Mei Leaf Camden Tea Boutique: Gong Fu Brews, Open Daily

Mei Leaf at 99 Camden High Street, London NW1 7JN, is open from 10am every day, closing at 7pm Monday to Saturday and at 6pm on Sundays. It is a tea shop, a tea bar and a seated teahouse in one room, and its drink-in teas are served gong fu style, which the house calls a TRUE BREW. You are handed the teaware, the instructions and the tasting notes and brew the tea yourself. For a tea boutique in north London, that makes it one of the most hands-on places to try a serious tea.

The teahouse is at 99 Camden High Street, London NW1 7JN. Mei Leaf lists Camden Town and Mornington Crescent stations as five minutes' walk away, and buses 24, 27, 29, 31, 88, 134, 168, 214 and 253 all stop within two to five minutes of the door. Parking is on the street or in car parks, and the company points to Camden Council for maps of the nearest ones.

The Camden High Street pavement can be crowded on a weekend, so allow extra time to reach the door.

The official hours are 10am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sundays. The teahouse is closed on bank holidays, including Boxing Day and 1st January. That bank holiday closure is the one detail worth remembering, because Camden fills with visitors on exactly those days.

Weekday late mornings are the quiet window, when the seated area is easiest to claim. By Saturday afternoon Camden High Street is at its most packed, and a seat in a teahouse is a short escape from the noise. Reservations are offered through the teahouse's website, which suits groups.

Mei Leaf describes its space as one dedicated to what it calls True Tea, with a tea shop, a tea bar and friendly staff who can talk tea for days. The tea range is organised on the website by white, green, matcha, yellow, oolong, black, raw puerh and ripened puerh, plus tisanes and medicinal herbs. The walk-in experience follows the same logic as the website.

There is a seated area for relaxing, and every tea is also available as a take-away if you would rather carry on along the canal. The teahouse shares its building with a Chinese medicine clinic and a Chinese herbal skincare shop, so there is more to look at on the way out. Events and workshops run through the year, and the newsletter is where they are announced.

Every pure tea drunk in the teahouse is served gong fu style. That means you receive the teaware, the instructions and the tasting notes and do the brewing yourself, which Mei Leaf describes as a much richer and more personal tea experience. In practice you pour hot water over the leaf several times, tasting how each steep differs from the last.

If you would rather not manage the pot, a Basic Brew is available too. There are also unique tea concoctions that the bar brews and mixes, so a first visit does not have to mean learning a ritual. A good first-time order is one pure tea brewed gong fu style, followed by something from the concoctions list if you want a contrast.

The shop side is the strongest reason to come with a list. Mei Leaf says its team travels to the mountains of the East to find teas made by masters from what it calls perfect terroirs and picked at the perfect season. The website sorts teas by style, including pure, scented, blossoming and blend, and by functions such as digestion, stress relief and cognitive ability.

The 2026 matcha selection is promoted on the homepage as small batch matcha from four cultivars and four regions. If you are a matcha drinker, ask the staff to walk you through the comparison. The teahouse menu changes with each year's harvests and sourcing trips, so a sample menu on the website is a guide to the approach rather than a fixed list.

Mei Leaf says it was established in London in 2006, when it was still called chinalife, to represent true tea culture. Its pitch is to push the reset button on how people understand tea, and to leave behind stuffy tea rooms and silver service. The tone in the shop follows that line, with a counter of knowledgeable staff in place of a formal tea service.

The welcome note on the teahouse pages is signed by Don. The website carries tea articles and a tea education section, so you can prepare before a visit or carry on reading afterwards. This is a house that likes to explain its teas.

Camden Town gives you plenty of choices after tea. Walk down toward the lock and the canal towpath for a quieter loop, or stay on the High Street and dip into the market lanes. A cup of gong fu tea is a gentle reset before the crowds, and the walk helps the caffeine settle.

If you are staying in the area for the day, ask the Karpo APP for a quiet lunch or a gallery near Camden Town and it will fit the plan around the teahouse's closing time. On Sundays, keep the 6pm close in mind so you do not arrive for a last pot when the door is shutting.

Address: Mei Leaf Teahouse, 99 Camden High Street, London NW1 7JN. Hours: Monday to Saturday 10am to 7pm, Sunday 10am to 6pm, closed on bank holidays. Nearest stations: Camden Town and Mornington Crescent.

Go on a weekday morning if you want a seat and a conversation with the staff. Skip the Saturday afternoon unless you book ahead. If you want the full ritual, order one pure tea gong fu style and give it the whole pot before deciding what to buy.