The Tea Room-High Tea

I haven't been here since 4.5 years ago, so it was nice to be back again to celebrate a friend's birthday. The Tea Room was my first authentic high tea experience, and one of the best I've been to. This visit was just as lovely.

decor goals

Afternoon high tea set-$45pp

Vanilla tea

I fell in love with chai tea here all those years ago, since their chai was one of the best. I was actually a bit sick that day, but still wanted something strong and flavourful since my senses were a bit down, so opted for this black tea. I was expecting more spice and vanilla in it, but this tea was a bit subtle. Only pouring the second cup (and before refilling the tea pot), the flavours where there. Otherwise, the flavours really disappeared towards the end when I refilled it over 3 times (some good tea leaves are still able to retain their flavours even if you rebrew it a few times).

scones (plain or with raisans) with scone or jam

It's a bit different when dinig with large groups, since they put 3 sets onto one stand, and combine all the tea milks for half the table (which gets a bit inconvenient). You have jam to share between four, and have to pass the scones around. 

savouries

Last time I remembered have this spinach and cheese pastry, and another buttery pastry. This time it seems healthier and there's more of a fusion of Eastern flavours. We had Peking Duck, which didn't really havy crsipy skin, but there was a decent portion of duck (one of my fav proteins), leek and spinach quiche and a tomatoey biscuit (I was too excited with the food I didn't really here the explanations of what each thing was exactly). I think I prefer 3 small savouries rather than 2 big filling ones.

finger sandwiches: curry chicken, egg mayo, tomato and cheese, cucumber and cream cheese (for those who are allergic to egg), mixture of white/wholemeal/multigrain bread.

The main change is that they offer complimentary sandwiches after you finished the ones you have initially! How exciting, but as I'm getting older, unfortunately I can't eat as much..but did have more than the standard 3 sandwiches....I quite like the curry chicken, not too spicy/ Also the cream cheese w/ cucumber was super refreshing and surprisingly light. The egg was good as well, but you do feel quite full after it. The cheese one had a bit too thick layer of cheese in comparison to the tomato. last experience had 2 flavours of sandwiches, but they were bigger portions. I also like smaller but more variety.

dessert tier

strawberry and passionfruit cheesecake

Most of use liked this dessert the most. Strawberry jelly layer with a good balance of slightly acidic passionfruit. The cheesecake itself wasn't too dense. The fruit tart was average, custard not too sweet and pastry shell relatively thin. My fresh raspberry was sweet whilst my friend had a sour one, so can't really predict it, but that's what fresh fruit is like.

blueberry and pistachio macaroon

I was most disappointed when they didn't have macarons but macaroons (I think they only have macarons on weekends or just some days). Macarons are pretty much my favourite dessert item, but I guess it's good to try something different. Macaroon is a coconut based dessert, and this was quite light without it being too crumbly or sweet.

chocolate gateau

Saved this at the end, and pretty much we were all in a food coma. I can eat a lot, but even for me, I was struggling to finish this dessert. it's quite rich and a bit on the sweet side, not enough bitterness from the dark choc. The bottom layer of hazelnut was quite hard to cut into. Managed to finish it in the end since I hate wasting food. Last time there were 6 desserts rather than 4. I guess they didn't have a cheesecake last time. (Not going to link my previous post 4.5 years ago because the photos and blogging style, well, quite different back in those high school days...)

Service was good, although at times it was hard to get their attention since we were in the corner. They did frequently top up our tea pots/water (previous experience here we had to ask them rather than they checking our tea pots and coming around).

It's a classic high tea place to go to, with a bit of history and lovely decor. Won't be disappointed if you haven't been high tea before and don't know where to go (: