Antonia
User's reviews
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High Tea Cottage
This is a long detailed review. Just wanted to let you know I warned you! It was a busy weekend at the High Tea Cottage for 4 of us this past weekend and I want to tell you about all 3 times we went Friday 11/11/11 Saturday 11/12/11 and Sunday 11/13/11. Firstly we went to the 11/11/11 event on Friday. They had an $11 menu because it was 11/11/11/ We had 2.30pm reservations and were seated on arrival. The tables were set with lovely fresh roses and Royal Albert china, (we looked!!). They had 7 different Teas and we each ordered a different pot, an extra $2 which was lovely and cheaper than Starbucks! Jen the owner came over and thanked us for coming and when I commented on how busy they were she told us one of her servers had called in sick at the last minute and apologized if there was any wait in advance. The menu offered was a 3 course Tea which would normally be $25.50 for $11 and a 2 course Tea that would normally be $29 also for $11.00 I chose the 3 course tea, my friends chose the Beef Vegetable soup, amazing flavor and a big bowl too, Tomato Soup with fresh Basil cream, another great taste and large bowl and our 4th friend had the salad with tomato, cucumber, fresh pineapple, strawberry, carrot and kiwi fruit. It was plentiful, fresh and looked delicious. My 3 course tea was all serve at once, really fresh, the tea sandwiches were cucumber, white meat chicken with cranberries and walnuts and curried egg. When the tier arrived with all my food I realized I had forgotten to say no nuts on my sandwiches and our server graciously offered to bring me some more chicken without nuts. They must have been making the sandwiches when ordered as they all tasted like they were just made, I also had scones and a lovely cream cake with fresh strawberries. My friends had the meat pie with mashed potato, peas and gravy, lovely vegetable quiche and a big serving of a tuna cream dish served over a pastry case. Everything was really lovely and well worth the usual prices on the menu. All was served on the beautiful and silver flatware so there were no short cuts but they were very busy. All our food had been served within 30 minutes of us arriving and we stayed until 4pm when we had to pick up kids. We started talking to the table next to us and they said they had been there lingering for 3 hours and felt guilty they had taken up the table for so long but enjoyed the atmosphere and hadn’t been asked to leave so they stayed, I think this type of thing may have caused a problem as when we were leaving 2 parties were waiting to be seated and the waitress told them they were waiting for tables to leave who had been there for quite a few hours. All in all we had a lovely afternoon and say bravo for offering such a splendid menu for an unbelievable price on a special day 11/11/11! The second event was the Holiday Tea tasting the following day at 11am, it was a great day for Tea Tasting as it was raining! The event was booked out and we met some delightful ladies who go to the Cottage events regularly and could not speak highly enough of this quaint place. We tasted 5 teas starting with the Chestnut, my favorite of the whole day! Jen hosted the tasting and was gracious, entertaining and amusing. They offered a 2 course lunch, platter of tea sandwiches vegetarian quiche or Meat pie with a nice salad all followed by baskets of scones. Once again the food was very fresh and plentiful. I ordered the quiche this time and had to take one of my scones home as I couldn’t eat all the food, my friend Susan had the tea sandwiches as she had never been to the High Tea Cottage before and she absolutely loved them. The scones were straight from the oven, hot and very tasty. The Holiday teas were really lovely, we could drink as much as we wanted and then they were offered for sale at a 40% discount. We were told how to make mulled wine out of the Christmas Teas and even given a small taste, an absolute winner for my next Holiday Party. Price was $20 and another event we thoroughly enjoyed. The service was good and we had plenty of piping hot teas! Our third day, Sunday, was the Fall Family and Friends Tea with a classical guitarist, who played every request my husband made. It was just the 2 of us and we made reservations for 2pm when the guitarist commenced. Once again our table was elegantly set with lovely china and fresh roses. This was a 4 course Tea with the commencement of soup or salad followed by the tier of sandwiches, 2 different flavored scones and desserts. I had the salad, same as my friend had on Friday, very fresh, lovely combo of fresh fruits and a nice champagne dressing served on the side. Hugh had the soup, chicken vegetable and said he wanted more it was so good. The tea sandwiches were again very fresh, lots of flavor and this time I remembered the no nuts. We had 8 sandwiches in all each so there was plenty of food. The scones were once again hot, lemon with apricots and cranberry with raisins, Hugh loved the clotted cream and they brought more without hesitation when he asked. We had different desserts, mine was a lemon tart with cream and fresh strawberries and my husband a a large slice of a lovely chocolate mousse cake which he said was amazing, so much food neither of us could finish all so we took home a box of leftovers for our son who ate them later and stated how yummy they were. For $25 per person this was a most lovely afternoon spent in a delightful Cottage, I did notice the tables were the same as when we have been there before, they don’t bring in extra tables for their events, so we were not sitting on top of other guests as happens in other Tea rooms. Sorry I have written so much but I want readers to have a true perspective of this place. All in all I can not say enough about the High Tea Cottage, every time we have gone the staff have been attentive and friendly. Jen the owner has always been lovely even when she was going through Chemotherapy a while back she would be very tired sometimes aloof , which is understandable with her 3rd time with cancer, but still gracious and still working with a positive attitude and her staff absolutely adore her, they have told us this!. I noticed some guests can be very difficult, they have no manners, don’t know the protocols of Tea, are extremely rude, we watched one person put their chewing gum under the table cloth!!! Can you believe that? This place is very much like what you would experience if you are to enjoy Tea in London or the country side at formal Tea Rooms in England, well worth a visit. Make reservations though and get on their mailing list as they have events that are not advertised and they book out very quickly. I just want to say thank you for reading this review, I wanted to let you know that this really is a great place and the owners are gracious and charming I have been here many times and everything is always lovely! Have a lovely day.