Category Archives: High Tea

No. 4 Blake Street (High Tea) @ North Perth

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It’s a high tea experience I never expected. The waitress I spoke to graciously informed me that the restaurant is fairly new. When it comes to their high tea they wanted to showcase something different. They wanted to show people that high tea is not limited to sandwiches and scones. And so “different” is what we got, although I’m not sure if this “difference” can still be called a high tea.

The savouries

  • Asian beef salad & savoury granola - beef was tender but dressing could do with more taste
  • Cured ocean trout – fresh but way too cured (i.e. overly salty). Maybe some bread/crackers on the side would have helped mellow out the saltiness?

No 4 Blake Street high tea: trout and beef

  • Rabbit terrine with pear relish – this was a fun dish; tastes like ham with a sweet accent from the pear relish

No 4 Blake Street high tea: rabbit terrine

  • Lamb, oat kefta & goats curd – lamb meatballs with a strong goat’s curd taste. Both flavours worked well together.
  • BLT sandwich – an innovative way of serving up a classic though it should be renamed to BAT, as in bacon, avocado, and tomato sandwich. Only complaint I have is that the bread was too dry and hard. Very messy to eat and not an appropriate sight for a classy high tea
  • Braised pork & panzanella salad – my absolute favourite savoury treat of the day. Caramelised pork with oily croutons.

No 4 Blake Street high tea

The sweets

  • Passionfruit brûlée and honeycomb – brûlée was really good; not too sweet and enough passionfruit. Honeycomb was a good texture contrast to it
  • Lemon meringue pie – everyone loved this one because it had the right tang
  • Jaffa trifle – good mix of flavours though more texture could make it better
  • Coconut sago brulee – interesting to see a coconut sago brûlée on the menu as it is reminiscent of one of my favourite desserts in Hong Kong and I think this one tasted like the ones I had in Hong Kong. Only wished the serving was bigger!

No 4 Blake Street high tea

  • Strawberry meringue, popcorn parfait, cassis & burnt honey, cherry “pate de fruits” – what an interesting flower pot. The pot contained “soil”, something like a crumbled bitter brownie, that you pair with the sweet meringue, popcorn and pate de fruits. Only the strawberry meringue was enjoyable out of the whole pot.

No 4 Blake Street high tea

All that plus a pot of refillable Earl Grey tea for $42 per person. The waiter told us English Breakfast tea would cost extra – something I totally do not understand the reason to!  Other than that I must say the food is beautifully presented. We each had our own favourites but I wouldn’t consider this as a high tea per se. It was more of an entree and dessert tasting plate.

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Peninsula Tea Gardens (High Tea) @ Maylands

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food, High Tea by

Nestled beside the historic Tranby House in Maylands with river views, our afternoon high tea at the Peninsula Tea Gardens looked very promising. After all, what better way to spend lazy Saturday afternoons than sitting down and drinking tea while looking at the serene view in front of you. The weather was very fine on a winter Saturday afternoon when we arrived at the tea garden. There was a cool breeze and we were given a table outside.

With all the negative reviews I have read about Peninsula Tea Gardens and after checking out their prices, I was really hesitant to give this place a try. Then the bride said she would love to have a high tea party outdoors or one with a view. And so we went ahead to make reservations at this place.

First impressions were good. The view is indeed spectacular. It’s a good place to unwind after a busy week. Service was fast too but that should be a given. The tea gardens specialises in high tea so I would assume that their service would be a breeze. Not long after our tea orders were taken the tier of goodies came out. I skipped lunch for this so I was already very hungry then.

Bottom tier: Savoury treats. Cucumber & cream cheese, Roast beef & horseradish, Leg ham & Dijon mustard sandwiches, and Smoked salmon & salmon mousse.

I was not a fan of their sandwiches. Not that they were horrible. They were too simple and too bland. And the bread was a tinge dry. The fillings were so little so the sandwiches are not something you’d be raving about. You know what? I can make better sandwiches. The salmon mousse was more enjoyable. It was tastier and was something different from the usual quiche that accompanies the sandwiches.

Middle tier: Scones with a massive serving of jam and cream

The scones were really big and I only ate half of my share so I could eat the other treats. The look of the scones could be better but other than that they were really good basic scones with the strawberry jam and cream served on the side.

Top tier: Sweet treats. Cupcakes, Lemon meringue tartlets, and chocolate squares.

The lemon meringue tartlets were good. Tangy and not too sweet. Now the chocolate squares were questionable. I still can’t make out what they were. They were squares of layered cake that are then coated in chocolate. The problem was that they were at room temperature when we ate them and the buttercream filling was starting to be very liquid. Taste-wise I don’t know what they were supposed to taste like.

By the time I got to the top tier I was already full from all the extra sandwiches I ate. So one good thing about this place is that you can bring home the leftovers and that’s exactly what we did. We took home the cupcakes and long before I could get my hands on them after dinner they were already eaten up by someone else. They did let me know though that the cupcakes were good.

Peninsula Tea Gardens is big on the views but the quality of food needs improvement. I can see where all the negative reviews are coming from. It is fair, in my opinion, to expect exquisite food when you are headed to one of Perth’s premier venues for a traditional high tea that offers a unique high tea experience. Sadly they are just not up to par. I also take issue with their teapots.

Yes I almost booked this place for the hen’s party only because the setting was fantastic and the bride loved the views when I showed her some photos. Then I thought we could all head out to Swan Valley after the tea since it’s not too far away. But no, it was a let down on food so I decided against it.

My rating: 5/10
Peninsula Tea Gardens on Urbanspoon

http://www.peninsulateagardens.com/index.html

Duchess (High Tea) @ Claremont

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The second venue for my high tea scouting around Perth – Duchess in Claremont. It’s a restaurant with a bar that serves high tea, or Elegant Tea as they call it, on Wednesday and Friday afternoons.

