Reservation was a bit nerve-wracking since I had to call to make it and I hate phone calls. They offer vegetarian, gluten free, and nut free options for dietary restrictions but no vegan menu as of yet. The location is pretty far for me outside of the peninsula/SF/SJ area but not that bad of a drive at ~45-50 minutes. There is no public transit I can easily take there so it's definitely a car only trek. Parking was pretty crowded as there was also a farmers market winding down before our reservation.
Ease of access (location, hours, ease of making reservation, dietary menu options): 7/10
Atmosphere (décor, place settings, staff): 8/10
The normal tea is $65 but they had a holiday special for the month of December which was still going on when I booked! It was kind of nice having the seasonal menu but also it was a bit more expensive than their regular tea at $75 per person. This was the first tea I've actually had to take items home, it was so much food! I can usually power through even if I end up stuffed but this time I just couldn't quite manage it. Pretty much every table around us got boxes too. While I definitely think that you get a good amount of food for the extra price I don't know that it makes the tea experience much better. I think I'd rather have the cheaper price and a little bit less food.
Price (value for money): 8.5/10
The tea menu here is overwhelmingly extensive. They do let you try as many as you can drink though for the price! We were able to try quite a few but unfortunately I didn't like more than half of the ones we tried even though they should have been right up my alley. I think the Sugarplum Fairy (plum+peppermint black tea) and Spiced Pear (also black tea) were my favorites. I'd like to go back to try more to see if I can get some favorites while they have their regular menu available.
Tea: 6.5/10
The scone was quite large and we didn't quite have enough jam and clotted cream for everyone at the table with the size of scone that this was. It was blueberry flavor and was a little off in flavor, a little crumbly but not too dry. It also was already at our places when we arrived rather than as part of the tiers which was kind of different (I later learned that this was because there was no room on the tiers!)
Scones (and/or crumpets): 5.5/10
The savories were a lot this time! There was a whole sandwich tier plus misc. savories tier! The sandwiches included classics like cucumber and cream cheese, egg salad, and a chicken salad wrap. The other savories included a kind of chicken pot pie puff pastry, a small dish of mashed potatoes and meatballs, and a sort of "land and sea" creation with pastry wrapped beef with mushrooms and a shrimp. (I did not eat my shrimp as I despise the texture and can't even power through like smoked salmon but some kind soul at the table ate my shrimp for me!) There were so many savories it didn't quite feel in balance with the sweets but most were pretty good and mostly classic items I've had before just...more.
Savories: 8/10
The sweets included a very large vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting, a mini pecan pie, a raspberry panna cotta thing, and a macaroon. This was when I was realizing I was definitely going to need a box and the staff were coming around unprompted with boxes for everyone since this seemed to be a common occurrence! I ended up eating the panna cotta and cupcake there because I didn't think they would transport well. The cupcake and the pecan pie were a little dry but had good flavor, the macaroon was extra almond flavor, and the panna cotta was lightly sweet.
Sweets: 8/10
Total average rating: 7.35/10
Overall a decent tea place but probably not one I'd go out of my way to go to again unless someone else planned a meet-up at it. The downtown is cute and includes a small bookstore, candy shop, and toy store we visited after tea. It seems like this would be a good place to host a medium size meet of 12-15 if you didn't mind being split up at different tables.
Blouse, Socks, Hairbows, Parasol, Phone Pouch: BtSSB
Jacket: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Sheep Puff
Necklace: Mojo No Recipe
Ring: Icegray
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