Tea Review: The Rotunda

I ended up at the Rotunda by myself unfortunately. I didn't realize how popular it would be for afternoon tea around this time so by the time I was late getting a reservation they would only let me reserve for 1. This was both a nice deviation from my usual tea experience but also kind of lonely. I did end up sort of ~live blogging~ my experience as there was no one to be rude to by typing on my phone the whole time in between eating 😅

The actual reservation process was easy online through Open Table though afternoon tea has very limited hours. The Rotunda is located downtown SF near Angelic Pretty and Union Square so it's very easy to get to via public transit for me. I was asked if I had any dietary restrictions but dint request anything spesific. 
Ease of access (location, hours, ease of making reservation, dietary menu options): 8/10

The atmosphere and tableware is very modern but serviceable. The main draw for the décor is the large stained glass dome which is neat but the rest is very plain. The staff were very attentive and even sat me early! (Later my server ended up giving me this massive cookie as an extra! Totally unexpected! She was lovely)  

Atmosphere (décor, place settings, staff): 8.5/10

The tea was $54 per person. I think it had had a good balance of savories and sweets with great tea. I came away full but not overly stuffed.

Price (value for money): 6.5/10

The tea selection was sparse but had several options in my preferred flavored black tea variety. The one I got was black tea with strawberry and rhubarb and it was exactly as expected and really tasty! 

Tea: 8.5/10

I'm adding the popover with strawberry butter here as well. The popover was good and still warm but the star was definitely the strawberry butter that came with it! I definitely did not eat this elegantly as it was quite flaky and buttery. The scones were also still warm, dense, and not too dry. They came in a savory (herb and cheese) and sweet (orange blossom and ginger) variety. The savory one was my favorite as I didn't really taste the flavor of the sweet one. There was a generous amount of jam, lemon curd, and mascarpone cheese (instead of cream) for one person! 

Scones (and/or crumpets): 8.5/10

The savories included a smoked salmon and cream cheese and cucumber and cream cheese open faced sandwich, a curry chicken salad croissant, and a roast beef slider. The bread for the sandwiches were a little dry though they tasted fine, and the chicken salad portion ratio to the croissant was a bit stingy. The best thing was the slider and it was small. Overall a little disappointing. 

Savories: 5.5/10

The sweets included a waffle cone panna cotta with raspberry, a macaroon, 2 different types of cheesecake and a chocolate bonbon. The other tables around me seemed to get a lemon meringue thing instead of a second cheesecake and I was a it sad I didn't get to try it. Mostly solidly a bit above average excepting the raspberry chocolate thing which was fantastic!  

Sweets: 7/10

Total average rating: 7.5/10

Overall this tea service is good but not my favorite. It has a very sleek and modern feel as the atmosphere but does that the benefit of space to host larger meets and is very centrally located! 

My outfit:

JSK: Cats Tea Party

Pullover, Cardigan, Socks: BtSSB

Beret: Angelic Pretty

Bag: Emily Temple Cute

Shoes: Sheep Puff

Pin: Milk Ribbon

Necklace: BB&B

Earrings, Ring: Majo No Recipe