I dropped them an email a few weeks before coming and got an immediate response from one of the staff to confirm my booking. I called them up a second time to amend my booking and the staff on the line was very friendly and helpful. They have already given me a good impression by then.

Being in the precinct of the Claremont Quarter shopping centre, Duchess is very accessible whether by car or by train. Then after the high tea you can easily go for a quick round of shopping.

Me and 3 other people were shown to our table marked with “reserved” when we arrived. The table was set for 3 people but I brought along 1 extra person and there was no fuss about it. The waitress quickly got another set of cutlery and gave us the menus. The most basic package, just tea and nibbles without bubbles, is $30 per person. Quite a reasonable price, I reckon.

So we chose to have the basic package. Tea of choice was English Breakfast and it came in a huge vintage teapot alongside a jar of milk and sugar cubes.

Then came the tier of goodies. Bottom tier were 3 types of sandwiches – smoked salmon, chicken, and cucumber – and quiche. Out of all the sandwiches the smoked salmon was everyone’s favourite. The chicken one hardly had any chicken while the cucumber one could do with more seasoning. The quiche, well can I just say that the quiche I make is better. This one tasted like those store bought frozen ones.

Middle tier was full of mini scones.  Traditional plain ones and cheese and chive ones with thickened cream and jam on the side. We found the scones a bit doughy but taste was ok.

Top tier contained the sweet treats. Mini cupcakes and Jean Pierre Sancho’s macarons. I was not a fan of the cupcakes. They were too dense and the lemon flavoured one was too strong. The macarons, well it’s hard to fault Jean Pierre Sancho macarons. We got the jackfruit (we all agreed it tasted like jackfruit though at one point I was more inclined towards passionfruit but it lacked the tanginess), pistachio, and coffee flavoured ones.

If you ask me this was an ok high tea experience. Food is edible but not spectacular and the serving was generous. For someone who didn’t eat the whole day for this high tea I left feeling very full. Service was slow, sometimes painfully so, but once you get someone to come over your table you have their full attention. Requests were served immediately and all the waitresses who served us were all smiles and chatty but not invasive.

To finish off we were given a serve of strawberries with a hint of Grand Mariner and thickened cream.

The overall venue is not too shabby. It is modern inside with a vintage-y feel but from the way it’s facing the sun, it can get really glaring on late afternoons for most parts of the restaurant. The bride is a sucker for vintage china tea sets so if we do chose this venue for her hen’s night at least we know she’ll love the cups and saucers.

My rating: 6/10
Duchess on Urbanspoon

www.duchessbar.com.au

Origins @ East Perth (High Tea)

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I guess it was about time that I start testing out these high tea places in Perth for the upcoming hen’s night (or day) I’m supposed to be organising for my cousin’s wedding.

First up is Origins located inside the Pan Pacific Hotel. For $39 a head you get a selection of sweet and savoury treats plus unlimited tea or coffee and you can try different sorts of tea while you’re at it. Of course prices go up if you want to have some bubbly as well.

The ambiance is very nice inside – spacious, well lit, and very modern. I went my trusty partner in crime, Auntie C, and we chose a table with a pool view. A few minutes into sitting and we realised we should have just asked for a table with no views. The pool view we had was not a pretty sight; like a Bali holiday gone wrong.

It didn’t take long for us to choose our teas. They have the regular English breakfast, Earl Grey, Orange Pekoe those sort of teas but we both opted for something different (in my case at least). I had the Red African Sun tea while Auntie C had the Darjeeling tea. The teapots were huge and we started wondering how we are supposed to change our tea flavours halfway with so much leftover still sitting in the pot. But anyway that’s a problem for later.

We started off with a high tea “appetizer” as I’d like to call it since it did not come together with the other tiered food.

From left to right -

  • Truffle infused custard – very minimal truffle taste but otherwise a cute (and smart if they provided smaller spoons) way to serve the custard
  • Pea soup with mint foam – soup hardly had any taste
  • Fig and brie mousse en croute - you can never go wrong with figs and brie right? Now if only this was a little bit bigger

Then came the tiered treats.

A closer look at each plate..

Top tier: fruit scones, jam, and cream – delicious!!

Middle tier: savoury treats

  • Smoked salmon and cucumber mini bagels – taste is good but bagels are too hard
  • Roasted vegetables and goat’s cheese finger sandwiches – light and refreshing. I am more thankful that the goat’s cheese is not very prominent
  • Spinach and cumquat tart – needs more spinach and needs more taste. Tasted like an underseasoned plain quiche with a hint of cumquat peel.
  • WA king prawns and dipping sauce – fresh prawns with a light dipping sauce, something like a cross between tartare and thousand island dressing

Bottom tier: sweet treats

  • Carrot cake – underwhelming, really. I had one bite and left the rest. It doesn’t take like carrot cake and is too dry for a carrot cake.
  • Tiramisu – not too bad; creamy and had enough coffee taste
  • Sable chocolate and orange cake – Auntie Ching did not like this at all. I, on the other hand, liked it although it was way too sweet. Both flavours do go well togther.
  • Lemon verbena tart – this did not look like a tart at all. It looked and tasted more like an overly dense friand with a non-tangy lemon goo on top. I still am not sure what this was supposed to taste like.

We changed our teas to the Strawberry Tea before diving into the sweet treat. I must say that the teas were good.

Staff is very friendly and would come to your table from time to time to ask if everything is ok or not, or if you want to have more tea.

High Tea here is a hit and miss. I guess this venue is to be crossed off my list now because I don’t feel that the bride nor the guests would be too impressed.

My rating: 5.5/10