This cozy Japanese teahouse is tucked at the top of a walnut stained staircase on the Little Tokyo block of 9th St. & 3rd Ave. The dark wood bench along one wall is lined with still-green tatami; a silent stone fountain sits on the floor just off the center of the room; a hobbit sized replica of a traditional paper-screened Japanese tea room takes up a sixth of the precious real estate in this one room tea haven. Tea is served with all the rituals and flourishes a traditionalist would want, but the friendly gray robe clad waitresses are anything but stuffy. Try the Tibetan pu-erh tea, so dark and syrupy-rich it could cut through the most devoted coffee-lover's iron-palate. Cha-an also has a selection of alcoholic libations, including a green-flecked sake mojito in a delicate crystal tumbler and a sake based lychee cocktail. The desserts are definitely worthy companions for the top-notch tea -- we loved the crisp, feather-light, properly toque-shaped warm chocolate souffle, with its slender shotglass of fuchsia raspberry sauce. I ordered the superb black sesame creme brulee, which was topped with a melon ball scoop of black sesame ice cream, icy milk sliding down the tongue with the rich, warmer custard and the crackly brulee layer. The special of the evening was a sakura flan, more like a wobbly panna cotta, in the palest shade of spring green -- it was made with the leaves of the cherry blossom tree. And the best treat of all? Cha-an's bathrooms have specially imported toilets from Japan that you have to test-drive to believe.

Grade: A
Total with tax and tip per person: $16 for dessert and tea
Will I return?  Definitely.  I have to order that chocolate souffle for myself and put the walls up so I can really savor it.  Besides, I need another excuse to use the facilities again.

Cha-An
Hours: 10am-10pm (7 days)
Payments: Cash Only
Address:
230 E.9th St.
New York, NY 10003
212-228-8030