In the everyday hustle and bustle of Westwood, it only seems appropriate that the Westwood Wellness Center would introduce a getaway to some tranquility with its recently opened Nirvana Tea Lounge.
The Nirvana Tea Lounge, which opened officially on Labor Day, is a café that promotes peace and tranquility through its wide variety of herbal teas and drinks. Located on Gayley Avenue in the back of the Westwood Wellness Center, the tea lounge offers a safe, quiet space for students to detox and wind down, as well as a space of congregation for all tea lovers.
The menu is home to a vast selection of teas. Although quite extensive, the menu does not overwhelm customers, as it is divided into different types of tea – from white tea to oolong and pu-erh. It features Nirvana Tea Lounge house blends, other herbal blends and herbal tonic shots, which are formulated by the lounge’s licensed herbalists.
Despite online reviews that mention salads and sandwiches and previous experiences from earlier customers, the lounge does not sell any actual food items at the moment and currently stays exclusive to an all-drink menu.
The Zencha Sencha green tea, a “premium-grade of Japanese green tea by Zen Tea Traders,” caters to green tea lovers and is sure to satisfy their tastebuds. With a strong unmistakable herbal taste, the Zencha Sencha green tea contains a robust, earthy flavor in comparison to the lounge’s other green teas. The organic Cloud and Mist, another green tea on the menu, still contains a typical grassy essence, however in a more subtle way. Many tea drinkers who are unaccustomed to drinking green tea may prefer this one as a result.
For those completely unaccustomed to drinking tea, the Nirvana Tea Lounge offers samples of teas to the general public daily. The lounge also holds weekly tea tastings, in which customers can discover an assortment of new teas. In addition, guest speakers and health professionals come in each week to present lectures, book readings and more.
Although generally friendly to the entire public, the Nirvana Tea Lounge seems most inviting for college students because of its atmosphere.Walking toward the back of the Westwood Wellness Center, customers enter an entirely different atmosphere separate from the front part of the shop and its shelves of many herbal medicines.
The lounge immediately emits a zen ambiance upon entering, paralleling the mellow state of the Buddha figurine that sits dead center underneath the lounge’s banner in the middle of the bar. Furbished in red and black accents and with carpeted floors, the Nirvana Tea Lounge is a very cozy, intimate place. With a small bar and only a few tables, the place seats at most thirty people. Its pillows and oriental décor also contribute to the very homey, laid-back environment.
What most contributes to the lounge’s laid-back environment is the customer service. As an intimate place, customers are easily able to speak with and grab the attention of servers, even being able to carry a lighthearted conversation with them at times. Friendly and hospitable, servers are not only attentive but also knowledgeable about teas, and offer suitable recommendations according to customers’ needs.
Even at its busiest, the place is quiet and presents solitude for its patrons. Free Wi-Fi is available, as well as a 10 percent discount for UCLA students, making it an ideal yet unconventional study place for students.
However, whether it’s students, general tea aficionados or simply the curious, the Nirvana Tea Lounge presents something beneficial to essentially anyone through its calming atmosphere, weekly events and wide range of teas.