A friend and I went to tea the last weekend of January, a reschedule from our failed new years eve tea because of me not getting back in time due to the Southewest meltdown. I was happy to finally try this place out! We went to Maison Danel and got their Le Classique Afternoon Tea as it was their kind of base afternoon tea set for comparison to all the others.
Maison Danel is not in the best location for ease of access for me. It's not really near Caltrain or BART so if you want to get there via public transit from the peninsula or east bay you'll have to switch forms of public transit to Muni. Unfortunately it also doesn't have a lot of parking around and is at the edge of the Tenderloin so it's not an ideal place if you are ever by yourself either. Reservations were easy to make on the website, and they did take requests for dietary concerns.
Ease of access (location, hours, ease of making reservation, dietary menu options): 5/10
The inside was quite fancy there was a big chandelier by the bakery display cases. The other wall near the restaurant tables was exposed brick and had a lot of these old books and old kind of feeling knickknacks around. The bathroom was also quite fancy, enough that I took a picture! The place settings were cute with matching plate and cup and saucer with delicate designs. The staff was also very friendly, were willing to take us early and refilled our water quite a bit over the course of the tea
Atmosphere (décor, place settings, staff): 10/10
The spread was really diverse especially in the 'scone' tier and the sweets! It was a lot of food! We left feeling quite stuffed and we still had leftovers to take home! Tea for 2 was a little bit of a discount at $125 for 2 ($70 if you only got for 1) but still a little on the pricier end of afternoon tea in the area.
Price (value for money): 8/10
The tea selection had a good amount of variety to choose from but wasn't overwhelming. I really enjoyed the raspberry black tea I got!
Tea: 9/10
There wasn't really a 'scone' or 'crumpet' but there was a middle tier that filled that role that included a small chocolate croissant, passion fruit madeleine, almond cookie thing, chocolate banana bread, and a raisin pastry I'm not sure the name of served with jam, clotted cream and an unknown mini chocolate sauce. The chocolate sauce just seemed like very cool hot chocolate and we weren't sure how to use it! The madeleine was pretty intense passion fruit flavor and the chocolate croissant didn't have quite as much chocolate as I prefer. Overall tasty but I have liked other 'scone' courses better.
Scones (and/or crumpets): 6.5/10
The sandwiches were tasty, especially since the salmon and ham and cheese were on croissant bread. I even liked the smoked salmon even though I'm usually not a fan! The last sandwich was a cucumber and egg on toast. Due to the other two courses being quite sweet I'd have liked to see a 4th sandwich and maybe a little less on the 'scone' tier for more balance
Savories: 8/10
The sweets tier was so cute because there were lots of very tiny versions of things! A good variety there were two fruit dome things that were really good and the chocolate cup with cream. Unfortunately I didn't like the macaron, the shortbread or the cannale but I was also so stuffed by that point I didn't know if that also colored my impressions of the desserts?
Sweets: 8.5/10
Total average rating: 7.8/10
Overall the tea service was good and I will probably return but due to inaccessibility and price it will probably be a less frequent visit for me than some of the others!
Last but not least my outfit for the tea! I finally found the Wonder story round JSK in black on lacemarket so I had to wear it!
JSK: Wonder Story
Blouse, Socks: Angelic Pretty
Beret, Cardigan, Shoes: BtSSB
Pin: Milk Ribbon
Necklace: My Inspiration
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