I think I must be an old granny at heart. 23 going on 80. I love tea and scones. And Antiques Roadshow. And jigsaw puzzles. And rocking chairs. I'm not kidding. I've previously complained about struggling to find someone to share my girly love for afternoon teas with, but recently found a willing partner-in-crime in my friend Julie. When I saw pigged-out's review of the QVB Tea Room, I immediately forwarded it to Julie and it wasn't hard to convince her to go with me :)
A quick phone call and we were booked in for Sunday afternoon. I considered going early for morning tea to save myself 10 dollars but it seemed to come without scones, and there is NO way I was missing out on scones! It was such a beautiful setting; originally the Grand Ballroom of the Queen Victoria Building, it has wonderfully high ceilings. There wasn't a male in sight, not including the waiters hehe. The service was excellent, we were offered hot water refills for our teapots several times, so much so that I felt like a water balloon about to burst from all the tea in my belly by the end of it!
A quick phone call and we were booked in for Sunday afternoon. I considered going early for morning tea to save myself 10 dollars but it seemed to come without scones, and there is NO way I was missing out on scones! It was such a beautiful setting; originally the Grand Ballroom of the Queen Victoria Building, it has wonderfully high ceilings. There wasn't a male in sight, not including the waiters hehe. The service was excellent, we were offered hot water refills for our teapots several times, so much so that I felt like a water balloon about to burst from all the tea in my belly by the end of it!
Honey action shot!
I am no tea connoisseur, but I thought the tea was lovely. I went with the chai while Julie tried the black lavender, which came with a small dish of honey. We did a swapsie after trying one cup - the honey complimented the tea perfectly. Both teas had wonderful aromas.
We probably ate the food far too quickly, it's a bad asian habit! After an hour we decided to order one more pot of tea and thought we might as well go for one of the fancier ones. We chose the pi lo chun, a green tea. It was okay, not very strong I suppose.
We probably ate the food far too quickly, it's a bad asian habit! After an hour we decided to order one more pot of tea and thought we might as well go for one of the fancier ones. We chose the pi lo chun, a green tea. It was okay, not very strong I suppose.
Traditional afternoon tea
Ham sandwich & choux pastry with eggplant & feta
Plain scone and a spinach pastry
Fresh cream and jam
Passionfruit kiss, pineapple and lemon shortbread and rhubarb, strawberry and chocolate & raspberry mini tartlets
It doesn't seem like a lot at first but boy that scone really fills you up. They were very good about making my tea nut-free, so that I didn't feel like I missed out on too much. Julie got a berry mousse and sponge cake, a chocolate cake, blueberry sponge and a macaron which she was very pleased with, but my replacement shortbread and tartlets were also great, particularly the raspberry and chocolate one.
The finger sandwiches were quite nice; tuna, ham or smoked salmon and cucumber. My favourite was the smoked salmon. The choux pastry was okay, the feta didn't really add enough moisture needed for the dry pastry. Their scones are the crunchy, buttery type, almost biscuit-like on the outside. YUM. Very different to the airy, bready ones I had in Berrima. I have no preference, I love both types! The jam and cream were better quality than the Berrima ones, I drown my scone in both.
We are both happy and satisfied after all of that food and tea, the perfect girly catch-up afternoon on a cold, rainy day.
The Tea Room, QVB
Level 3, North End, QVB
455 George St, Sydney
NSW 2000
(02) 9283 7279
Lunch: Daily Noon-3pm;
Tea: Sun-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm
The finger sandwiches were quite nice; tuna, ham or smoked salmon and cucumber. My favourite was the smoked salmon. The choux pastry was okay, the feta didn't really add enough moisture needed for the dry pastry. Their scones are the crunchy, buttery type, almost biscuit-like on the outside. YUM. Very different to the airy, bready ones I had in Berrima. I have no preference, I love both types! The jam and cream were better quality than the Berrima ones, I drown my scone in both.
We are both happy and satisfied after all of that food and tea, the perfect girly catch-up afternoon on a cold, rainy day.
The Tea Room, QVB
Level 3, North End, QVB
455 George St, Sydney
NSW 2000
(02) 9283 7279
Lunch: Daily Noon-3pm;
Tea: Sun-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm
Oohh I've heard good and bad about this place... but I still think I should give it a go thx ^^! Mmm still craving scones haha
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is probably very biased because I love high tea :D Tell me about it, I am going through a serious scone phase at the moment!
ReplyDeleteSounds like the perfect afternoon tea! All that food looks delicious :)
ReplyDeleteoh... i'm a bit of an old soul too. my best friend is always telling me that i'm only a couple of years off from turning into her nanna.
ReplyDeletehow very good of them to cater for your anti-nut-ness. the replacements look good too, well thought out and a treat in themselves instead of being thrown together hotch potch.
Great pics! I like the one showing the lights (aren't they gorgeous?). I really like the scones here but I have to admit that I really like the afternoon tea at the Sheraton of the Park as you can choose between the modern and traditional one :)
ReplyDeleteAnita - It was delicious, very enjoyable :D
ReplyDeleteshez - go the nannas! that's exactly what I was thinking, it didn't feel like the nut-free options were a careless afterthought
Lorraine - Thanks :) I looved the lights, the room was so quaint and pretty. Ooh I will have to try that one sometime, sounds lovely!
i loved the high tea here :)
ReplyDeleteloved da pastries, the scones were the best (by the way ill hopefully try out your scones recipe this weekend!!)
mmm yes I still have cravings for their scones! Ooh fantastic, let me know how they turn out :) by the way I have a couple different types of scone recipes coming up in future posts very soon!
ReplyDelete