Recently the Foreigner Cafe in San Mateo has added afternoon tea to their menu! I was able to go for a friends birthday to check it out! This is not a dedicated tea place but more of a cafe and brunch place that happens to have tea now.
The location is in downtown San Mateo so easily accessible by Caltrain and there's plenty of parking nearby. The whole tea is vegetarian by default but as they are new I don't know that they would have vegan options yet. When they offered milk for the tea they also had almond and soy alternatives available. I didn't make the reservation but on their website it says you have to call to book the tea service which is by default less appealing to me.
Ease of access (location, hours, ease of making reservation, dietary menu options): 9/10
The atmosphere was a bit off for me. Because it's a cafe first with an afternoon tea added on we were sat in the main dining room with other loud guests, some of whom were watching sports on a large TV. The decor was kind of rustic wood which isn't my favorite for tea though was charming for a brunch cafe. The actual place setting for the tea were mismatched with the rest of the decor because they were so fancy looking!
Atmosphere (décor, place settings, staff): 5/10
The price for food at the tea is $90 per person for the less expensive tower. Strangely enough it did not include a pot of tea- that was a separate add on. So if you wanted the tower and tea it was actually $105 for two people. Without tax and tip this comes out to ~$52.50 per person. I left full but not stuffed and some of the choices were kind of odd- there was an over abundance of fruit and NO scone or crumpet!
Price (value for money): 6.5/10
The tea was lovely, all Harney and Sons which is good quality tea and has flavors I like so nothing to complain about here though it is more fun when afternoon tea offerings have their own blends.
Tea: 8/10
These did not exist so I can not rate them, I was sad that there was no scone with this tea service even a plain one would do!
Scones (and/or crumpets): 0/10
The savories were ok, very heavy on the avocado (though a lot of their regular brunch dishes also seem to be so this wasn't surprising). There were three open face sandwiches: a mushroom, a caprese, and an avocado egg. I like avocado so I didn't mind that part but I was sad that one of the three was mushroom which I very much dislike though this is a personal preference and may be a bonus for others.
Savories: 7/10
The sweets on my tower were a Nutella strawberry croissant-waffle, a fruit tart, a kind of almond biscuit thing, and a truly alarming number of various fruits. The tower next to us got a chocolate mouse cake instead of a fruit tart. It was quite hot that day so the fruit was nice and refreshing but it would have been nice to have a bit of a different texture or flavor like a small cake, bonbon, or petti fore.
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