New Fall Menu at Cloud Pine Tea + Culture

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Vegetable and pork dumplings

The lovely little tea house in Milwaukie, Cloud Pine Tea + Culture, run by musician Emily Lau, has a new menu for fall. It debuted today, and it looks really good. As always, you can find interesting drinks, dim sum, and snacks there, all wrapped up in a cozy space.

A memory, as an aside: Last time I was by, I had the pleasure of sharing my meal with a longtime musician friend of mine, Eiji Miki—we first knew each other in the early music realm, playing chamber music together. He recently died, and while it makes me sad, I have this wonderful memory of time spent with him in Emily’s comforting space. I hope to make it back soon to honor him and our friendship. And speaking of making it back …

A comment on Cloud Pine’s social media, “Only 2 more menus after this, folks” indicates to me that Cloud Pine Tea + Culture may be closing next year after the winter and spring 2024 menus launch (the menus change with the seasons).

The Fall Menu

As for this fall menu, I see the classic pork & vegetable dumplings are still on the menu; that’s good because they are really solid and delicious. If I was eating there tonight, I’d probably choose them, along with the beef and pumpkin dumplings, mala pork wontons, the duck rice soup … to be honest, the entire menu sounds good.

As for snacks, the pumpkin almond cookies sound great! What a nice riff on the traditional almond cookie (in Portland you used to be able to get good almond cookies at Meianna Bakery, but unfortunately they closed permanently earlier this year). I am a major sucker for Portuguese-style egg tarts (New Flushing Bakery in Queens makes my favorite of all time), so I would have to get one order of those. I’ll try black-sesame-anything, so the black sesame buns also sound good.

Hazelnut milk tea. Photo credit: Cloud Pine Tea + Culture

As for the drinks and teas, the pine needle ginger tea brings back memories of drinking white pine tea at Hartley Nature Camp decades ago, so I’d have to give this drink a try. The hazelnut milk tea also sounds like a t-r-e-a-t.

I appreciate your indulging me in my thoughts on the new menu. To see the full menu, click on the pages below: