Heytea opens a two-storey tea lab on Shaftesbury Avenue

Heytea has opened a new London flagship on Shaftesbury Avenue, Hot Dinners reports, and it is more than a bubble tea counter.

What it is: a two-storey lab, the brand's fifth outside China after New York, Toronto and Bangkok. The lab format is where Heytea experiments with tea and baked goods, and this one also has an ice cream parlour.

The UK-only menu - A Rock Oolong caramel biscuit tea: Rock Oolong and milk under a caramel biscuit cloud, with torched brown sugar and biscuit crumbs. - A caramel biscuit croissant egg tart. - A caramel biscuit milk tea ice cream.

The look: the design is said to draw on the calm of British country houses and Chinese tea gardens, which will be an interesting contrast with the theatre crowds outside.

To take home: merchandise including egg tart plates and jasmine tea incense sticks.

Go if: you are in the West End before a show or a night out and want something sweet that isn't another cookie. The egg tart is the one to try first, and the ice cream is a good shout if the queue for drinks is long.