. Cha for Tee is the perfect place to go with a bunch of friends and share baskets of delicacies. (Text: Nicolene van der Walt / Fotos: Sven Hausherr)
Cha for Tee, Friesenstr.18, 10965 Berlin-Kreuzberg; map
Mon-Sat 12-22h, Sun 17-22h
