Camillia Lounge

Another nonfood entry. I think i've given up on being only vegan foods you can buy. It's just no fun when i am excited about a restaurant or, in this case, a bar.
So last night we had a girl's night out in honor of Erica (who was visiting from Chicago) and the first night out for Joanna since she had baby Milo on December 7th (i think i got that date correct). First we ate. We went to Backspace and were kicked out of our tables as soon as we were done eating. They were having some show and we were in the way. I gotta say, Backspace's service just pretty much sucks. I don't know what was going on last night but i had to ask for cups for the self-serve water, there weren't any forks in the fork holder when i went to get one for a friend's food (they hadn't brought one when they delivered her food), and they had to remake a friend's coffee drink when it was let sitting on the counter (i think they may have called it out, but it's kinda weird when they bring your food to the table, you don't really expect that they won't do the same for your coffee drink)......i've only gone to Backspace for food once before and the service was soooo s-l-o-w. (by the way, i had the Steak Sandwich with a bup of Cheezy Broccoli soup, which i had to pay an extra $1.50....which wasn't worth it...I would've thought the green peppers and onions would've been grilled more...it's like they sauted them for 15 seconds...enough elipses....)
So we left in search for another all ages place to hang out. We had one minor with us and i've said before, this is not a place for minors! Almost every place that you would go to in the evening, you have to 21 for. We ended up walking over to The Tea Zone. They call the back half of the cafe The Camellia Lounge. The place was complately empty when we got there a smidge past 7pm. Lucky for us the nonsmoking lounge allows minors until 8pm. Not a lot, but something. We sat in the booth area, which is right in front of a wall that is covered in thin material has lights on the bottom that continously changed color. It was weird. And we weren't too into it. The music selection also was odd. When we first got there it was some sort of weird elevator type music, then it was swtiched to Cat Power, then to something else. After being there an hour a band started setting up. This is a really small lounge area and i didn't foresee us being able to talk when a drumset was set up just a few feet away....We weren't able to and eventually we gave up and left.
So i'm sounding pretty negi....But no fear, the fact the cocktails are pretty kickass put a posi spin on the evening. They're all infused with tea. My first drink was a Telmig (which i suddenly realized was "gimlet" spelled backwards last night while laying in bed....)- "A sour gin gimlet that combines our house infused Darjeeling Beefeater gin, sake, and fresh lime. Super crisp." I was kinda scared when i realized it was one of those drinks not served on the rocks, but it ended up being cold and very tasty. The second drink i had was a Mango Bobby- "Mango or blackcurrant black tea vodka and 7Up." The other girls got all other drinks and it was fun tasting them. All of the ones i tried were quite tasty. They included: Sunset on the Empire, Ginger Peach of Immortality, Smokey Robinson (this one was a favorite of ours, it was very interesting with it's smokey flavor), Shinjuki (it was one of the adult bubble teas known as Trubble Teas...hehe)...Jess had one that i tried and i can't remember the name...
For the whole menu: http://teazone.com/loungeappetizerdrink%20menu.htm

My friend Susie got the "Vegan Falafel" and proclaimed it good and that she had never had an awful falafel....

Location and Number: 510 NW 11th Ave. (right on the southbound streetcar tracks, between glisan and hoyt...i think...) 503-221-2130